Keeping It Simple

Without going into too much technical lingo, I wanted to write a brief article about keeping things simple and not over thinking your approach to exercise or weight loss.

I guess the most important place to start would be to say that even if you're not going to do much, just do something. What I mean by this is there's no need to jump straight into an advanced training program or extremely strict diet. Even if you just go for a walk around your neighbourhood or do some body-weight exercises at home; anything is better than nothing.

People sometimes get discouraged right from the start because they think that if they don't follow a professionally-made routine or follow a really strict diet they're not going to achieve their goals. That's simply not true. You can't run before you learn to walk. It's easy to find a simple exercise routine, and it's even easier to walk outside for an hour a day.

When it comes to changing one's diet, simply substituting things like refined carbohydrates for more whole foods like fruits and vegetables are little steps you can take. These keep you fuller for longer because of their fiber content, and provide your body with all the vitamins and minerals it's missing. Tons of research has shown their potential to help in weight loss, not to mention their health benefits. Generally if anyone asks me for any advice on how to change their diet the first thing I would recommend is switching to whole foods. Anything that's processed or has more than 2 or 3 ingredients shouldn't be consumed (especially if you can't pronounce the ingredients). I wouldn't expect people to make the switch overnight; when I first changed my diet it took about a year for it to be about 90% clean. I still within moderation eat some processed food, but in my opinion they're much much cleaner than what processed food can get to.

I've been approached by a few friends and randoms over the last couple of years that have asked me specifically about my diet, and I find the biggest issue is that people don't really know where to begin when looking for advice. I'm by no means a nutritionist or have any formal knowledge in that field, but I try and keep my advice as general and 'applicable to everyone' as possible. Hopefully people are in it for the long term and don't seek advice for a quick weight-loss scheme. Chances are it will rebound once they've reached their desired weight unless they take steps to make sure it's more of a lifetime change.

Once people start to realize that the choices they make regarding what to eat affects not only them, but such things as their local economy and the environment, I think it becomes easier to see that keeping it simple is really the best approach.

A few simple pointers. Try and incorporate these over a few months, no one will get them all right away.

-Spend more time in the produce section
-Spend less time in the middle part of the supermarket, the perimeter usually sells more natural food (try it and see)
-Buy food that was grown locally
-Substitute frozen pizzas for home-made pizza (making dough isn't that difficult)
-Eat more fish, blueberries, and nuts
-Drink more water and green tea
-Veggies keep you full so they're great as snacks. Eat them without limit
-Try and chew your food more. More chewing 'tells' your brain you're fuller and helps with digestion