Tips for a
Healthy Life
by Gwen Boswell
Via the media, we are
constantly reminded about the power of good diet.
‘Put the best fuel in your system and you
will get the best results’ and all that. The
benefits of a balanced diet, drinking lots of
water and incorporating these with regular
exercise are tenfold. They are a longer life
expectancy (but please cut the 60-a-day and stay
away from fast moving buses), high energy, losing
the odd chin or two, increased motivation, a
leaner, toned body and great looking skin. I know
the list is not exactly tenfold, but there are
additional bonus points to be included for the
smugly superior feeling that comes with being
surrounded by chubbier, more sloth-like people
than a slim, fit you. In my calculation, this
brings the total nicely up to ten.
There is no doubt that it
is very important for us to drink lots of water
and once I read somewhere, "Be like Elle
McPherson and drink five litres of water a day"
and as I definitely wanted to be like Elle
McPherson, (that skin, those fabulous long legs)
I decided to give this a go. I even put in extra
effort too and doubled my daily intake to ten
litres! But after a few weeks I became rather
despondent, as I couldn’t see any physical
difference, my skin didn’t glow, my eyes
sparkle, nothing. Believe me, monitoring the
progress was constant too, as where ten litres of
water a day is involved, there is a lot of toing
and froing passed the bathroom mirror. Others may
want to try the ‘Elle’ experiment, but
I was rather disappointed, especially given my
extra endeavour. Never mind glowing skin, you’d
think with the additional five litres a day,
there would even be some expectation that my legs
would have grown a bit longer – well at
least one of them anyway.
Highly promoted these days
as part of a balanced diet, is for us to eat 5
vegies and 3 fruits on a daily basis and not just
during the first three weeks of every New Year. I
know only too well how hard maintaining a
balanced diet can be, as we all have to face the
stresses and strains of life and weak moments are
around every corner. However, we must be strong
and remain resolved. Only the other day for
example, when shopping for papayawhip coloured
shoes to go with that special dress, I suffered
the devastation of having to settle for blanched
almond, even my self-discipline was put to the
test. I opened the fridge door and reached in
with all good intentions to do something exciting
with lettuce, but noticeably my hand quivered as
it swished passed the chocolate peanuts.
Finally, exercise. We know
it’s crucial for our general health and it’s
great when people, no matter what their age or
size, take up the gauntlet and attempt it in some
form or another. A word of warning here though
people, and far be it for me to dampen anyone’s
enthusiasm. Firstly gents, please consider
something other than cycling as your first choice
when commencing your ‘fit for life’
programme. I’m sorry, but there are negative
aspects associated with squeezing 24-stone into
Lycra cycling apparel and be in no doubt that
under the given circumstances, black Lycra is not
slimming. For the ladies my tip is, if you use
walking as part of your new fitness regime, a
little more effort will be required other than
swapping your strappy sandals for trainers and
pedometer when walking the 20 metres from your
car to Marks’ food hall.
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