Obesity rates are rising every year.
According to World Population Review there are 2.1 billion people (70 million in the US) who classify as obese and 3 million people a year die of obesity related diseases.
Furthermore, 30.3 million Americans have type 2 diabetes. Another 84.1 million have prediabetes, a condition that often leads to type 2 diabetes if left untreated. (1)
And if you’re older and struggle with balance, check out the statistics from the CDC on falls, which (in my opinion) are mostly preventable
• One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury
• Each year, 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries
• Over 800,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a head injury or hip fracture
• Each year at least 300,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures
• More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways
People are suffering from poor health, when being healthy is simple. It (usually) involves
- Not getting overweight
- Regular movement
- Staying hydrated
- Eating fruits and vegetables
- Eating adequate protein
Note- This is not an exhaustive list and other things are involved in good health.
If you need to give your health a kickstart or improve it, take these suggestions to heart and put them into action.
1.DO SOME MATH (WATER EDITION)
Don’t worry, it’s not hard.
Do you know your body weight? If not, go weigh yourself.
Then half this and that’s how much water in ounces you should drink. Obviously, this is dependent on how active you are and whether your outside sweating buckets.
But it’s a good starting point.
Furthermore, it’s difficult for the body to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. So, if you’re feeling hungry, you might be dehydrated. Try drinking a glass of water instead of grabbing a snack.
Research has also shown that drinking a glass of water before a meal helps you to feel fuller and eat less. A win-win for you and the weight scale.
And if you’re struggling to drink enough water, the following suggestions might help.
- First thing in the morning after you do your morning duties, drink a cup of water from the tap.
- Have water instead of anything else while you’re eating out.
- Have a glass of water with your meal at home.
- Set reminders on your phone to drink water.
- Buy a reusable water bottle and keep it handy.
2. HMMM PROTEIN
When it comes to fat loss, adding muscle or retaining muscle, the amount of protein you eat is king. Protein keeps you full longer and your body had to work harder to digest it, which helps up your metabolism.
There are many studies that recommend various ranges of protein. It all depends on your goal, size or activity level, so it’s difficult to give you exact figures.
However, it seems 0.7–1 grams per pound (1.6–2.2 grams per kg) of your body weight is a good starting point. (2) (3)
BUT If fat loss is your goal
Eat for an intake between 1.6 – 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram or .73 – 1 grams per pound. However, if you’re carrying a lot of weight, use your goal weight to determine your protein intake, instead of your total body weight.
For example, you weight 200 but want to lose 10 pounds, eat 190 grams of protein daily.
Here are some tips to carry out if you’re struggling to get enough protein into your daily diet.
- Snack on cheese.
- Replace cereal with eggs.
- Eat Greek yogurt.
- Add protein-rich foods to your salad (almonds, sliced meat).
- Have a protein shake.
- Include a high-protein food with every meal and eat it first.
3. YOUR MAMA TOLD YOU TO EAT YOUR VEGETABLES
Well, at least mine did. My mum made me sit at the table until I ate all my vegetables. And seeing I was stubborn, I sat for a long time. It was a battle of wills. And guess who won?
However, my mother was on to something.
Including more fruit and vegetables into your diet is important because
- There high in fiber making you fuller longer and easier to go number 2’s
- There high in micronutrients (vitamin and minerals)
- Their low in calories and high in nutrients which makes them nutrient dense.
- Helps you lose weight and maintain an ideal body weight
But how do you go about getting the recommended daily serving into your mouth?
Here are a few suggestions
- Grow your own and if you have kids, get them to help you. If there invested in it, they (might) eat them more.
- Write out a weekly menu and include fruits and vegetables in every meal.
- When grocery shopping, hit up the fruit and vegetable isle first.
- Have fruit bowl on display instead of junk food.
If your diet is low in fruits and vegetables, just try to eat a little each week. Then hopefully it will become more of a habit.
If it doesn’t, I’ll send my mother over to your house. 😉
4. ALL THINGS IN MODERATION
A great healthy habit to adopt is all things in moderation. Overindulging in anything – exercise, alcohol, fast food, etc. etc. – can leave you feeling pretty crappy.
Not only that, you may have feelings of guilt and you think you need to punish yourself for this behavior. This thinking is not healthy in the long run.
Because occasional splurges are okay because life is a celebration.
The bring joy only if they’re special treats and not frequent thing. The trick is to not beat yourself up about it and go back to your usual routine ASAP.
5. TAKE MOVEMENT BREAKS
Most of your calories are burned outside of formal exercise. And that’s not to say the gym is waste of time. Besides, where else can you curl in the squat rack and admire your guns?
Some people think the gym is enough when it comes to exercise but they’re wrong. The whole world is your playground. A healthy body moves and plays and doesn’t sit all the time.
Besides, whether you go to the gym or not, taking movement breaks throughout your day helps burn more calories and keeps you refreshed mentally and physically.
Here are suggestions to add more movement to your day.
- Take the stairs and not the elevator.
- Rather than send a short email to a co-worker, get up and go talk to them, even if you don’t like them much.
- Walk before you eat lunch. For example, if you get 30 minutes for lunch, stroll for 10 minutes and eat and relax for 20 minutes. Even better, do it with a co-worker and make each other accountable.
- You know that stack of laundry and dishes that need doing? They’re not going to clean themselves.
- Other household chores like vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms need to get done also. And you might earn brownie points with your partner.
- Outdoor activities like mowing the grass, weeding, watering and clearing out the garden beds will raise a good sweat.
- Walk the dog or yourself for 10 minutes or more.
- Get your kids off their video games and go play catch, basketball or hide and seek.
WRAPPING UP
These 5 suggestions are a good start. The more ‘healthier’ behaviors you add to your daily routine, the better. It keeps the doctor away and the weight scale happy.
Because you’re worth it.
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