I’ve never been one for fad diets, crash diets or other unhealthy ways to get rid of body fat.
For me, it’s all about getting as healthy as possible and letting the body do it’s thing. It’s amazing the changes to every aspect of life this approach brings. Not just the number on the scales or the fit of your jeans, but also your energy and ‘get up and go’, the clarity of your thoughts, your mood and the way your body moves and feels.
For a lot of people though, doing what’s needed to get in shape, and health, are not one and the same thing. And there are ways to get in shape which aren’t all that healthy but do still work.
So, what’s the point in trying to do things the healthy way?
For me, it comes down to one thing: the future.
It’s a lot easier to lose weight and keep it off if you’ve made a true lifestyle change. Did you know 90% of people regain weight they’d lost, within 3 years. Ninety percent!
If you want to be one of the 10%, you’re going to need to make a change to your whole life, and not just make changes until you look how you want to look then go back to what you were doing before.
Beyond this, if we’ve yoyo dieted our way through life and poured goodness knows what processed ‘slimming’ food and drink down our throats repeatedly for weeks at a time, should it really be a surprise that things start going wrong in our bodies?
One of the latest buzz words in the health world is ‘health span’ as opposed to ‘life span’ – it’s about keeping us healthy for a bigger percentage of our lives.
As we age, our digestion changes, our hormones change and there’s potential for bone, joint and mobility changes too. If we look after our bodies well with good nutrition, good exercise and good recovery, our chances of an improved health span is increased.
Ultimately, I feel that keeping ourselves healthy is a priority. The fact that this has positive knock on effects on how we look in a pair of jeans is just an added bonus.