Matt Evans, martial arts practitioner, keen kickboxer and runner and health and fitness journalist at FitandWell.com, shares his Monday Motivation tips below for people to kickstart their wellness journey:
‘’Wellness Week is here! The week-long drive to revitalise your health and fitness, in partnership with our friends at Wiggle, officially kicks off today. Each day, we’ll be focusing on a different way to keep you fit and well. Today’s hot topic? Monday Motivation.
Making plans to get fitter and healthier is no good if you don’t know where to start. Getting healthier means different things for different people, which can make it very confusing when you’re trying to find an easy way to start your new regime.
The barriers come in different guises, too. For example, a 2019 study by Optimum Nutrition found that eight out of ten respondents felt ‘clueless’ when it came to the nutritional benefits of different foods. Meanwhile, another study revealed that one in four women suffer from ‘gymtimidation’ – a fear of working out fuelled by worry that they will be judged.
Whatever your personal challenges, we’re here to help. If we can help you find a good place to start, you’re more likely to carry on and turn the tips you learn during Wellness Week into lifelong lifestyle changes.
For starters, one of the easiest ways to get healthier is to add good stuff to your diet with simple food swaps. One recent study found nearly one-quarter of Americans fail to eat breakfast first thing in the morning. If that’s you, or you just snack on some toast or sugary cereal, a healthy breakfast food swap is a simple change that starts your day (and your new regime) off right.
Swapping those frosted flakes with oats, one of our eight foods to lower cholesterol, will help protect your heart and provide you with energy all morning. From there, you can make a few more small diet changes to beget big results, like beans and pulses to your dinner, or swapping snacks like crisps and chips for fruit and veg.
If pre-existing conditions like arthritis are holding you back from making healthy changes, you can even choose your diet to help ease your chronic pain. Supplements like fish oil are not only great for joints, but provide the body with lots of essential healthy fats.
These food swaps are a simple way to get you feeling healthier, kick-starting your new habits and giving you lots of energy for exercise (don’t worry – that comes later!).’’
