After Christmas most people put on some weight. We often think that it will just disappear, but it can be a lot harder to lose weight than we might think. Many people choose to go on a diet and others have good intentions but do nothing about it at all.
Most people know how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle but in reality it is not easy. There are many temptations put in our way and modern lifestyles make it difficult to find time to cook healthy meals and fit in exercise. If you feel that you need to be leading a healthier lifestyle then it is worth trying to think of ways to change.
Making huge changes, such as going on a very low calorie diet, doing lots of exercise or changing the food you eat completely can be very hard to maintain. They can bring about large weight losses to start with but it can be hard to keep going and you may in fact be being less healthy as you may not be eating a balanced diet.
The best thing to do is to find out about healthy eating and fitness. Look on you governments website as they will have guidelines for healthy eating and how to eat a balanced meal using the foods that are available in the country that you live. They are also likely to have exercise guidelines as well.
Then look at your lifestyle and be honest with yourself. Think about how much exercise you do and exactly what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat and then think about some small changes that you can make. It is worth just changing a few things to start with and then incorporating more changes as you get used to the new lifestyle. Making a lot of changes at once can be too much to get used to.
There are many things that you can do. Eating wise, try to reduce the amount of times you eat out, the amount of take away food you have and the amount of ready meals you eat. Try to increase your fruit and vegetable intake by one a day and perhaps use it to replace an unhealthy snack such as a chocolate bar, cake, biscuits or crisps. Try switching from whole milk/cheese/yoghurt/butter to a lower fat variety and you may not even be able to taste the difference. Try cooking with a little less fat, reducing your portion size a bit and having less puddings. Pick a few things to change and then keep making more and more changes until you feel happy with your eating plan. Remember that unhealthy foods are okay in moderation so perhaps limit yourself to one or two a week so that you do not feel deprived. You will appreciate them more if you have them less often.
With regards to exercise there are small changes that can be made here too. Try to think whether you can walk rather than using other forms of transport for any of the journeys that you make. Try it just once a week to start with and then try to slowly increase them. Try to be generally more active, at work and in the house. Get up and make drinks, go up and down the stairs as much as you can and take short walks if you can. If you spend time in the evenings watching TV then it could be a good idea to invest in some fitness equipment that you can use instead of sitting. Even just cycling slowly on an exercise bike will be a great start.
It is important, if you want an overall healthy lifestyle, to incorporate healthier eating and an increase in exercise to your daily routine. If you add it slowly then it will be easier to adjust to the new lifestyle and easier to stick to it. Once you are in a routine then having the occasional unhealthy time, such as if you are on holiday or staying with friends will not feel like the norm but a break in the routine which should be easy to get back to afterwards.
It will be really worth the effort when you start to lose weight, get fitter and feel healthier.
Rachel Henderson is from Stroud, Glos, UK and married with twin sons. I track my diet and exercise progress on my blog [http://www.losingweightandgettinghealthy.com]
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