This Independence Day Start Your Journey to A Slimmer, Healthier and Fitter You

There’s no shortcut to good health, they say. And, we firmly believe it. Staying healthy and happy is a life-long commitment to oneself, and we need to continuously work toward it. In fact, most people, in the quest to quickly and effortlessly lose weight, rely on the secret powers of ‘miracle products’ that do more harm than good.

This Independence Day, show yourself some love. Appreciate the body you are in and motivate yourself to be a fitter and healthier version of yourself. Trust me; it will be worth every effort!

Here are some pro tips that can help you embark on your fitness journey and make you stay there:

Develop a positive mindset

Developing a positive mindset is the first step toward a Healthy You! Set your goals right and keep working toward them – one step at a time. Don’t let excuses distract you. Whenever you feel discouraged or demotivated, remember the point from where you started and the milestones you have achieved. Not everyone will reach the finish line together, but if you keep working toward it, you will definitely succeed sooner or later.

Prioritize your health

The hard truth about life is that we don’t value our health and wellness over other pursuits. We always trade our health for friends, family, work, and other day-to-day commitments. The result – we end up suffering from various chronic lifestyle disorders that have detrimental effects on our overall well being.

To stay healthy lifelong, we need to prioritize our health over everything else. Make a commitment to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and have a good night’s sleep. Reschedule everything that’s coming in the way and start afresh by putting yourself at the top of the to-do list.

Use the time you have

Most people stay away from healthy lifestyle habits due to lack of time. But health doesn’t ask for special time, it demands commitment. So, commit yourself to good health and fitness and you’ll find new ways to inculcate exercise into your busy regime.

Start small, may be 10 minutes of walk three times a day, and gradually increase the intensity as you go forward:

• Take stairs instead of lift
• Walk your way to the nearest mall or grocery store
• Park your car away from home so that you can walk a few steps before relaxing on your favorite couch
• Indulge in your favorite sport or fitness activity
• Practice yoga
• Go for an evening stroll with your partner/ best friend
• Plan a playtime with your children so that you can stay active too

Make healthy food choices

Food plays the biggest role in keeping us healthy. To lose weight and maintain it at an optimal level, you need to take control of what you eat and how much you eat. For this,

• Swap your unhealthy eating habits with healthy ones
• Include more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet
• Eat at least two seasonal fruits every day
• Choose healthy snacks – nuts, sprouts, eggs – over donuts, pizza, and pasta
• Drink 8-10 glasses of water everyday
• Cook at home often and pack your lunch and snacks when you go out

If you find it hard to plan your meals and stick to a healthy eating regime, you may consider seeking help from expert nutritionists. They can help you plan your meals and customize them as per your busy schedule and lifestyle habits.

Learn the art of saying NO

This two-letter word can go a long way in helping you stay healthy and fit. Instead of obliging everyone, learn the trick of subtly saying ‘No’. Say no to:

• Unhealthy eating habits
• Junk food
• Carbonated, high-calorie drinks
• Late night parties (choose your beauty sleep in its place)
• Cigarette and alcohol abuse

Track your progress

Monitoring your progress keeps you motivated to continue your fitness journey. So step on the scale or measure your inches, once ever week or fortnight, to track your weight loss efforts. However, if you don’t see much progress, don’t lose hope. As an alternative, you should track back to what you might have done wrong – a cheat day, a missed fitness session, or a late night dinner – that might have hampered your weight loss efforts and try to stay away from it in future.

Reward yourself

It is important to appreciate yourself and your body for all the efforts that you are putting in. So, whenever you reach a milestone in your weight loss journey, reward yourself with a small piece of cake, a small scoop of ice cream, or your favorite food and celebrate your success. This is one of the most important ways to stay motivated and sane.

So, this Independence Day, make your health a priority and set yourself on a path to become the better and stronger version of yourself.

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