I am joining Saffola #ApneTareekeSeHealthy initiative and sharing my ways of being healthy in association with BlogAdda.
“Mens sana in corpore sana” is a Latin phrase which means ” a healthy mind in a healthy body” .This phrase is so self explanatory emphasising the importance of health in our daily lives.
I believe that a sound mind dwells in a sound body. Only when we are far away from ailments and physical pain we can concentrate in our daily activities. Fitness is very important. Our body is like a temple and each individual is a caretaker of this temple. There are many ways to keep this temple clean and fit on a physical and mental plane.
As a teacher i have different types of students in my class. Some are good in studies, some are good in sports,some are good in extra curricular activities. I try to relate myself to these three categories whenever I have to do an activity . I realized that when it comes to activities involving mind and some extra skills I am like one of those students who is good in academics and extra curricular activity . However when it comes to a physical activity I am like one of the students who is not good in academics in a class. I have always felt this whenever I joined classes like aerobics, dance, yoga wherein I will be among the students who fares badly compared to the others in their exams. This on a physical level is associated to fitness. By birth we are bestowed with some genes which we cannot change but we can always make an attempt to improve our lifestyle habits and compete with ourself to become better .
I was always on the skinny, lean side till my mid twenties. In fact putting on weight was a task in those days when my metabolism was perhaps at its peak. At mid twenties life got busy with a career, marriage, commuting, childbirth, stress and responsibilities that fitness took a backburner. The body is supple, strong, agile for another decade and although I knew that I am growing horizontally I did not bother much about the expanding waistline.
It was only when I hit my mid thirties that I actually paused and mulled to take control of my lifestyle to incorporate health and fitness as a priority. It has been my constant endeavour since past couple of years to take care of my health. Diet and physical activity is something I am particular about now. But, alas its a yo-yo type swinging between overweight to obese. :-((( whenever I have been unable to give time to physical activity.
Yoga has helped me to become flexible with little less stiffness in my joints and improved my breathing technique. Most of us do shallow breathing instead of abdominal breathing. The proper technique of breathing through abdomen is something I have become conscious about now.
I also try to squeeze out some time for walking and strength training whenever time permits. The most important knowledge apart from “what to eat is when to eat’. I am slowly becoming aware of this concept these days and try to incorporate it in my routine apart from keeping myself well hydrated. I normally neither sweat too much nor do I feel thirsty which makes me drink less water. I make it a point these days to keep sipping water often.
Starving oneself to shed the adipose layers is also a mistake as the metabolism goes for a toss. Our body needs calories input even to perform the basic activities like breathing, repair of tissue, circulation, digestion when it is at rest which is called the BMR ( basal metabolic rate) so we should not deprive the body of food thinking it will help in shedding weight. I try to keep this in mind. 80% diet and 20% exercise is the secret for a healthy and fit body.
Getting some basic tests done on an annual basis is important to keep a check . The annual health check up in a way helps me to keep a check and monitor my health parameters.
I came across this once-“If we do not make time for exercise now we will probably have to make time for illness later ”
It is important to find time in our already packed schedules to allot some time for exercises as the benefits are plenty in the long run. My parents generation was not aware about how important it is to find “me time” but my geneartion is aware about “me time” concept . So I believe in using this ” me time” to work on my health both on the physical and mental level . Sleep and rest are also important for the body so as not to increase the cortisol levels that causes weight gain .
Avoiding junk food, sugars, aerated drinks, deep fried items, white flour (maida), greasy food, frozen food, tetra pack juices are some of the food habits that I am very particular about. I am particular to use good cooking oil medium like saffola which is good for the heart.
People lose weight without realizing that it is very important to lose fat and not muscles. I am trying to keep this in mind that my exercise and diet regime should target at fat loss and not in muscle loss as both show reduction in weight on the scales
I am trying to remain healthy by following a structured diet along with correct physical activity five times a week. I believe that ” health is wealth” .
Taking care of our temple (body) should be one of the priorities in today’s busy lifestyle to avoid the lifestyle diseases to rule us.
Pink Blossom 