Fad-Free Fitness Tips

Image Source: Pexels

As a fashion-conscious individual, you want to look and feel your best. You’re willing to work hard to get the body you want, and maybe you’ve tried a few diets with limited success.

Unfortunately, many fad diets are just that – fads. While one may work for some people, it may be useless to others. Or, people can simply gain all the weight back after completing the diet.

So what are fitness tips that work? Read on to find out!

1. First, make sure you don’t have an underlying health condition.

If you struggle with weight, you may want to visit your doctor to see if you have an underlying health condition that’s making it hard to get fit. Some people, especially women, struggle with hypothyroidism, which may make it harder to lose weight.

Hypothyroidism means you have an underactive thyroid. Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that regulates metabolism and other bodily functions. Symptoms of an underactive thyroid (i.e., hypothyroidism) that isn’t making enough hormones to regulate metabolism appropriately include:

  1. Fatigue
  2. Depression
  3. Weight gain
  4. Menstrual and fertility problems
  5. Slow heart rate
  6. Low cold tolerance

Hypothyroidism is typically treated with Synthroid®, a synthetic hormone. You can purchase this at an affordable price from an international or Canada drug referral site that ships prescription drugs from licensed pharmacies abroad.

2. Find a diet plan you can actually stick to.

Whether it’s Mediterranean or Atkins, keto or paleo, it seems like every year there’s a new trendy diet. You may even hear some pretty impressive success stories. But everyone is different, and one diet can’t work for everyone. Depending on your health conditions, some diets may be outright harmful to you.

So, before going on a new diet, talk to your health-care professional for further advice.

But at the end of the day, a good diet is one you’ll actually stick to. If you can’t imagine eating steamed vegetables for the rest of your life, you’ll probably cave quickly and return to unhealthy habits. Dieting doesn’t mean you need to give up all your favorite foods. Following just these tips can help you get significantly healthier:

  1. Design your diet around your real food preferences, including cultural preferences. If kale is not your thing, but bok choy is, eat plenty of bok choy as your vegetable, and don’t worry about missing out on kale.
  2. Portion size is important. You can still eat ice cream — just not that much. Ways to trick your brain into eating less include the following:
    1. Using smaller dishes and cups
    2. Pre-portioning chips instead of eating them out of the bag
    3. Eating slowly and mindfully
  3. Be suspicious of any product or plan with lofty claims. Diets that claim you can lose weight rapidly may be ineffective or even dangerous. Experts recommend going slow and steady.

3. Do an exercise you actually enjoy.

If you dread your twice-a-week fitness class, why are you doing it? Physical activity is an important part of losing weight and staying fit, but just like dieting, you’re more likely to stick to it if you actually enjoy it.

If you’re looking to add more physical activity into your life, get creative. For example, you can try:

  1. Outdoor sports, such as hiking, rowing, or swimming
  2. Active video games, such as Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Sports
  3. For the artistically-minded, dancing
  4. For added practicality, martial arts, and self-defense

You also don’t need to do hours of exercise at once. In fact, just doing 10-minute bouts of exercise is just as effective.

Furthermore, every minute counts! If you lead a busy life, or really dislike sports, you can easily build activity into your day by:

  1. Using the stairs instead of the elevator
  2. Taking a walk during your lunch break
  3. Getting a stand-up desk, or simply standing up at work if you can
  4. Getting off the bus a stop early and walking the rest of the way
  5. Taking a longer route or a route with an uphill climb

4. Think about the positives.

Rather than missing all the things, you’ll lose (ice cream, chips, lazy Sundays) while pursuing a fitness plan, ask yourself: what will your fitness plan give you?

  1. Focus on what you’ll get out of your plan, rather than what you’ll lose.
  2. Look forward to looking good. Don’t look forward to not looking ugly.
  3. Don’t think of dieting as cutting out foods, but think of it as making healthy and tasty additions to your palate.
  4. Focus less on the physical pain and strain of exercise. Instead, look forward to spending time in nature or socializing with your exercise buddy.

Finally, it helps to have a strong, value-driven motivation for pursuing your weight loss plan. Exercise and dieting can make you look great, but living healthfully is also good for your physical and mental health in general.

About The Author:

Alison Lee is a young freelance writer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She enjoys writing about finance, medicine, and health, among other topics.

Love to Share

Related Posts: