"I don't have time" is one of the most common excuses heard for living an unhealthy lifestyle. When you're working full-time, it is often easier to order from a restaurant and spend the evening watching television and cooling off instead of cooking a healthy meal and hitting the gym. However, a busy lifestyle does not necessarily need to be unhealthy.

Here are a few simple tips to live a healthier life.

1. Cook one-pot meals

Cooking doesn't have to be complicated. Experiment with your microwave settings and recipes to find quick meals that can be made in under a minute like a quiche in a mug or steamed salmon. Making pasta can be as easy as putting all the ingredients together into a pot and letting them cook. Find recipes that require minimal grocery shopping and preparation.

2. Take the stairs

Elevators are definitely convenient and cannot be avoided if your office or home is on the 10th floor. To balance convenience and health, get off the elevator a floor or two below yours and climb up the remaining stairs. Obviously working up a sweat by climbing stairs at the beginning of your day at work isn't a good idea, so, time your stair climbs at the end of the day or when a shower is nearby.

3. Avoid snacking

Eat proper meals instead of mindlessly snacking through the day. Keeping a food diary can help you recognize your eating habits and rectify them. If three meals a day do not satiate your hunger, break your meals into smaller portions eaten at more frequent intervals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be skipped.

4. Drink plenty of water

Often we snack not because we're hungry but because the body is dehydrated. Water can also boost your energy levels and aid digestion. However, avoid filling your stomach with water before a meal to make you eat less. This can hinder your digestion process and keep your body from receiving its necessary nutrients.

5. Cut back on packaged foods

Packaged food is never really all that good for you. In most cases, it is loaded with sugar, sodium, preservatives and artificial flavouring. If you cannot avoid packaged food, pick the one with minimal ingredients.

6. Interval training

Spending an hour at the gym is not the only way to exercise. If you cannot find time for a full workout, try interval training. Get off the couch during intervals while watching your favourite soap or take a quick five-minute break from your desk to exercise. Regular exercise will also help you sleep better and make you wake up feeling refreshed.

"I don't have time" is one of the most common excuses heard for living an unhealthy lifestyle. When you're working at a full time job, it is often easier to order in from a restaurant and spend the evening watching television to 'cool off' instead of cooking a healthy meal and hitting the gym. However, a busy lifestyle does not necessarily need to be unhealthy. Here are a few simple tips to live a healthier life.

Cook one pot meals: Cooking doesn't have to be complicated. Experiment with your microwave settings and recipes to find quick meals that can be made in under a minute like quiche in a mug or steamed salmon. Making pasta can be as easy as putting all the ingredients in together into a pot and letting them cook. Find recipes that require minimal grocery shopping and preparation.

Take the stairs: Elevators are definitely a convenience and cannot be avoided if your office or home is on the 10th floor. To balance convenience and health, get off the elevator a floor or two below yours and climb up the remaining stairs. Obviously working up a sweat by climbing stairs at the beginning of your day at work isn't a good idea so time your stair climbs at the end of the day or when a shower is nearby.

Avoid snacking: Eat proper meals instead of mindlessly snacking through the day. Keeping a food diary can help you recognize your eating habits and rectify them. If three meals a day does not satiate your hunger, break your meals into smaller portions eaten at more frequent intervals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be skipped.

Drink plenty of water: Often we snack not because we're hungry but because the body is dehydrated. Water can also boost your energy levels and aid digestion. However, avoid filling your stomach with water before a meal to make you eat less. This can hinder your digestion process and keep your body from receiving its necessary nutrients.

Cut back on packaged foods: Packaged food is never really all that good for you. In most cases, it is loaded with sugar, sodium, preservatives and artificial flavouring. If you cannot avoid packaged food, pick the one with minimal ingredients.

Interval training: Spending an hour at the gym is not the only way to exercise. If you cannot find time for a full workout, try interval training. Get off the couch during intervals while watching your favourite soap or take a quick five minute break from your desk to exercise. Regular exercise will also help you sleep better and make you wake up feeling refreshed.

Being flexible is not always about doing splits or doing some random bending. It is about achieving a level of mobility that will not hold you back from doing whatever you are able to do. Most people think that stretching or flexing your muscles and body as the first method to defend you from pain. But if stretching and flexing can be done correctly, it can lengthen one's muscles and give one relief from pains and aches. Stretching is also done to increase the functional range of one's joints and muscles. There are various ways by which one can stretch their muscles. However, the question which looms over here is which is the correct procedure and which is the wrong one.

The Wrong Vs the Right Way: Before discussing about the correct way, let us talk about the various wrong ways in which stretching can be done. The first rule is that if stretching is causing you pain or if it is hurting you, then you are probably taking it too far. A muscle needs to relax as much as possible, if it needs to stretch. If one is stretching so hard that he or she cannot relax then the muscle will not lengthen. Stretching should never be painful.

One should also avoid stretching for an insufficient length of time. Only a few seconds of stretching will not hold the therapeutic effects of stretching.

The following methods are few of the correct ways to stretch:

1. Always start with the warm muscles. Warm your muscles by doing some aerobic movement or by applying heat with the help of a warm bath.

2. After warming your muscles, monitor your level of discomfort. Let it go once you feel pain.

3. Hold any stretch for at least 30 seconds.

Stretching the Correct Muscle: There are muscles, which need to be stretched and there are muscles, which should not be. So getting to know the correct muscles to be stretched is as important as knowing the correct procedure to stretch your muscles. Every muscle, which does not hurt should not be stretched. There are different types of muscles that cause pain like stiff, tight, short muscles and long muscles. Muscles that are tight should only be subjected to stretching. Stretching muscles that are too long is not a good idea.

Using Physiotherapists: Most people who cannot determine which muscle should be stretched and which should not be should consult a physiotherapist. Physiotherapists can quickly and easily diagnose muscular issues. They will also show ways to stretch which are most effective for particular needs.

Stretching should be made a part of one's life. It is a way by which one can become their healthiest self and avoid muscular imbalances.

Yoga Vs. Gymming- Find Out What Works Best for You

The World Health Organisation recommends 150 minutes of any moderate physical activity per week for individuals aged between 18-64 years of age. Physical activities like yoga or gymming are high on the priority list of every health-conscious individual. Yoga may keep you younger, while gymming on the other hand, may help in keeping you stronger. Both these methods are loaded with equal benefits, which might make it tough for you to choose either one of them.

Read on to find out what works best for yourself.

1. If you want to lose weight…Hit the gym!

Intensive training or cardio-vascular exercises are particularly effective in shedding extra kilos as they keep your heart pumping fast, while also burning your calories. A single gymming session can be helpful in burning up to 3,500 calories in your body, which is equal to losing half a kilo of weight.
If you weigh 68-70kgs, a 30-minute yoga regime can help you burn about 85 calories, whereas if you perform a moderate-intensity exercise routine of 30 minutes on an elliptical trainer may end up burning up to 340 calories.

2. If you want to gain strength…Hit the gym!

Pull-up bars, barbells and other gym equipment are especially designed to build your physical strength. Gym training requires muscle contractions and stretching, and if you perform them regularly, your muscles contract more efficiently and for a longer time without injuring your tendons. This also helps in increasing your endurance and energy levels, while building stamina.

3. If you want to gain composure and balance…Practice yoga!

Yoga comprises of sets of meditative postures or asanas that can help in relaxing your tired muscles and mind. Unlike most exercise routines, yoga focuses more on achieving harmony of the mind, body and spirit rather than just giving you a fitter frame. Regular yoga practice can alter your body’s physical and emotional response to stress, anxiety, depression, and hypertension.

4. If you want to be flexible…Practice yoga!

Inflexibility in your muscles and connective tissues can cause poor posture in your body, resulting in various aches and pains. Yoga can increase your flexibility by loosening stiff muscles, which can eventually result in the disappearance of all bodily aches and pains. The contraction and stretching of muscles in yoga asanas help in improving the functions of your immune system as well. It also helps the lymphatic system of your body fight infections, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of toxic waste products, thereby keeping you fit and healthy.

