Fitness 101: Workout & Eat Clean
Now that summer is here and we finally don’t feel the perpetual need to be tucked into our winter cozy beds, I thought it would be fun to do a fitness post. In this post I’m going to share my favorite health tips, some quick snacks and basic workout that I LOVE to follow.
A little disclaimer: In no way are these ‘expert’ opinions! These are simply some tips that really work for me to live a healthy and happy lifestyle without entering any strange and mythical fad diets. So let’s begin!
I’m usually pretty strict with my self when it comes to working out but to be very truthfully, during exams I too slack and need a push. Assuming that I am sticking to my schedule I follow a five- day workout routine. Listed below are different types of workouts that I enjoy doing. I DO NOT follow all of these workouts everyday, but instead try and make permutations and combinations. So the day I’m playing golf, I’d like to do cardio or a home workout rather than hitting the gym 🙂
I play Golf at least three days a week (especially over the weekends). Contrary to popular belief Golf actually provides for a good workout especially if played on the course as there’s some serious walking involved. The game requires mental and physical strength, focus and patience. This sport not only helps with toning my hamstring, hips and arms but also makes me feel really uplifted all the day while increasing my confidence every time I play.
Notes: Golf requires discipline whether it may following the rules and regulations of any Club you play, etiquettes to be followed on the course and dress code while playing. There are numerous clubs in NCR where some are for members only and others opened for the public. Most Golf clubs also rent out Clubs (golf sticks) to play with incase you don’t want to invest in a new set as a beginner.
I have a fixed schedule written that I try to follow every week. I will not be sharing the detailed schedule on this post as each of and will probably leave it for next time 🙂
Warm up (10 mins on the Arch Trainer, Planks and Stretching everyday)
Day 1- Arms Workout: Push ups, Chest press, Incline Press, Dumbbell Chest Fly, Cable Curl, Biceps Curl, Pully Push down, Dumbbells Arm Extension
Dy 2- Functional Workout or an Abs, Butt, Thighs Class
Dat 3 – Legs Workout: Half squats, Full squats, leg press, leg curl, calf raises, cycling
Day 4- Arc Trainer, Rowing, Sit ups, laying jack knife, leg raises, side leg raises, walking
Day 5- Functional Training
When I’m not in the mood to go to the Gym, I try and do my workout at my Gym at home. Here, instead of following my schedule I go ahead and do one of the workouts from my favorite Nike Training App. This app is SO, so helpful. It not only gives you tons of workouts for every body part but also tracks your progress. There are 15-45 mins workouts available on this app making it really convenient if one if on a time crunch. I do these home workouts really often during my exam time when I don’t want to waste too much time going to a gym. Most of these workouts don’t even require any equipment other than basic dumbbells, a medicine ball, a skipping rope and maybe a treadmill to warm up.
An important part of any healthy lifestyle is to eat clean. A common misunderstanding is that healthy food is boring or simply just not yummy. To a great extent, I disagree with that. Eating healthy (most of the times) not only makes me feel fitter but also makes me happier and more energetic all day. Fatty and packaged foods are extremely yummy BUT they store fats in our body for hours making us feel down and out! I’m someone who’s just not into crazy detox diets which give a ridiculous weight loss outcome in no time. Not all this does weight bounce back quicker than you lost it; these diets have absolutely no nutrition that entering your system in a balanced way.
1) I absolutely LOVE food and if you read this blog, you’d know that.Whenever I go out, I try my best to pick the healthier option unless there’s something I am absolutely craving for. It’s really important to remember that it’s OKAY to eat what you want once in a while rather than constantly denying your self and then binging later on. This really works for me cause I never feel like I haven’t had a delicious ice-cream in years, or a steak and fries in months.
2) I try to substitute most unhealthy foods for their healthier alternatives. There are a number of ways this can be done:
Switch from refined Oil to Olive Oil/Coconut Oil
Have brown bread/multi grain bread instead of white bread,
Have brown rice/red rice/quinoa instead of white rice
Have brown pasta, instead of normal pasta! It tastes the same. Here’s one with fresh tomatoes and basil.
Make multi grain chapattis made of grains such as Bajra, Ragi, Jowar,flax seeds into the normal wheat flour.
