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- Keep a food and exercise diary – write down everything you eat,
drink (or chew!) and every type of physical activity you undertake.
You should also include water and supplement intake. Be honest –
this is the only way you will be able to assess what your pitfalls might
be and how you can improve your health and fitness.
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- Get enough sleep. Sleep allows your body to rest and recover –
both physically and mentally. Aim for six to eight hours every night.
- Make exercise fun – participate in a range of activities that
you enjoy. There are many fun ways to exercise, and you are more likely
to be active if you are also having fun. Try a fun run/walk with friends,
roller blading, surfing, bike riding, beach running, or dancing the
night away every Saturday!
- Create a healthy recipe book containing all your favourite meals,
from breakfast to desserts. This way you will always have a collection
of your favourite healthy meals on hand. Share them with friends, or
get together and swap.
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- Encourage friends or family members to exercise with you.
- Drink more water and unsweetened herbal tea rather than soft
drinks and coffee throughout the day.
- Make every meal an occasion and savour every bite rather than
gulping down your food. You might also like to set the table and
sit down with your family, rather than everyone eating separately
in front of the television.
- Do not punish yourself if you eat too much - simply get back
to your good eating habits as soon as possible.
- If you feel hungry, do not deny yourself – listen to
your body! But ask yourself if you are really hungry or if you
are just bored, angry, upset etc.
- Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry or upset –
only when you have planned a trip and have a list to follow.
- Plan and prepare your meals for the day ahead of time. For
example, grill a few kilograms of chicken breast, steam your vegetables
and cook rice, and then keep it all in the fridge, ready to eat
at meal time.
- Keep a shaker and BSc protein powder in your office, car and
gym bag so you always have a healthy and tasty snack on hand.
- Involve your family in meal planning and preparation.
- Avoid buffets, if possible. But if you have no choice, consider
portion size. Do not feel you have to eat as much as possible.
- Use the stairs rather than the lift, and walk rather than stand
still on escalators.
- If you use public transport, get off a few stops before your
regular stop so you have to walk further.
- If you feel too tired or unmotivated to exercise after work,
try getting up an hour early and exercising then. It will not
take your body long to adjust to early-morning exercise and you
will feel invigorated and more energetic during the day.
- Craving something sweet? Rather than reaching for the tub of
cookies and cream ice cream, try the BSc high protein version
– a high protein, low-carbohydrate, low-fat bar. The taste
nutritious content will satisfy your hunger and sweet tooth and
save you a few thousand calories.
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- Prepare most of your meals, rather than buying takeaway. Not only
will this save you money, but you will also know exactly what you are
eating. There are times when you will need to eat out/buy your lunch,
so stick to the better options, such as a chicken salad or wrap at McDonald’s
rather than a Big Mac and fries.
- Keep away from the scales - unless you are weighing your food! It
is easy to get obsessive about your weight, but scales are not an accurate
indicator of body composition (i.e. fat to muscle ratio. Muscle weighs
more than fat, so by following our program, your aim is to be leaner
(more ‘toned’) but your weight may not change, or it may
even increase. To get a more accurate picture of your body composition,
try using the tape measure and mirror, or simply go by how your clothes
fit and how good you feel.
- Smile! Maintaining a positive attitude is one of the keys to achieving
your goals – in every aspect of your life. Believe in yourself
and your ability and focus on all the good things in your life, rather
than anything less than perfect. Look around you and take notice of
the people who seem to attract ‘good luck’ – is it
luck or their attitude and self belief?
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