A HEALTHY MIND CREATES A HEALTHY BODY- Part 2
What can I do right now to have better health?
i)Nutritious food and diet- Have a healthy, nutritious diet- Don’t forget the most important principle of health-
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”.
Eat nuts that are high in nutrition and are healthy- especially a few almonds and walnuts. They contain magnesium, vitamin E, fibre and other nutrients. They also help you lose weight. During meals instead of eating more chapatis and rice, you can eat more vegetables especially salads and also dal. An ideal diet is comprising 2 chapatis, vegetable, dal and salad. Include sprouted pulses in your diet.
ii) Change your lifestyle:- Many people are night owls who remain awake till morning hours and get up the next day by noon. But this pattern is not good for health. Follow the old saying-“Early to bed and early to rise”. When you get up early, it makes you feel fresh and energetic and also gives you enough time to exercise. Be a morning person and you will experience a huge shift in your lifestyle.
iii) Avoid junk food:- This food is low in fibre, protein and other nutrients and high in carbs and sugar. Also, avoid aerated drinks. They are bad for health and trigger weight gain.
iv) Have control over food:– You must remember that as you age, you must eat food with are more nutritious and in less quantity and not eat like a youngster.
vi) Drink water especially before meals:- This habit is good because it increases your metabolism. Also, your stomach is half full, so that way you will consume less food. It helps towards weight loss.
vii) Protein is very necessary for good health:– It also helps with weight loss. Sufficient protein intake lowers blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
viii) Don’t smoke, avoid drugs totally, don’t drink too much Smoking and drugs abuse health, so please don’t get into these bad habits. Also, don’t drink too much.
ix) Minimize your sugar intake:- High sugar intake triggers ailments such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
x) If you have excess belly fat, get rid of it Cutting on carbs, eating protein and fibre are ways to get rid of belly fat.
xi) Reduce stress from your life As discussed above reduce stress from your life. Some ways to reduce stress are by relaxing. Some ways to relax are:-
i)Listening to music
ii) Meditation and pranayama
iii)Physical exercises and gymming.
iv) If you are too much stressed out and not able to come out of it, you can take the help of a good psychological counsellor.
xii) Do your exercises- I re-emphasize that you must do your exercises each day diligently.
Importance of exercises-
They make you feel energetic, fresh , joyful and youthful.Everyone can benefit from exercise irrespective of age, sex or physical ability. Let us see how it helps.
i) Helps weight loss:- When you exercise your calories get burned. The best is to join a gym and lift physical weights. But if you can’t join a gym, at least exercise at home or you can do some jogging. Many people go for walks, but doing physical exercise will give you better results to burn calories than walking. Walking is good, but not the best option. Even the middle-aged can exercise by being active throughout the day. Homemakers can get the benefit of exercise by doing household chores themselves. Even the traditional way of grinding for Idli or Dosa gives good exercise for the entire body.
ii) Increases energy:- Exercise boosts your energy levels and builds your stamina. Walking up the stairs is an excellent way to exercise, and it is free of cost.
iii) Exercise helps prevent and manage many diseases:- Many diseases like heart ailments, Blood pressure, Obesity, Stroke, Arthritis, Cancer, Depression, Stress can be brought under control by doing exercises. Even those having diabetes and cholesterol are told to do exercises or walks every single day. With regular exercise, you can manage many health problems. Although walking is not the best option, it is better than not doing any form of exercise at all.
iv) Exercise increases your life span:- I think this point is self -explanatory.
v) Decreases depression:- Exercise can combat depression and uplift your mood.
vi) Exercise gives sound sleep:- After exercising your body becomes tired and at night helps you get better sleep.
To lose weight and do exercises, you must be very determined and consistent in your approach. Here is the story of a fat man who was weighing 180 kgs and took the determination to lose weight. The result was- he lost over 114 lbs.