Lifestyle Modification: No Big Deal!

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"If you wish to grow thinner, diminish your dinner." - H.S. Leigh

Our lifestyle is instrumental in deciding our health status. Unfortunately most of us live an unhealthy life, rooting for various bad choices around us.

Howsoever clich�' it might sound by adopting and practicing certain very simple and convenient day to day lifestyle changes, we can lead a much better and healthier life.

Few are listed below:

1. Cut Salt

Those innocent looking white granules are actually not so harmless. A large quantity of salt intake (sodium) is one of the main reasons behind high blood pressure.

Recommended daily requirement is approximately six grams (a level teaspoon). But none of us are able to stick to this standard, thanks to bags of chips, processed/junk food, and other fried snacks in addition to our normal intake of regular meals-all generously topped with salt and ajinomoto.

Try to stay away from condiments such as pickles, sauces, and papads. Even their smaller portions are loaded with salt to preserve and balance the other strong flavors in them.

2. Stairs, Not Lift

Escalators save time and effort. Agreed. But opting for stairs can protect you from deadly ailments in the long run.

Climbing stairs is actually a workout in itself. It is a high intensity exercise promoting cardio-respiratory benefits, which is free of cost and easily accessible, anytime, everywhere.

Stair climbing does not actually mean you have to reach your office on the seventh floor in one go. Don't over exert yourself. Rest for a minute on each floor. Then proceed again.

With a steady pace, climbing stairs for five minutes can make you burn a whooping 140 calories.

3. Easy On Sugar

Personally I have nothing against sweets but there is actually no need for refined sugar in our diet. Refined sugar is basically a form of carbohydrate and our daily requirement of carbohydrate (which is approx. 130 gm/day) is generally met by all other sources of food items.

If we cannot resist all those sweetened desserts, try those that use a healthier option, honey.

Technically speaking, one table spoon of honey has more calories than table sugar but since it is much sweeter than table sugar, we eventually end up consuming lesser calories. Also, wherein, table sugar is all "empty calories", honey is full of minerals and vitamins.

4. Exercise, Unintentionally

Most of us don't exercise because we hate the word in itself. It seems too much of an effort to get all geared up in the gym accessories and work out in a monotonous manner.

Apart from the regular gymming, there are several ways to put your body at work, that too without even realizing it. For instance cycling, walking, taking your pet for a walk, or playing with kids are all such activities.

Make it interesting by listening to music or taking your friend along.

5. Develop a Hobby

Another option to sweat without cribbing is putting all that effort into something you enjoy doing.

Fast-paced dancing, swimming, and playing an outdoor game will all burn hundreds of calories in an hour. Trust me you will not even realize how the time passed while you were enjoying (actually exercising) your favorite hobby.

6. Interesting Food Swaps

Without compromising much on taste, you can actually savour the healthier version of that particular food item.

Swap mayonnaise dip with flavored hung curd, french fries with baked potato wedges, ice cream with frozen fruit pulp, full cream milk with skimmed milk, and so on. The list is endless and all you have to do is use your imagination and be a little creative.

7. Early Dinner

Eat an early and light dinner. Almost an hour and half before the bed time. Since we hardly have any physical activity towards the latter part of the day, the calorie burning goes down steeply.

So, in order to give ample time to our stomach for proper digestion of food, it is advisable to eat by the end of the evening.

Easier said than done, but taking even a small step towards a healthier way of living can make a huge difference. Try practicing at least one of the above mentioned variation in the whole day, and in no time you will start reaping the results�a fitter and trimmer You!