Looking fit find the easy way out

We always look at celebrities and wonder how they manage to keep in good shape. Though genes may play a part in how we look, but beyond that it is all about how much of routine hard work we put in to ensure a fit and fine body. Our fitness often becomes a casualty of choc-a-bloc schedules just because we can't take out time to visit a gym or do regular workouts.

Becoming healthier and fitter though is not very difficult. It only requires dedicated effort. Here are a few tips which you can follow whether you are at home or in office and stay fit without needing to visit the gym… 

Get up and walk around office or home

This should happen at least every two hours for 5 minutes. This brisk five-minute walk every two hours will give you an extra 20-minute walk by the end of the day without making any special effort. Walk to your kids' school, or to the park a few blocks away, to the local market. If you are taking a vehicle, park it three blocks away (6 blocks round trip) from your intended destination, just a few times a week. This will simply increase your activity level without sparing extra time. 

Wash something thoroughly once a week

Be it the floor, a couple of windows, the shower stall, bathroom tiles or your car, anything that makes you don your cleaning gloves and exert some pressure on your hands and elbows burns nearly four calories for every minute spent on cleaning. A washing session of 30 minutes and you've worked off nearly 120 calories! 

Drop a movie for an active date

It's a weekend and you're planning to spend time with your love. Why not head to the local park rather than sit in a movie hall? This will not only give you a chance to walk hand in hand, but will also avoid the calories that a large bucket of butter popcorn you would reach out for in a movie hall. What's more? Explore other active dating ideas like cycling together; playing a tennis match or going for swimming. You won't lose anything except your calories.  

Take a walk before and after dinner

Yes, you are reading it right! Walking post-dinner helps in digestion and burning calories but walking before gorging on your favourite dinner cuts down the  appetite.  

Make the most of your TV time

This one is for the cricket-crazy or soap-obsessed couch potato. Now make the most of commercial breaks to burn some calories and tone up your body with the following set of exercises:

o  As the break starts, do 25 jumping jacks. 

o  Then jog on the spot to the count of 30. 

o  Do 25 abdominal crunches. 

o  Lastly, get on the floor and place your feet up on your coffee table and do 25 hip lifts. By the time the break ends, you would have burnt a major chunk of calories.

Satiate the sweet tooth

Eat fruits. The healthiest sugar is found in fresh fruit, with high fructose content which satisfy and stabilize sugar levels in the blood. Moreover, fruits come packed with vitamins and minerals.

'Trick' the feeling of hunger

Drink a lot of water combined with fibres. If eating in small amounts and very often, a regular repartition of the food should be  ensured all over the day.

Healthy Munchies

When stressed, many people tend to eat more and crave foods that are high in salt, sugar and fat. If you find yourself prone to munchies when you're feeling  stressed, it seems too hard to control your cravings, you can really help yourself by switching to more healthy fare for snacking.

The following have worked for many

o  Carrots have a satisfying crunch and are good for you too. They're packed with flavour and aren't too bad for your body. 

o  Sunflower seeds (try low-salt or unsalted varieties for better health) which have protein and nutrients and are pretty yummy. If you get them in the shell, they give your hands something to do, and it's hard to eat too many when you have to shell each one. 

o  Rather than popping open a can of soda, which is packed with empty calories and sugar which can send you on a downward spiral of mood swings later opt for sparkling water; you'll feel like you're getting a treat. Your body will surely appreciate the choice. 

o  If you're a discreet chewer, you can turn one of those snacking sessions where you're really not hungry but want something in your mouth into guilt-free flavourful fun. Just try not to blow too many bubbles if you're in the office.