Fitness and your lifestyle!

Executive Fitness

Fitness and your lifestyle! Lifestyle modification can help us regain our levels of endurance and fitness, says fitness expert Anupa. Read previous articles here. In the last article, we actually saw some clans of people living their lives completely with the same health and agility as a child. We all can remember that as children we were like Nadia in gymnastics, Carl Lewis in running and any of our sports heroes. We have come a long way from there and have deteriorated our system by sheer inactivity and abuse. The inactivity has resulted in our body being out of shape and rhythm whereas the abuse has taken the form of a contaminated and untimely diet. The good news, however, as I had mentioned earlier, is that – both of these can be corrected by a little bit of lifestyle modification from our side. Post your queries here Two-step approach to this modification, namely: 1. Physical approach: The physical approach is through exercises for the body. Theses exercises have to be done on a regular basis for at least 6 hours a week. When a person who is actually ageing and ailing is able to introduce a 6-hour daily exercise regime into his lifestyle in the form of walking, cycling, yoga or endurance building exercises he sees a rapid improvement in the muscle to fat ratio; causing the metabolic rate – - the rate at which you burn calories - to increase. On the contrary, a reduction in the metabolic rate will make it difficult to lose weight and easier for fat to pile on. Building of muscle reverses the tendency to add fat and helps in remaining lean; the reason being that muscle burns more calories than fat even at rest. Building and maintaining muscle strength helps in the following; Enhancing the aerobic capacity Capacity to keep the blood pressure low Retain a healthy blood sugar tolerance To sustain the mineral density of the bones To stabilise the body’s ability to regulate internal temperature One of the most dangerous aspects of inactivity, which is a part of every corporate executive’s life style, is that it reduces the cells oxidative capacity i.e., the ability to burn oxygen. This is what results in fatigue in many executives who spend long hours in front of a computer system. The simple step of moving one's body can do wonders for all corporate executives. Increase the strength and endurance of your muscles and decrease the fat you carry around. This will ensure that you have a healthy, meaningful and independent life ahead. 2. Diet approach: The steps we take towards a healthy diet can make a marked difference even if we have eaten badly for the entire past. The reason being our body is the most dynamic creation. The cells lining our stomach are replaced every five days, the RBC about every four months and the liver cells in adult human every 300 to 500 days. Even the skeletal system is replaced once in a decade. This continuous regeneration is what that help us in creating a more meaningful tomorrow. Some steps towards this are: Avoid eating junk food. Rejuvenate your body. Eat slowly, chew well and digest fully. The stomach requires 20 minutes to register how full it feels. So give it sufficient time. Don’t buy anything that contains partially hydrogenated oil. Eat ketchups and jams that are fruit sweetened and do not contain added sugar. Try drinking soya milk instead of cow's or other animal. Try eating less or no meat. For protein, eat soya foods, other beans, peas, whole grains and nuts. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables rather than frozen or tinned ones. Eat fewer products made out of flour (bread, cookies, crisps, and pastries) and more of whole grains, beans, boiled potatoes and other vegetables. When you crave for something crunchy, try raw vegetables or nuts instead of chips. Put healthy snacks like nuts, fruits and vegetables in easily accessible parts of the refrigerator. Use monosaturated oils like virgin olive oil for regular cooking. Avoid heating the oil to smoking point. Eat walnuts, almonds and other nuts on a regular basis. This will give the required fat to the body. Instead of eating out, invite friends over to home for dinner. If at all you want to visit a restaurant go to the ones that serve healthy foods. The most important of the list – when you are mixing with people who don’t eat the same way as you do, don’t be ashamed, instead be proud of your healthy choice and you will soon find people following suit. Put these two approach into practice at the earliest without feeling penalised or victimised; this will be the first step in working towards a healthy future. If this movement is taken to the corporate executives at their work place, it would make a sea of difference in their performance and help them build positive relationships. Let’s put forth the first step and make a difference in our lives and the world around us. The author is a wellness coach and fitness trainer with Gemba, a HR consultancy firm. She can be contacted at anupa.m@sify.com. The views expressed in the article are the author's and not of Sify.com.

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