We aim to attain a healthy and toned body, to get into those old jeans that have been in the cabinet for the past few years. And overcoming procrastination or even laziness and finally hitting the gym regularly takes a lot of focus. The main advantage of taking care of yourself and your health is that you can feel much more satisfied.
Also, you will boost your confidence and perform better in both your private and professional life. Moreover, having a healthy diet and being physically active will help you prevent any potential health issues. A lot of people are struggling with self-esteem, and one of the main reasons for that is being overweight.
This is a common problem of modern society because there are fast food restaurants available on every corner, and most of us are eating a lot of processed food and beverages with lots of sugar.
Even if you are trying to pay more attention to your health, there a few mistakes that you might be doing that are hurting your health goals. Let’s cover a few of them below.
Table of Contents
Five mistakes hurting your health goals
1. Not drinking enough water in a day
When getting on to your weight loss journey, the first, and most important advice you will get to attain your weight goal is to consume more water in a day. Something that most of us tend to forget. Try and think of water like breathing, so the more you breathe, the more water you should be taking, and when working out, plenty of water will help your body recover quicker. Did you know a glass of water instantly increases your energy levels and allows nutrients in your body to flow freely, and this helps in healing and building your muscle? In this regard aim for about 2.5 – 3 litres of water in a day. Nevertheless, we have to mention that you should avoid vitamin water, which is a very popular product in recent years. However, there are no proven benefits from it, and it contains a lot of sugar as well.
2. You’re not consuming enough healthy fats and carbs.
When you are plating the meal think of your plate as a three-legged stool, one of the legs is the carbs your body needs for energy, the other is fats, and the other is protein. We all know that proteins are essential when losing excess weight, leading us to plate more proteins than carbs and fats. However, we forget our bodies need other essential nutrients that are not in proteins. As a result, pair your proteins with some complex carbs and essential fats. Carbs act as the fuel when you are active, and healthy fats will give you all the good nutrients and minerals to keep you healthy. You can read about many diet plans that are suggesting you lower the intake of carbs. However, the best way to get a proper diet is to consult with a professional who can determine the best nutrition plan according to your body. On the other side, we have to mention that while many people were suggesting that people should avoid fats, it is sugars that are the main issue that is causing obesity.
3. Not sleeping or resting enough
Sleeping is important when getting into a healthy lifestyle, but your sleeping times tend to suffer from your busy schedule. Your day starts at dawn in the gym, straight to work or your day’s errands, back home for dinner, family time then bedtime, having your day ending at around 11 pm. With such a program, you don’t put in enough hours for sleep, which is essential for your body to recover from the day’s activity. With quality sleep, you wake up feeling younger and stronger, ready to tackle the tasks of the day. If you are having issues with your sleep patterns, various techniques might help you. For example, you can try to create a schedule or change the ambient in your room to make it more relaxing. Also, yoga is a very effective method that can help you to relax and improve the quality of your sleep.
4. Too much cardio is not suitable for you.
When we think weight loss we immediately imagine, we need to put in 2 hours of cardio five days a week to attain our weight goal. But this is not how to go about it for a healthy lifestyle. You’re not building on your muscles. Healthy muscles will quickly process the stored fat or the ones we consume throughout the day. Do some cardio to maintain a healthy weight and train your body to handle energy more efficiently but at the same time, squeeze a few sessions of weight lifting to build on your muscle. We know how challenging it can be when someone is struggling to lose weight, but nothing can be achieved overnight. Therefore, you should create a proper workout plan and make your activities more intense over time.
5. Do not ignore your body.
After a long break from the gym, your first week might strain your muscles and probably by the third day getting out of bed might be difficult. Your legs feel like jelly when you walk and everything hurts, this is not the time to stop, continue with your work out but do it less vigorous, listen to your body. Get a better understand of your body, when it is a ‘good sore’ you can continue training but don’t push too much when it is a ‘bad sore’, maybe a rest day would help your body recover. Another problem is that a lot of people will choose to ignore some indication about the potential health issues and think about how it will disappear over time by themselves. However, you have to be aware that it can only make those problems more serious in the end.
Conclusion
While modern society is rapidly developing and many inventions are making our lives easier, the main issue is that people are becoming less active. Also, we have to mention anxiety and depression as serious issues and the increasing number of people who are struggling with these challenges. One of the best solutions to deal with those problems is to find a way to feel more satisfied and motivated to achieve your goals.
People who struggle with low confidence find it harder to motivate themselves and start making some crucial changes in their lives. However, they must know that implementing some healthy habits can have a huge influence on every other aspect of life. It might seem hard at the start, but after you manage to make these habits a regular part of your life, progress is inevitable.