Sometimes feeling fitter seems a world away, but here are five ways you can change your habits and start getting healthier right now.
There are major life changes – cutting out cigarettes, taking up a daily jog – which sound great on paper, but which demand serious commitment and support. However, there are also some smaller changes to your habits that you can get started on today, and these will also reap small but important benefits for you.
Think about what you are eating
That probably sounds a little obvious, but actually, if you spend just a couple of days making a note of everything you eat and drink you will be amazed how little extras soon mount up. Stripping out these other things – if you tend to finish off the kids’ meals when they’ve had enough, for example – will instantly improve your diet and make you feel fresher even without going on a major diet mission.
See the funny side
Laughter is strong medicine – it triggers the release of endorphins, which helps to relieve pain, as well as boosting your body’s production of infection-fighting antibodies. It also increases the blood flow through your heart, which can help protect you from heart attacks. Not only that, but a good chortle relaxes muscles and fights stress, with the effects lasting up to 45 minutes.
Break the sugar cycle
The trouble with bad habits is that they’re so hard to break… aren’t they? Well, in the case of overeating the wrong foods, it might be easier than you think. The trick is to understand that munching on processed, high sugar snacks causes your blood sugar to rapidly rise and then dip dramatically afterwards, setting up a craving for more cake. Ignore the call of the biscuit tin for a day, and fill up on complex carbohydrates during meals, i.e. those based around starchy wholegrain foods. Suddenly, that bar of chocolate isn’t quite such a life-or-death essential!
Count alcohol units
Overindulging in alcohol is one of the worst things you can do for your body, and it’s all too easy to let the quantities build up quietly to a dangerous level. Do your liver, kidneys, heart and brain cells a favour by sticking to 14 units a week if you’re a woman, and 21 if you’re a man, and don’t clock them up in a couple of drunken sessions, either! Stick to a glass or two with a meal every now and then and you should be fine, but to be on the safe side, always keep a tally of what you’re drinking, and bear in mind that wine glasses in bars and restaurant are getting bigger, and could hold as many as three units in some cases.
One small glass (175ml) of wine is about two units and that is for an ABV 12% wine, bear in mind that many bottles of wines these days are 13% or even 14%.
Get out in the sun
Too much exposure to harmful UV rays is dangerous, but in moderation a stroll in the sunshine has all kinds of health benefits, thanks to the vitamin D our bodies manufacture as soon as sunlight hits the skin. As well as preventing rickets, some scientists think this hormone-like vitamin can help protect us from heart disease, diabetes, tuberculosis, certain cancers and even multiple sclerosis.