Today, people are more aware of their body fitness and they are willing to spend a few hours in places like gyms and health clubs. The number of people who depend on fitness centres are increasing day by day. This positive insight into self care is appreciable and this spirit needs to be continued. Finding some time solely for the purpose of taking care of yourself can help to keep you in perfect fitness and in a good state of mind.

Obesity is a common problem faced by a large number of people today. Even though dieting and exercising can help a lot to achieve health and fitness, wrong kind of exercises and diet patterns may affect your health adversely.

Below are some easy and useful steps to prevent or reduce obesity and its related health issues.

Choose the Right Kind of Diet

Dieting in the right sense means eating the right kind of food at right intervals. It is not totally avoiding breakfast, lunch or dinner and staying in an empty stomach. Doing so will result in health disorders rather than giving you the required fitness level.

We often tend to eat foods that taste good. The taste and flavor of junk foods and fast foods are an attracting factor to include it in  our menu. Through the consumption of junk foods, fast foods and packaged food products, a high amount of energy, saturated fat and salt enter our body. This is the reason why consumption of these types of foods, lead  to overweight and other health problems.

According to health care experts, Intake of wrong kind of foods including excessive amount of meat products and lack of exercise are considered as the main factors contributing to illnesses caused by modern day life style.

Eat Healthy

Eating healthy is a choice and for some people, it means skipping breakfast, lunch or dinner and forcefully cutting their favorite food items from the  menu. This type of faulty diet pattern will lead to several health issues mainly due to nutrient deficiencies. So, taking a balanced diet and exercising moderately is the practical and effective solution for achieving fitness. Lack of each essential nutrient can lead to some kind of disorders in your body. For example, calcium and protein deficiencies are related to osteoporosis and kidney disorders respectively.

• Skimmed milk, beans and fish are good sources of protein. Protein rich foods helps to feel full and delays appetite. Make it a habit of taking sprouted beans in the morning.

• Take fruits, vegetables etc. during meals or after meals.

• Selenium is a micro nutrient which helps to reduce fat from the stomach. Beans, onions, garlic, milk and milk products, chicken, fish  etc. are  good sources of this micro nutrient.

• Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily. During summer and in over exhausted days, drink more water. Make sure you are always well hydrated. Drink water half to one hour before or after meals.

• Drink fruit juice or buttermilk (made with ginger or ginger powder) along with meals. This helps to digest the food easily.

• Eat breakfast heavy, lunch and dinner light. Have meals on time. Perfect duration is between 4-5 hours. Eating food after being too hungry will lead to overeating, acidity, indigestion etc.

• Never skip breakfast. This is because we already starve for long hours when we wake up and get ready for breakfast. Suppose, If you had your dinner at 8pm and wake up at 6am in the next morning, you are already starving for about 8 hours.

• Reduce the consumption of unhealthy snacks, junk foods, sugary foods, preserved and packaged food products and food items that is made from white flour,

• Avoid diet sodas and packaged fruit juices. Drinks like diet sodas are deposited in the stomach as fat after digestion. Packaged fruit juice contains too much sugar.

• Eat plenty of fiber rich food. Appx. 30 gms of fiber is needed daily and we can not derive even 10 gms of fiber from the modern diet.

Keep Moving

Medical experts agrees with the fact that regular exercise plays a key role in improving one’s overall health (mental and physical). Lack of physical exercise can be as harmful as smoking or alcohol abuse. According to research, lack of physical activity is the major risk factors for cholesterol formation, diabetes, hypertension and other such lifestyle diseases.

Sticking to a healthy routine by including proper diet and proper exercise can
help to prevent obesity and other health related issues dominating in the modern society to a great extent.