5 most destructive habits which are making you fat, fatigued and flabby

I have seen people applying many tricks to remain healthy and lean. Some start lemon and honey empty stomach in morning, some start fruit diet, hot water, exercise, detox water, special pills and many more. Can they really help? Frankly speaking I have not come across a single person who showed me any significant result by doing these. With no offence to any of these remedies, I only want to share what really matters in your fitness regime. All these remedies might help if done consistently (although being consistent without any meaningful result for long time is most challenging), these will not and cannot have any meaningful impact until and unless you fix the important things. So, what is important? Read on to know about your 5 most destructive habits, which if transformed, your body will definitely transform.

 

1) You are eating too much of carbohydrates and too little protein: Probably this is the number one culprit which is making you fat. Indian diet is full of carbs and deficient in protein. On an average Indians eat double the amount of carbohydrate needed and half the required protein. All our favorite foods like Parathas, Poha, Idlis, Dosa, Tea toast, Pav bhaji, Sandwiches etc. are full of carbs with little protein. Your health is further spoilt by processed carbs (Maida, sugar, sugar syrups. Refined grains) and all the junk foods (pizza, burger, cola, candy etc.). Excess carbohydrates get stored as fat in the body and low protein leads to loss of muscles. Unhealthy carbohydrates spike your insulin level consistently which makes you fat. So what really matters is to have less of carbs, especially processed carbs and more of protein. Ensure first protein food in your meal then add little carb. Some people become super calorie conscious and this half cooked practice has emerged from this fact of avoiding unhealthy carbs. However, all macronutrients i.e. carbs, protein and fat have calories. You need to have a balance of all three nutrients instead of blanket avoidance of calories. Blanketly avoiding calories will lead to some kind of nutritional deficiency especially protein deficiency. In practical day to day life, it bottles down to avoiding excess carbs (especially processed carbs), it automatically balances your protein and fat.

2) You are eating in big portions, and you are overeating: This is the most underestimated area of improvement but it’s most important. Portion size means the size of your meal or the amount of food in one serving. Like 2 or 3 chapatis is your portion size. Normally our portion size has become bigger with the increase in the availability of food. In restaurants they serve you bigger meals per plate to charge you bigger…! Food is available so easily (it’s a click away on Zomato etc.) that at times we tend to eat even without hunger. We eat with a stressful mind. A stressful mind demands more and more food. Eating with gadgets or not eating with full focus on food also leads to over eating. When we eat fast we tend to over eat. As, by the time satiety hormone leptin signals brain, we have already overeaten. So, eating in bigger than required portions, stress, lack of sleep, gadgets, gossip, fast eating etc. all lead to overeating.

Ideally, we should eat palm size, so much only which can accommodate in your palms. Our stomach is only the size of our feast but its highly elastic. Eating bigger portions leads to unnecessarily higher calorie intake. Consistent bigger portion size leads to an increase in your appetite and distorts your satiety. This in turn leads to habitual higher calorie intake. So a peaceful mind, sound sleep and no gadget while eating policy is very important for mindful eating.

3)  You are under-sleeping: In this fast-paced life of over aspiration people tend to forget the importance of sleep. A lot many people give importance to exercise over their required sleep (7-8 hours per day) . Over worked plus over exercised plus under slept – is a typical combo, popular with high profile corporate executives, these days. This is a deadly combination..! Many young hearts are collapsing due to this combo.

Sleep is very important for your good health and of course in your weight loss journey. Sleep is when your body repairs and rebuilds itself, cleans up the toxins and organizes your memory. All these functions get disturbed if you don’t sleep properly.

Lack of sleep has many adverse effects on your health and weight. When you habitually under sleep (Less then 7-8 hours per night) it lowers your metabolism, impacts your immune system, disturbs your hunger pattern, disturbs your sugar-insulin cycle, causes stress, makes your muscles weaker and disturbs your balance. People who sleep less will eat more, feel fatigued and become cranky...! All this directly leads to obesity and poor health.

4)     You are drinking less water: Importance of water can be understood from the fact that 70% of our body is made of water. Proper water intake is essential for good health. Water cleans our system, carries nutrition in our body and plays a very important role in digestion and absorption of food. In-sufficient water consumption leads to indigestion and lower metabolism. However well you eat, but if you are not drinking enough water, it will not be properly digested, absorbed and carried (nutrition) in your body. How much is sufficient? As a thumb rule you should drink one liter of water for each 20 kg of your body weight. It should be a maximum of 4 liters

5)     You are not exercising moderately: Moderate exercise is quint essential for good health. But before moving on to fix your exercising habit you must fix the abovementioned habits first. Otherwise, it’s same as ‘running your car without proper fuel, lubricant, water and rest...! How does it sound? If done properly (with the fulfilment of nutritional needs of the body) exercise has umpteen number of benefits. To name a few, it boosts your metabolism, releases happy hormones thus triggering positivity and de-stressing you, it strengthens your muscles, burns extra calories and many more. You don’t need rigorous exercise for general health, until and unless you have athletic goals. You just need 30-40 min cardio 4 days a week coupled with two 30 minutes sessions of strength training. That’s it...! Practically speaking it doesn’t need too much time or effort if you are committed to your good health. Along with exercise try to remain on the move during the day. Do not sit for longer than 30 minutes at a stretch. Each 30 minutes’ walk for a while, stretch, take deep breaths, smile, and get back to work. It’s quite simple. Isn’t it?

Friends, there are many other things which can be or should be taken care of but these 5 are the pillars These 5 habits cover 80% part and really moves the needle. If you fix these 5 habits, trust me, soon you will see results coming out. There are many embellishments, fancy attractive jargons, intellectual discussion, fashionable trends but basics matter the most.