Keep fit - tips to overcome this long term battle

 Last time I talked about my experience - how I get my body fit and strong, and how I benefit through exercise and my life changes. This time I am going to emphasize how to keep fit in long term.

When I was young I wanted to lose weight, so I just eat less and exercise. When I get thin, I still tried to eat less but I stopped exercising. So I got fatter and I felt frustrated, finally I got back to the original shape again. Later I didn't realize that I didn't have correct motives and I had wrong concept of keeping fit. 


Keep fit is long term battle, you need to bear in mind the following points:

1. To have correct motivation
It is NOT ONLY to lose weight, to get perfect body shape. It is all about having a HEALTHY body, to make you feel stronger, to conquer the diseases. 

2. ONLY eat less won't help you to keep fit in long term

Eat less can help you to lose weight and get slimmer, but can you eat less for your whole life? When you have meals with friends in the restaurant, can you not to eat or can you not to be tempted to eat as much as your friends? 

Actually eating less at some point will make you feel stressful, because when you eat a bit more than usual, you will worry that you will gain weight and you will regret. 
In fact, under stressful state, you will eat more and you wouldn't notice.

3. Exercise & training
Exercise & training is important to lose calories and helps to improve your metabolism. When you consume food, you are inputing energy and fat in your body, so you need to consume the energy and fat in your body through exercise & daily activities. Otherwise it will accumulate in your body i.e. calories and you become fat.

What do you have in mind about exercise? running, swimming, cycling? these are cardio exercise (= aerobic exercise), which can help you to burn fat. However, once you stop doing cardio exercise, which means you stop burning fat, even you are eating less, you will gain weight.

So what can you do? You need both cardio exercise and muscle training. When you decrease the fat portion in your body, at the same time you need to increase your muscle portion. If your body contains more muscle than fat, you will have less chance to lose your fit body shape.

4. To have healthy life style

Healthy life style means to eat healthily, sleep early and wake up early, have social activities (meeting friends, hobbies). It can keep you happy and relax, leads to positive physical and psychological effects.

Right time & right food.
Consume healthy food means have balance meal. Really balance meal - carbohydrates, protein, fiber, fat. LESS sugar and salt. I'm eating rice, pasta, meat, vegetables, fruits, desserts... I also eat snacks, ice-cream...(YES!! read it again) but I eat less snacks and desserts (e.g. once per week), to avoid taking in too much salt & sugar.

Do NOT eat too late, try to eat early everyday. Your stomach needs time to digest food before you go to bed.

5. Do NOT expect you can become fit in only few weeks or a month

You might see a lot of stars can lose weight in only few weeks, but you do not know what cost they paid. They might take medication, or not to eat and do a lot of exercises... It is NOT healthy to lose weight within short period, your body is under shocked when you lose weight too vigorously.

Do not expect to have great changes within short time - your motivation is important here (see point 1). You want a healthy fit body! Even though you do not see your body shape changes in short time, do not feel frustrated, because you can see changes in long term. You will look healthier and more energetic when you change your life style and exercise yourself.

6. Do NOT set too high objective

If you want to lose 10kg within 1 month - I can tell you it is IMPOSSIBLE! Just like I'm asking you to drive like an experienced driver after 2 hours of lesson.

Set reasonable & achievable objectives. For example, as a beginner, set your objective as exercise twice per week, eat dessert & snacks only during weekend...
Also, try to stick to your objectives, you can make little exception if it is necessary. It can keep your psychological state healthier, you will have less chance to give up.

When you can achieve the objectives and when you feel more comfortable, you can set higher objectives. Then you can adapt the changes little by little, it is easier to maintain and achieve your objectives in this way.

I hope after reading this article, you will start paying attention to your health and start this long term battle together!