1. Eat healthily.
Abs are mainly made in the kitchen. Even if you are doing a crazy amount of exercises, you are not going to see great results unless you are eating healthily. Try to avoid unnecessary fat and eat proportioned and balanced meal. It is recommended that you eat at least five fruits and vegetables during the recommended five meals per day.
2. Stay hydrated.
Drinking water helps too. Now, recommendations on how much water you should drink per day vary. Some say 1.5L others 2L, the actual test to know whether you are drinking enough water is looking at your urine (a bit gross I know). If your urine comes out pale (close to the "transparent" colour of water) you are drinking enough water. You also have a little calculation if you want to know what your daily water intake should be like: Body weight KG x 0.03 = daily water intake
3. Exercising.
Of course if you want to build muscles, you need to exercise. Try to schedule at least two workouts per week in your routine, it does not need to be two hours long but it needs to be on a regular basis and you have to do efficient exercises. Try things like squats, planks, push ups, burpees and weight lifting. Bear in mind that you don't necessarily have to go to the gym to do those exercises. An important thing to remember is that you need to vary the exercises in order to be able to work different parts of your body evenly.
4. Keep moving.
Even when you are not doing a workout, try to keep moving. Things like walking, carrying groceries, doing chores help too! And why not walking or cycling to the store instead of driving?
5. Enjoyment.
Trying to get in shape does not have to be painful and annoying. If going at the gym is what motivates you then keep on going! If on the other hand you don't feel comfortable going at the gym, then don't. Try different activities, do different sports and see what you like. Yoga, kickboxing, volleyball, dancing, running; there are thousands of activities that you can try. If you like what you are doing, it won't feel like a chore anymore. Enjoy yourself, isn't that the most important? And don't forget, you can still do those squats and burpees at home.
6. Motivation.
Motivation is the key. My advice would be to do it with a friend or a family member. Being two in the same situation is much more easier as you can motivate each other. Another advice is to sign up for pump up. Pump up is a very useful phone app when you need some motivation. With pump up you can follow people who are just like you trying to get in shape, you can also share your progress, your activities and your healthy meals. Pump up also has loads of different workout for you.
7. Setting goals.
Setting goals for yourself is very useful, on the condition of course that you do whatever you can to achieve them! Long term goals are in my opinion the most effective.
8. Sleep.
Having enough sleep is as important as eating healthily. Your body needs to rest and to relax in order to repair after effort of exercises. It is also proved that cutting on your eight hours sleep will increase your hunger throughout the day. Being healthy involves sleeping relatively early and enough time for your metabolism to be properly regulated.
9. Snaking.
Snaking during the day is a habit that causes trouble to a lot of us. As mentioned previously, you should have five meals per day. Three main meals and two snaking time. If you are craving for something sweet go for greek yogurt and fresh strawberries. Fruits are always a good idea! You can also make yourself a nice smoothie as a snack. But whenever you want to have a unhealthy snack, just ask to yourself if it is worth it.
10. Relaxing.
Relaxing the body and the mind is also very important. Stress creates tensions in our muscles and often decreases the quality of sleep, which as seen previously is very important for the regulation of our metabolism as well as for our muscles. Try to keep a healthy mind in a healthy body. Staying in shape feels amazing, but don't stress about it. Do what you can do, listen to your body and be proud of what you already accomplished. There is no such thing as the "perfect body". Accept yourself as you are and don't forget that you are beautiful anyway.
- It is all about control. Try to be as healthy as possible and of course enjoy yourself. It is not about making any kind of harm to yourself. Have cheat days once in a while is totally fine. Simply control yourself. And whenever you are about to make a "bad" decision ask to yourself if there is not a healthier alternative or if it is worth it? Sometimes be "naughty" is worth it, but often it is not. It is all about control.
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