A good workout doesn’t just benefit your physical fitness. Exercise also has a positive effect on mental health, providing benefits that range from improving sleep to easing anxiety.

Research has shown that exercise is beneficial for everyone’s mental health, whether or not they have a mental illness. For those with conditions such as anxiety or mood disorders, studies have shown that exercise can improve outcomes.

“Exercise can be extraordinarily beneficial both as a way to prevent a mental illness from re-occurring, and as a way to treat a mental illness if you actually have symptoms right now,” says Dr. Valerie Taylor, chief of psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital.

Exercise can help address a range of mental health symptoms, but the strongest research supports its benefits for depression and anxiety. Evidence has shown that aerobic exercise – exercise that raises the heart rate, such as brisk walking, biking, running, or swimming – can be as effective as medication in treating mild to moderate depression, Dr. Taylor explains.

“Exercise actually increases serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that’s often deficient in people who have depression or anxiety,” she says. “So it does exactly the same thing a medication does: it increases serotonin levels.”

People who have symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) struggle with mood symptoms related to the lack of sunlight in the fall and winter months. Combining exercise with natural light can be helpful.

“If you can force yourself to do some exercise that’s outside – walking, running, doing anything where you have sun exposure – that can be really effective for helping to control seasonal affective disorder,” Dr. Taylor says.

Challenges and support

The trouble with recommending exercise for people with depression is that the symptoms of the condition can make it very difficult to act on that advice.

“Some of the symptoms of depression are that you don’t have a lot of energy, and motivation can become a challenge. This seems counterintuitive to starting an exercise program,” Dr. Taylor says. That’s why self-care is important for people with a mental health diagnosis, even when there are no active symptoms. “If you can make exercise part of your life when you are feeling well, this can be a tool to help keep you well and to help minimize symptoms of depression.”

For those with current symptoms, a good place to start is to make an appointment with a healthcare professional.

“If you have active, significant depression, it’s going to be very hard to engage in anything, so make sure that you speak to a healthcare provider to ensure that those symptoms are being treated properly,” Dr. Taylor says. “If you need a medication, taking that medication may make it easier for you to engage in other activities like exercise that can help you get well faster and perhaps stop needing the medication.”

Including exercise in a mental health regimen is also an area where family and friends can offer significant support. Dr. Taylor notes that loved ones often asked what they can do to help someone who has a mental illness.

“This is an area where support from friends and family can really be essential,” she says. “They can help organize group activities, or activities with a buddy, that can really motivate you, get you out, get you active. So if there is something that you can do with friends, that can be really motivating.”

It can also help address the isolation experienced by many people with mental illnesses.

“Exercise that’s part of a group activity – a running program, yoga with friends, anything that’s an organized social activity – can really help minimize some of those symptoms and make a person feel less isolated and alone,” Dr. Taylor says.

Making mental health a priority

Maintaining good mental health is important for everyone, even if they don’t have a mental health condition. Some of the benefits of exercise include better sleep, improved memory and higher energy levels, which all influence how people feel day to day.

“I think exercise should be part of a wellness program for all of us. Certainly it’s a great stress management tool, it can help keep anxiety under control, and it really forces us to think about ourselves sometimes,” Dr. Taylor says. “Often – especially as women – we prioritize everyone else above ourselves. So if you make this ‘me time’ something that you do to prioritize your own health, that can only be good. If you make it a family activity or something you do with friends, all the better because then you are getting some companionship along with releasing endorphins and increasing serotonin.”

Although the research evidence supports doing exercise that gets your heart rate up and increases your breathing rate for mental health benefits, Dr. Taylor notes that there’s really no such thing as bad exercise as long as it’s done in moderation.

“As an overall effective strategy for managing physical health, stress management, and treating your mental health, we can’t overemphasize the benefits of exercise,” she says.