#ApneTareekeSeHealthy, Here are My Super Easy Ways to Being Healthy and Fit

"Health is wealth"

We all love our family. We want our loved ones to stay fit and healthy. Good nutrition and regular exercise are an important part of adopting a healthy lifestyle. We all know that making the right food choices can prevent many serious health problems such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Being a homeopathic physician and mom of two young kids, I believed in a concept of natural living, real food and a holistic approach to healthcare and I always try to find simple and smart ways to keep myself and my family healthy.

I would like to do a big round of applause to Blogadda and saffola for initiating such a great campaign. And I am supremely excited to share my ways of being healthy. Also, love to read the ways how other people maintain their health during routine hectic life schedule. So, let’s first begin with healthy and balanced diet.

First way to being healthy- eat healthy, nutritious and balanced diet

As a general rule, a healthy and balanced diet is a diet that contains the right amount of all the food groups.  It includes carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals, fat, and fiber in a proper amount. And we should always try to include these important nutrients in our routine diet for staying fit and healthy. But it is not as easy as it sounds.

During routine life, hectic work schedule and limited time often create a challenge for preparing a healthy and balanced meal.  Making a healthy and balanced meal with limited time definitely, requires a pre-preparation and some smart strategies.  Sometimes, few simple but smart eating (and cooking) changes in our dietary habits, can optimize the nutritional value of our routine diet.

 Here I am sharing some of my favorite and simple ways to eat (and cook) healthy and balanced diet for my family.

Advance menu planning- pre-preparation and menu planning is the first and the best thing to make a healthy and balanced meal in limited time. I always prefer to sort out some healthy and quick recipes during a weekend for upcoming weeks. And try to select those recipes that cover the recommended daily requirement of each nutrient. With a little preparation, planning your meals in advance can help you eat a more nutritious and well-balanced diet during busy weekdays.

Shop smartly- smart shopping is my second important strategy to make a balanced meal.  It is the best way for providing safe and healthy food for your family. Usually, we tend to buy and eat same food products over and over again. And it may be a major cause of nutritional deficiency in our diet.  So, I love to be a little adventurous for changing the settled routine. I always try to buy and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Read labels and select the appropriate product is another simple strategy that helps in healthy shopping.

Start the main meal with a vegetable platter- this is another simple but effective way to include more vegetables in your routine diet. I always start my main meal with an attractive vegetable platter (preferably raw) with some healthy dressing. This step allows me to fill up sooner and help in eat less in the following meal. It is a simple way to maintain our vegetable requirement for the day. It helps in adding fibre in the diet and also a great source for healthy weight management.

Healthy snacking with fresh fruits and dry fruit- I had observed that unhealthy and processed food snack is the major cause of unnecessary calorie intake and may cause obesity and metabolic disorders at the young age. Eating a nutritious and healthy snack can boost your daily intakes of essential nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

Replace the white bread and white rice with brown bread and brown rice- scientific studies suggested that brown rice and brown bread both are the finest source of vitamin B-complex, fibers and proteins. While white bread and white rice made with the refined flours. Refined carbohydrates are low in essential nutrients and have been linked with the range of health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and obesity. So why not replace the white bread and white rice with brown bread and brown rice? It is a healthier option and helps us feel full for a longer period of time. 

Pay more attention to method of cooking

Apart from maintaining nutritional requirements, it is equally important to use a healthy method of cooking. Deep frying or overcooking often destroys nutritional elements of healthy cooking ingredients. So, try to use alternative healthy ways of cooking (such as steaming or stir-frying) is a great way to keep nutritional value of cooking ingredients intact.

So with these ways, I try to maintain a healthy eating schedule for me and my family. Now, it’s time to talk about exercise. Definitely, it is really hard to maintain a strict and regular exercise schedule during routine hectic days. But as our campaign says, we have to find #ApneTareekeSeHealthy  way to keep ourselves motivated for doing the regular physical activity every day.

Second way “Regular exercise”

Here are some of my favorite ways to maintain a regular exercise schedule during routine hectic days.

• ·         I believed it is more a mind game. In simple words, you have to prepare yourself mentally for doing exercise regularly. If you win the “mind game”, there are higher chances that you would be able to maintain your schedule most of the days.
• ·         To keep myself motivated I always read the interviews or podcasts of fitness enthusiasts persons. They often share the simple ways to do exercise regularly without taking extra stress. I always try to follow their advice to keep myself motivated.
• ·         Usually I try to make exercise as a “family activity”, too involved each and every person in the family. It is a fun and creative way to spend time together. And it helps in maintain an exercise schedule too.
• ·         Though it is good to pre-plan your exercise schedule and I also love to do that. I love variations such as some days I like to precise gentle yoga, while on some days, a quick aerobic workout works great for me.

Definitely, there are some days when I wouldn’t be able to follow pre-plan strategies, during those days I prefer just

1. ·         To take a walk in my backyard
2. ·         Use staircase instead of lift
3. ·         Play a game with my kids
4. ·         Go for regular errands by walking    

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These tiny steps help me maintain at least some kind of physical activity and fitness schedule.

So these are my ways to keep myself and my family healthy and happy. What are yours? Please share!

I am joining Saffola #ApneTareekeSeHealthy initiative and sharing my ways of being healthy in association with Blogadda