.png)
Top Ten Ways To Keep Fit
Posted: October 25, 2021
Yes, changes may be needed, but the little things are compounded each day to keeping fit.
For most people, the issue with keeping fit isn’t starting - it's maintaining it. Staying fit is a great way to not only improve your physical appearance but to improve your overall mood and mental well-being.
Keeping fit can be a struggle over time, but the benefits definitely outweigh the costs. With some commitment and small lifestyle changes, you can reap the rewards for years to come.
In this Ellis Academy blog, we are going to give you the top ten ways to keep fit:
Eliminate bad habits
Well, try to reduce them as much as possible. Habits in the eliminate category would be smoking, drugs, and other unhealthy addictions. These aren’t viable choices when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. You can’t expect things to improve overnight, it's a long process, but it is worth it in the end if you want to keep fit.
On the other hand, some habits are not too bad but can become a problem if taken too far. These include alcohol, sugar, caffeine, and junk food. These can be consumed within moderation if the majority of your choices are healthy.
Be Kind And Work Out Your Purpose
Michelle Seger says, “The only way we are going to prioritise time to exercise is if it is going to deliver some kind of benefit that is truly compelling and valuable to our daily life,”
Find your purpose as to why you want to keep fit, make it long term rather than short term. Be kind to yourself, it won’t be easy but once you transition your mindset and lifestyle these choices and habits will become second to none.
Nutrition
Eating healthy is gives your body the nutrition it requires. It takes care of your bodily needs and addresses health issues. Avoid junk foods, fizzy drinks, caffeine, and sugary drinks to save from unhealthy additions to the body. We suggest eating fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. All of this helps energise and optimise body functioning.
12MinuteAthlete recommend sticking to an 80/20 nutrition plan. Eating healthy 80% of the time. When starting a completely new regime it’s near impossible to be perfect 100% of the time.
Plus, when have you ever someone in great shape constantly eating healthily? Cause I know I haven’t.
For the most part, fit people don’t diet—they make healthy eating a part of their lifestyle.
Exercise
If you’re one of those people who absolutely dreads every minute of your treadmill workout, and hate it even more once you’re there, it’s time to find a different approach to exercise.
People find a way to enjoy exercise, and I’ll go even further to suggest they enjoy it. If you really hate to exercise, the problem may be with your workout, not you. Everyone enjoys different things—I used to hate working out when running was all I did, but ever since I discovered Jiu-Jitsu, I can hardly go a day without looking forward to it.
Drink More And More Water
Water is detoxifying. For optimum functioning of the body, our body needs proper hydration. And the single most productive aid to this is water.
It is recommended that we drink 8 glasses (237ml) of water daily. After all, it is a natural healer.
Yoga And Meditation
Yoga connects the mind, body, and soul. It is self-care, healing, exercising and everything in between. Research has shown both yoga and meditation to be a powerful addition to inner and outer health, as it simplifies living and heals.
Sleep
Getting enough sleep is essential for helping you maintain optimal health and well-being. When it comes to your health, sleep is as vital as exercise and eating a balanced diet.
On average the recommendation is around 7-9 hours per night, the benefits of this includes:
- Better productivity
- Lower weight gain risk
- Better calorie regulation
- Greater athletic performance
- Lower risk of heart disease
- Stronger immune system
Staying Active Outside The Gym
The key is to make it a lifestyle and not just certain choices that have to be done during the week. So, here’s are a few ideas of how you can incorporate staying active in everyday life and not just the gym:
- Walk whenever possible
- Pick active weekend activities like bike rides, hikes or adventures
- Take the stairs
- Choose active vacations or whilst you’re away walk up and down the beach, go swimming. There’s plenty of things you can do
- Get up and move whenever you can
Focus On Consistency
To keep fit, the key component is consistency. When looking at the bigger picture you don't need to make too many changes at once or you will risk falling back into your old habits. Making these choices a part of your lifestyle will help you to reach your health goals.
Friends
You are the average of your circle. Look around you and question whether the people closest to you reflect you as a person, or more importantly the new you with a completely different lifestyle and mindset.
If your friends are constantly eating poorly and not exercising, what do you think you will do? Probably the same.
And the opposite applies too. If your friends are going out eating at healthy restaurants, playing football or attending Jiu-Jitsu classes, you’re more than likely going to join in.
This may be difficult to digest if you have friends with unhealthy habits. But you can try and encourage them to be healthy too, with minor adjustments to their usual activities. On a more positive note, you can always meet new, more active friends.