Staying Healthy-2019

This is a follow-up post to my post on Weight Loss in 2019 which I wrote earlier this year. A lot of my friends asked me how I manage to stay away from sweets or be more or less regular with my exercise. Sometimes they tell me that I am a strict disciplinarian or that I have great will power. In today's blog, I would like to touch upon how I planned my 1st steps towards a healthy lifestyle. I am not yet there and have a long way to go but I am happy with whatever I have achieved so far.

The actual steps I took is available here. I would like to touch upon the 3 frequently asked question by my friends and colleagues.

How do I decide when to eat sweets?

I decided to eat sweets on 50 days of the year. For this, I just picked up the calendar and mark out all the birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions and festivals. These are days which call for celebration, so I definitely would consume some sweetmeats. You will still be left with about 20-25 days, just distribute it all year round, just make sure that they are not bunched to close together. With this, you have your visa ready.

How did I give up eating packaged foods?

I was never a huge fan of packaged foods. I would eat it occasionally, so it was not very difficult for me to give it up. I do make some exceptions, when I travelled to Europe last month, I did carry some packaged food. Being a vegetarian, it is hard to predict if I can find vegetarian food everywhere. Though it was not really necessary, it does come in handy and I do eat packaged foods then. It also helps if you do not stock up on unhealthy food stuff at home. You feel like eating these things only when these are in front of you or you know they are very accessible to you.

How did I build discipline towards exercise and healthy eating?

Honestly, there is no discipline or will-power that was built. You just need to love yourself enough, nurturing and nourishing your body and mind will come really naturally. When we love something, care follows automatically, without any effort or condition and this in turn makes you happy and also reflects on your exterior as well. So, only advice here is, learn to love yourself; caring for yourself will follow without any effort. No one else can love you more than yourself. It is not narcissistic and nothing to feel stupid or guilty about.