How the lifestyle patterns have changed during the past one year

“YOUR GENETICS LOAD THE GUN; BUT YOUR LIFESTYLE PULLS THE TRIGGER”

Your lifestyle is a clear reflection of your attitude and values and depends largely on the choices that you make in your day-to-day life. But, did you know that when it comes to your health, it is these lifestyle choices that make a difference that are more predominant than your genes?

Good health is a very vital aspect of life; lifestyle changes are tiny tweaks that we make in our daily lives that help us live a life full of energy, focus and happiness.

Unfortunately, COVID -19 has affected our lives in many unprecedented ways, and almost left us crippled in many ways. Dramatic shifts have been recorded over this period in people’s lives, in terms of physical activity, sleep, usage of time, mental health and eating habits.

So, here we are, with a few simple tips that you could adopt along with a few changes to improve your well-being significantly.

1. Move more, Exercise more – With work from home becoming the new normal, we are all faced with this question – how often is it that we are now physically active, as in, on the move. Given that we are in the vicinity of our homes, most of the time, we need to adopt some power moves. Here are some –

• Swap coffee breaks with power walks.
• While waiting for food to warm up in your microwave, do a plank or a squat.
• Take the stairs instead of elevators.
• Keep an alarm for every hour to take small walk-breaks.

2. Nourish yourself well - Did you know that there is a clear distinction between being well fed and well nourished? While it is easier in these times of distress to reach out for the more convenient and easily available processed foods, it would be a better idea to switch over to balanced diet including seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole grains, plant-based proteins, and healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids. After all, what could be a better time to make a conscious shift to healthier foods and better lifestyle than now!

With so much going on about gut health, how can we forget the virtues of pre and pro biotic rich foods! Well, prebiotic foods are nothing but foods that promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, like – beans, colourful vegetables, and whole grains. Pro biotic foods on the other hand are foods and supplements which contain a source of live bacteria that can have several actions on the human body. Examples are yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi; and it would be a great idea to include some of these in your daily diet!

3. Manage your stress – The pandemic and the associated changes like lockdown, working from home etc has brought in with it, enormous stress, and disturbances. On the flip side, it has also given us numerous opportunities to dig deeper into the reasons that cause it and then learn how to deal with it.

Here are some tips on how to combat the stress and related issues so as to make our lives happier, more satisfied and fulfilling -

• Unplug and detox yourself from electronics like laptop, mobile phones, and tablets occasionally – as too much of information can clog our minds and have adverse impacts on them. 

• Doing meditation for at least 15 mins twice in a day – this practice not only reduces stress but also improves the calmness and clarity of the mind, promotes happiness and is great to train the attention and awareness of the mind. Meditation is also known to offer an emotionally stable state and cure anxiety disorders, to name a few. 

• Getting enough sleep every night – is imperative to maintain good health and wellbeing. Apart from stabilising our weight and reducing stress, it lowers the risk for conditions like diabetes and heart diseases.

4. Spend quality time with family and friends – There is no substitute to the valuable times spent with family and friends and make lovely memories together, more so in the recent COVID times that are gripped with uncertainty and fear. More than anything else, this pandemic has proven to the world that nothing is more important than the health, wellbeing, and loving bonds of our near and dear ones.

Invest on spending quality time with family, better methods of parenting, and communicating more effectively with activities like a favourite hobby, sport, movies, or any other family group tasks.

5. Develop your passion – Every human is born with an innate quality that mostly remains as a hidden passion. Uncover your desire and look for ways to develop it further – as it will set you on a path of sustainable happiness and joy forever. Follow it with total dedication and consistency and you will discover how beautiful the journey of life is!

     It will certainly take time to develop new habits and be consistent with it. At “EXPRESS, EXPERIENCE & EVOLVE - BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOU" – it is our aim to inspire you to make positive changes to your life and to help you fulfil your commitment towards your life. Be patient, be loving, be enthusiastic – and see your life transform for the better!