#Slimturn4- My Fitness Mantras for Good health and Long life!

I am so excited to be a part of blog birthday celebration of Zainab from slimexpectation.com.my heartiest congrats to her for completing 4 sucessful years of blogging.

Also, I big congrats to Geethica from thoughtsbygeethica.com for being an awesome co-host of this celebration.

I had read few great posts for this blog birthday celebration linky party. and now, I am all set to share my post for the prompt “My fitness mantras”

What is meaning of fitness?

Nowadays, we lived in a highly influential world and we always had a constant pressure of doing good in all aspects of life.

“Being fit” has become a kind of fancy term and nowadays people of all ages want to stay fit and healthy. and sometimes they consider term “fitness” related to only external look or physical appearance. but in reality, being fit or healthy is not only limited to our physical health.

“Being healthy or fit includes our mental, physical, social, and emotional well being. it is about combination of all these factors.

Personally, I also believe in the same fact. for me, being healthy and fit includes the physical, mental, social and emotional well being.

in this post, I am trying to sharing some mantra that helps me in stay fit and healthy even during hectic routine days.

Physical health

First mantra to stay fit

Eat healthy and 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.

Read this post to know more tips about healthy and clean eating. 

healthy eating-nothing is impossible 

Second Mantra “Regular exercise”

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

1. ·         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.
2. ·         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.
3. ·         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.
4. ·         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    

• ·         To take a walk in my backyard
• ·         Use staircase instead of lift
• ·         Play a game with my kids
• ·         Go for regular errands by walking    

So, these are some points that helps me stay fit and healthy. though, all these factors helps in staying fit mentally too. still, I try to pay enough attention to my mental and emotional health too.

Mental and emotional health

Here are some steps that helps me in stay fit mentally and emotionally too.

I always keep a watch on my mental stress level and try to manage it with best possible positive ways such as, by doing meditation for at least 15 minutes, having a quick conversation with my mom, dad or brother. with this simple steps my mental stress level get reduced and I feel refreshed and emotionally strong.

despite being a blogger, I use social media wisely and only for limited fixed time. I always try to use the power of digital medium positively.

Reading good books and watching motivational videos also help me in staying mentally and emotionally fit.

Try to keep myself surrounded with positive people.

Keep myself engage in various creative activities to get rid of from routine mental stress.

I try to avoid compare myself or my life with others. and this tiny step helps me in stay fit mentally.

I never hesitate to discuss my problems with my friends and close family members. and this thing also give me emotional strength.

so these are some steps that keeps me mentally and emotionally healthy.

These are my mantras to stay fit and healthy. what are yours? please share.

this post is a part of #Slimturn4 blog birthday celebration hosted by Zainab from https://slimexpectations.com/ and Geethica from https://thoughtsbygeethica.com/

Please do visit their blogs to read their awesome posts.