Hi there,
Today I want to tell you about how to lead a healthy life simply by having common sense.
When I was 17 years old, about the time I was entering college, I decided it was time to start “dieting”. It was time to stop eating pasta whenever I wanted, to drink malt (Venezuelan drink) with every meal, to snack on cookies, and to focus 100% on eating healthy.
I was never fat, and I always did sports since I was little, when it wasn’t tennis, it was swimming, or spinning and so on. But I was aware that I would not always have the metabolism of a girl.
I improved my diet. Now pasta was for once a week and at dinner I always ate salad. Imagine the emotional shock for my dad when he said he was going to make pasta for dinner, and I told him I was going to eat a salad with tuna. As a good Italian, that hurt him in the soul. My mom also began to worry and to see me “too skinny”.
I never needed anyone to put me on a diet or tell me how to eat, because it seemed obvious to me. I changed the fried stuff for the grilled stuff, the carbohydrates for the vegetables and the sweets for the fruit, as simple as that. In addition, I became a lover of green tea and all those things with “antioxidant” properties.
As I moved in an environment of gyms and sports people, it was not a strange thing. I was surrounded by people who didn’t smoke, consumed little alcohol, and took care of themselves.
When I went to live in Spain, the first shock was that the gym teachers were either fat, horrible, or smoked, or all the above. One goes to the gym to see what one wants to be. The gym teacher is supposed to be your model of physical perfection, so to speak. If I go to the gym and the one who teaches me the class is a horrible fat man, I will never return.
I came across eating habits or beliefs based on ignorance and that even the doctors themselves tell you to eat things that are not healthy at all.
People commit atrocities such as eating only chard for a month, living only with sachets and powders that replace meals, not having breakfast, not having dinner, etc. How easy it is to eat healthy and balanced.
I found out that when a person had an upset stomach or diarrhea, the doctor prescribed to eat sausage turkey. Really? When a normal doctor would tell you to eat white rice or boiled vegetables, in Spain the doctors tell you to eat sausage turkey, which is basically a bomb of chemicals, preservatives and sodium. If this is done by doctors, it is normal that the rest of the people are so wrong with their eating habits.
Then there are the athletes who do not lead the life of athletes. For example, the mates of Diego’s triathlon group, the only thing they have as athletes is that they do a certain training, for the rest, neither heathy food nor healthy lifestyle, quite the opposite. You see those men with big bellies and legs that are pitiful.
A friend once told me that “it didn’t matter what he ate if he then burned it off doing sports”. A fit body is 30% exercise and 70% food and if you spend your time eating crap, no matter how much exercise you do, you’re not going to get better.
So, here are some tips that work for me:
- No cigarette and no alcohol
Since I was little, I hate cigarettes and people who smoke disgust me; same with alcohol. Also, they are two things that age you terribly.
- There are no magic diets
Forget about the artichoke diet, the soup diet, the chard diet and all the nonsense you find on the internet or that they tell you out there. Organize your meals with salads, nuts, vegetables, oatmeal, legumes.
- Neither cheeses nor sausages
I gave up these two things long time ago. The human body needs milk only during lactation and from the mother, not from an animal. The cheeses are very tasty, but they have a lot of fat. The sausages are the worst of the worst, even the turkey that we have been led to believe is very healthy, has a huge amount of sodium, dyes, and preservatives. Let it be clear that you must eliminate bad fats. Swap butter for avocado, cheeses for nuts, etc.
- Goodbye sugar
Refined sugar is also poison and be careful with what they sell you as cane sugar, because 99% of it, is not. I only have a teaspoon of agave in the morning with oatmeal. Don’t worry, you can live without sugar.
- Cheat meal once a week, but don’t go crazy
I love salads and I love what I eat, but every now and then I need a pizza or a burger. So, I have my cheat meal once a week. There are people who believe that you can spend all day eating crap. It is not like this. It is a day in which we can relax the diet a bit, but without going overboard, because the body immediately charges you for it.
- Water please!
Another super essential thing is to hydrate well. I don’t know if it’s 8 glasses a day or not, but you must drink a lot of water. So, you will also always have good skin elasticity.
- Do not miss the exercise
Always stay active and find a sport that you are passionate about. One hour a day is enough. I had a time when I did 4 hours a day, every day; neither is the idea because the muscles are exhausted and there is no improvement.
- Take it easy
Stress is the worst thing for the body, so try not to let things affect you and take a deep breath.
- Sleeping Beauty
Try to sleep 8 hours a day. This is essential for the muscles to recover, for the brain to function well and to keep us young.
Anything else come to mind?