Are you looking for the way to adopt a healthy lifestyle? Unfortunately we have to disappoint you here. There is not one determining factor.
Nevertheless, we would like to give you 5 tips with which you can immediately get started on your way to your healthy lifestyle.
1. get started with eating breaks
One of the principles at Strak Plan is working with eating breaks.
Why?
With each meal, insulin levels rise. Insulin – think of these as little keys – is released so that the sugar is taken out of your blood and taken to your cells – the room behind the gates.
In diabetic patients, the keys no longer fit on the gates or the gates are insensitive to the keys, so the sugar continues to circulate in the blood.
But what does this have to do with your fat burning?
When your insulin goes up, your body goes into a kind of ‘stocking mode’.
It will store the energy in your adipose tissue and block the release of energy from fat reserves .
We at Strak Plan are only too happy to apply the principle of eating breaks in function of slimming.
If you eat three times a day without snacks, you will have an insulin rise three times.
If you eat more frequently, you ensure that your insulin levels remain high.
That way you will not reach your fat reserves.
But this is not only recommended for weight loss. Our bodies are not made to work all day long – at least your digestive system.
Give rest to your body. This also needs breaks.
Our immune system is made to respond to infections such as the flu.
These are times when your immune system needs to kick into action for a short time.
When your immune system has to be active for a long time due to the low-grade inflammation caused by constant eating , this requires a lot of energy. Result? You are less fit, suffer from energy dips, but also mood swings. Your body sacrifices itself to fight the low-grade infections.
To work
- Start with eating breaks so that your insulin levels drop sufficiently.
- Start with eating breaks so that the inflammation in your body disappears and you don’t have to give it energy.
- Start by putting enough anti-inflammatory food in your daily pattern. Think of fatty fish such as salmon and sardines, but also eggs, nuts and vegetable oils such as linseed oil, walnut oil and sesame oil. These all contain the healthy Omega 3 fatty acids.
2. eat more nutritious food, not less
If you get started with the principle of eating breaks, you should also make sure that when you eat it is also sufficiently nutritious.
Why?
It is still the intention to provide your body with sufficient nutrients in your 3 eating moments.
To work
- Compose your meals with sufficient protein and healthy fats and supplement with complex carbohydrates.
- Breakfast example: (vegetable variant of) yogurt with nuts, seeds and seeds with a portion of fruit.
- Lunch example: omelette of 2 to 3 eggs with avocado, bell pepper and a mixed vegetable salad.
3. Get a good night’s sleep
And respect your day and night rhythm. Eating all day long, but also ‘being on’ all day long is detrimental to your body.
Why?
With a lack of sleep, your body will not be able to break down the fat cells produced during the day because this happens at night under the influence of melatonin.
A sleep deprivation also affects your energy level during the day, which can ensure that you don’t have the energy to do sports, for example.
Hormonally, your ‘hunger hormone’ – ghrelin, will go up in the air and your ‘I’ve-eaten-enough-hormone’ – leptin, will not give enough signals so that you overeat or crave sweet foods more.
To work
- Buy blue light filter glasses if you still look at screens in the evening (TV, laptop, mobile phone,…). Blue light prevents your body from producing melatonin.
- Find a bedtime ritual to activate the power button.
Think of heat (hot shower), no blue light and no more intensive sports.
- If necessary; supplement with melatonin and/or look for psychological guidance to address the underlying causes of your sleeping problem.
4. move, move, move
And we don’t mean running a marathon.
Do a 7 minute workout, take the stairs at work, go for a walk to relax, but also; get started with sitting breaks and break up your sitting time.
Sitting what? Break your sitting time every hour and activate your body again.
When you sit, you put your body in ‘breakdown mode’. You lose muscle mass.
Loss of muscle mass equals loss of energy because it is literally your energy factories – the mitochondria – that you are breaking down.
- Are you going to the copier? Do some jumping jacks (star jumps) while copying.
- toilet visit? Go to the toilet – let your colleagues think it was urgent – and do some squats before or after your toilet visit.
- Doing a wall sitting competition with colleagues?!
Why?
Sitting equals slowed metabolism and inflammation and fattening of your organs.
In addition, exercising causes an increase in neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. And let endorphins be known as a fast-acting anti-stress hormone because it can silence stress reactions within minutes.
To work
- Even if you exercise after your sedentary working day, get started with sitting breaks.
Activate your mitochondria – your energy factories – and literally give your body the signal ‘hey, we’re still alive’.
- Find a sport that you like to do and schedule fixed times for your exercise moments.
5. take care of your brain
A lot starts in the head, mentally. But also physiologically it is important to allow your brain to enter the wellness.
Why?
The low-grade inflammation from constant eating can also cause inflammation in the brain .
This is manifested by a constant craving for sugar, being insatiable, energy dips or a disrupted body temperature.
To work
Do you feel like eating all day long, preferably sweets?
Suffering from energy dips and constantly cold one day while you get vapors the next day?