3) I make it a point to eat every 2-3 hours ( 5-6 meals a day). I know that sounds quite a bit but when I say ” a meal”, that may simply mean some carrots with hummus or apple with peanut butter! The whole point is to not feel hungry and constantly keep your metabolic rate high.
4) The biggest meal in the day, of course is the BREAKFAST. Breakfast is the most important meal and it must be a nice sumptuous one with portions of carbs as well as proteins to kickstart a day! If you just can’t live without your paranthas, have them for breakfast! So long as that food is entering your system in the first part of the day and you’re working out, no harm done.
5) I always start my day with a fruit and green tea. In summers, I absolutely love Watermelons and Mango and during the winters, I love having apple or cherries. Along with the fruit, I’ll have a hot cup of green tea and then 15 minutes later, have a nice heavy breakfast.
Must/Try to Avoid:
1) Fruit Juices: Yes, even fresh fruit juices aren’t as healthy as they’re portrayed to be as the pulp of the fruit is what contains must of the vitamins! Stick to Smoothies instead. Packaged Juices are of course not good for you for their added sugars and flavors.
2) Sweeteners: Artificial Sweeteners aren’t good for you and we all know that. Trying to avoid sugar is a major battle for must of us and hence we try to go towards these sweeteners. If you can’t resist sugar, have honey, brown sugar or stevia!
3) Detox Diets: Any diet that involves no carbs at all, no natural sugars, no salt and only fruit is just NOT worth it. These diets are absolutely pointless as even though they make give instant results, the weight loss will NEVER be permanent/steady. Your body weight is bound to fluctuate with such diets along with making you sluggish and not feeling happy!
4) Looking at Weighing Scale: This ought to be the most important tip in this entire post. THERE IS NO POINT LOOKING AT THE WEIGHING SCALE if you want to “lose weight”. If you’re working out regularly and are doing weight training, it is highly likely that you may not lose as much “weight” as you would have anticipated. That is simply because MUSCLE IS HEAVIER THAN FAT. So, the muscle percentage in your body has increased, its likely that your weight may have fluctuated but you may have a massive INCH loss. So more than checking your weight, check your inch loss if absolutely needed.
Since I love food and I just cant imagine being on a starvation diet of any sort, rather than reducing any food quantity, I just try to eat healthier snacks during the day to keep my metabolic rate high. Most of these snacks are really easy to carry with you to work and office as well!
1) Chila – 2 thin portions made out of Besan (gram flour)
2) Peanut Butter and Apple Slices
3) Hummus with Carrots and Celery
4) Dark Chocolate for a Sugar Craving. The higher the Cocoa, better it is.,
6) Mixed/Assorted Nuts – Peanuts, Almonds, Walnuts
7) Seasonal Smoothie- Here’s how I make my favorite Smoothie (For one Glass)
One seasonal fruit (Mango/Banana/Musk Melon)
Soya milk (plain)/plain curd/almond milk/double toned milk/coconut milk (1/2 glass)
Stevia/brown sugar/honey (1 teaspoon)
Flax seeds (1 teaspoon)
Alovera gel (1 teaspoon)
Aamla juice (1 teaspoon)
Add one scoop of Whey protein if you’re having this smoothie after a workout
8) The healthy yummy sandwich – Multi grain bread, Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mustard, light cream cheese, boiled egg whites and a really lean meat if you’re craving for some.
10) Vegetable Juice (For one glass)
Alo Vera gel (1 teaspoon)
Pomegranate quarter cup
11) Bananas, Multi-grain toast and Peanut butter – This is deal for breakfast but also as a good snack to curb your hunger for a while!
12) Roasted Makhana or Euryale ferox
13) Popcorn available at street vendors (No oil/No butter)
As I said before, I’m not a fitness expert at all but I do love reading books related to the same. I highly recommend reading these three books by Rijuta Diwekar.
1) Women and the weight loss tamasha
2) Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight
3) Don’t lose out, work out
I really hope this post was useful in anyway! If it was, please share with your friends and family! Incase you want me to do more fitness related posts, do let me know on my Facebook page/ Instagram/Twitter or comment right here.