It's that time of the year again when the trackies and jeans get pushed to the back of the wardrobe and you start pulling out the shorts and swimwear. If you're anything like most of us this is usually a reminder that there's no hiding underneath the baggy jumpers anymore and the time has come to whip that body back into Spring/Summer shape!
My best advice for this month is to start slowly, ease yourself back into focusing on your body and wellbeing. If you're anything like me it's easy to get a little depressed if you find your Summer wardrobe a little tight or if you're looking a little ghostly. Think about this for a moment. Winter was 3 months long. Perhaps you slipped into comfort eating even before Winter hit? It might realistically take a month or two to get things back on track and that's fine.
Here's some simple things you can do to kickstart yourself back into Summer mode. Along with a little sunshine each day (essential for Vitamin D and consequently Calcium absorption) try keeping a record of your progress throughout this month. Get started with these tips below and I'll be back early October to give you the next set of things you can do to feel confident enough to get back into your swimmers come Summer, if not before ;)
2L Water: The first thing you should focus on each and every day is drinking 2 Litres of water. Water is essential for the overall function of your body and to assist the body in removing toxins effectively from the body. For more information on the importance of keeping your fluids up you can read an earlier blog post of mine here >>
http://angieshealthykitchen.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/staying-hydrated-angies-sugar-free.html
You can easily keep track of the amount of water you are drinking by measuring the quantity of your drink bottle (if unknown) and calculating how many refills you'll need per day. Each time you refill just place a tick in the water column for that day. Easy!
2 Serves of Fruit and 5 serves of Vegies per day: Eating 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables helps to provide your body with the essential vitamins and minerals you need to keep healthy. Eating a good variety of fruit and vegetables protects you against disease, assists in warding off cancer, maintains a healthy immune system, provides you with dietary fibre for a healthy digestive system and can help sustain your appetite for effective weight management.
It's important to understand what constitutes a serving size when referring to fruit and vegetables. Examples of one serve are a small apple, a banana, an orange, a small carrot, half a dozen mushrooms, half a capsicum, a small tomato, a handful of corn kernels or legumes such as red kidney beans.
It's easy to incorporate this into your daily food intake if you are choosing fresh wholefoods for most your meals and snacks. You could opt to eat a piece of fruit for morning and afternoon tea and you'd have your 2 serves of fruit done without even thinking about it! Choosing a cooked breakfast with tomato, mushrooms and avocado is another easy way of bumping up your quota. You could load up an omelette, soup, salad, stirfry or pasta dish with an extra vegie or two than what you would normally use. Tick off your weekly planner each time you eat a serving of fruit and vegies so you can easily see how many more servings you need towards the end of the day. It could be enough incentive to whip up a guacamole dip or a fresh fruit salad for dessert if you know you haven't quite reached your daily goal!
Exercise: Using 30 minutes as a target for your daily exercise is a good start. Don't forget that this 30 minutes can be broken down into 2 or 3 sessions throughout the day to fit into a busy schedule. You could take a 10-15 minute walk before or after work, take your dog for a walk, join a Zumba class with a friend, take a swim at your local pool, go for a bushwalk on your work free days. Regular exercise is the key to increasing your fitness levels and helping to tone up your body for Summer. If you're working up a sweat and getting that heart rate up you're doing yourself the world of good!
Quite often we get so caught up with the 'rules' of a healthy lifestyle that it can seem impossible to maintain. Those people who have spent many years living a sedentary lifestyle and reaching for convenient foods over good, fresh, wholesome food can easily become accustomed to thinking a change towards a healthier way of living is far too daunting. It can be easy to feel like a failure if you have a set-back in the early stages.
One of the best ways to see real results in the way you feel and look is to make small changes gradually over time. This isn't a competition, there's no medal for first place. Forget about the facts and figures, especially in the beginning. Take a front on photo for your own personal records, take your weight if you wish and then forget monitoring and measuring every few days. Start with the basics that I've outlined above, drink plenty of water, eat your daily quota for fruit and vegetables and incorporate at least 30 minutes of exercise into each and every day. If you do just these things to begin with you have given yourself the best start. You can build on those changes each month until it's all just automatic. There's no use wasting your time following a program that gives you great results initially doing something you know you can't maintain long term. We all know people who have done exactly that and what happens when the momentum stops? They end right back up where they started! Make simple changes that become lifelong healthy habits and you will never feel like you're fighting a losing battle.
I'll be back towards the end of September/early October to give you a follow up with some more simple steps you can add to your daily life. Please excuse me if I'm a little quiet this month as I've got a few assignments due (I'm currently studying Nutrition). Enjoy the warmer weather, I know I will.
