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Article 7 tips to maintain your health

By Matt Thambirajah
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25 Comments

A lot of clients ask me 2 things – “How do I lose weight?” and “how do I maintain it after I lose it?”

After training myself for almost 10 years, and consulting various clients for more than 3 years I found that there are a few things that I have found that were extremely common in order to be fit AND healthy.

These things are what I teach my clients because it worked for me, and it has since worked for them.

Here are 7 tips in no particular order.

1) Keep nutrition simple 

Nutrition needs to be as easy to understand as possible: My best way of telling people about how to think about nutrition, is to think about our ancestors.

If the earth helps grow it, it is good. If it comes in a package, be extremely cautious.

Fresh vegetables and fruits are the way to go, followed by lean (organic) quality meats, add some nuts and seeds to the mix, and finally water.

2) Keep up the fluids

In our household, we do not have ANY soft drinks. If they can use Coke to clean rust off bumper bars, think about what happens inside our body if we drink it! Water is our only source of fluid intake (and perhaps cheat drinks like tea/coffee).

3) Healthy ice-cream instead of store bought 

If you need ice-cream, why don’t you make ice-cream smoothies for the hot days? Similar to how you would make a smoothie, but you can buy containers that you can sit the smoothie in, and make it into something similar to an icy-pole. It has no-additives, is very natural and the kids love it!

4) Supplements 

It is NOT about supplements: Unless you are planning to compete or stepping up your training to the next level, I believe that supplements are not needed. You need to know what to eat on a daily basis. You need to know how to hit those micro and macro nutrients so that it benefits you and your journey.

5) Commit to exercise 

Exercise – are you doing at least 10,000 steps a day? If not, then it is time to plan your day out better. Any type of activity, can relate to incidental exercise – lawn-mowing, gardening, running after kids, running after your partner, cleaning the house etc. Just keep the body moving.

6) Get support 

If you need something with a bit more “oomph” – this is where a personal trainer comes into play. We push you hard. We set your goals. We monitor your every move so that we know you are hitting those results each week. If you can’t afford a PT session – do group sessions. They are cheaper, but you also get the added bonus of being motivated by fellow clients.

7) Prepare your mindset 

This is probably the most important thing. Why are you doing what you are doing? Are you trying to get a beach body or are you doing this so that you do not fall into the same trap that your parent(s), brother, sister, uncle, friend etc endured?

Things like cancer and depression are on the rise – it is not just about beach body for me or my clients, but it is about being at an optimal state at all times of the day. This means, reframing the mind for eating right, exercising, finding happiness, experiencing peace, being grateful etc. The mind is where it all begins – and if you are not in the right mindset, you will find yo-yo type dieting. Work on the mindset to keep on your “road to glory”.

Just doing the above will help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle NOT just lose weight. But you need to know why you are doing this – and you need to know what your outcome needs to be.

Follow these simple rules and you WILL see positive changes from all fronts.

Do you have any tips to add to the list? Please SHARE in the comments below.

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Comments

  • We have always had a water machine and all my kids have always been good water drinkers. The only time we had soft drinke in the house was for birthday parties and christmas. I never purchased cordial.

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  • Thank you Matt. I work in the fitness industry as well and can not believe the amount of people who try and tell clients they need to follow special eating plans, take this supplement and the other and should commit to crazy challenges etc. Being fit and healthy can be as simple as thinking about what you put into your mouth and how you move your body.

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  • Great advice. Mindset is definitely the biggest hurdle most people face.

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  • awesome – this is incredibly motivating!

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  • I don’t count the number of steps. I try to walk for 1/2 hour twice a day, depending on the weather and always take water with me. Sometimes I do most of my time then visit friends before I walk home. It gives me inspiration to make the effort to go and interact with them.

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  • Take it one step at a time.

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  • Love these tips as I have just started my weight loss journey.

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  • Thankyou for sharing your tips… I think for me the biggest battle has been mindset… the dietitian I am seeing believes I am in the preparation stage… I know what I need to do but have a hurdle to get over and get started. We are setting goals together to help me stay on track… I am keeping a food diary & planning my snacks better… also upping my exercise… this has been difficult to get motivated as I am nearly 30 weeks pregnant which has a baring on my capabilities.

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  • I can find myself in all your tips and like it that you start with the advice to keep the nutrition simple ! And your saying “If the earth helps grow it, it is good. If it comes in a package, be extremely cautious” is so true. We like to keep the cupboard and fridge clean…no processed, refined, flavored things or junk food in the house. Especially for our children it’s so important to get healthy home made meals.

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  • I love all these tips and follow more of them than I don’t! I’m working on it!

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  • I think your tip No 7 is probably the most of important of all.

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  • I find incremental exercise to be very beneficial as I don’t have much time to exercise. I take the stairs, I Park further away, use my children as weights.

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  • All of the above plus stay away from the super fizzy, sugary drinks apart from your general its a killer for the enamel on your teeth

    • yeah that is also just empty kilojoules. water is best anyway.

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  • Thanks for the tips. It can be easy to forget about even the simplest of things.

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  • i love the mention of incidental exercise. that can help burn away those kj’s!

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  • Very important tips. I drink regularly. Also now that I’m sitting with the laptop, my bottle of water is here with me. I wear my Garmin Vivofit every day and I always walk at least 10,000 steps every day. Having to walk the dog surely helps.
    I don’t agree that we don’t need supplements, sorry! :-) Not all the supplements are the same of course, but some are really essential. Like vitamin D. So many people have a vitamin D deficiency (yes, also here in Australia! Nearly 1/3 of Australian adults suffer of vitamin D deficiency). And I think that fish oil and vitamin C are very important too.
    I try to snack on vegetables while I prepare dinner. And I add fermented foods to my diet and probiotics.

    • Spot on, and totally True about vitamin D, Omega-3, Zinc etc – those supplements we do need.

      The ones I am talking about on here are things like Protein, Creatine etc. In most cases foods alone can help with the requirements for an every day person. In most cases as every day people, we can make do with just normal foods even if we are exercising.

      Well done on looking after yourself too! :)

      • Thank you! And thank you very much for your answer! :-)

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  • It is good to read about nutrition first, rather than tons of exercise as the primary goal.

    • Yep always has to be more than just moving the body – as that is where results are achieved.

      Mindset + Nutrition + Exercise + Tweak for changes = Results :)

    Reply

  • Thanks for the tips – I easily do my 10,000 steps a day, I am sure most mums do! ;)

    • Brilliant!!! And yes, I agree too – Mums usually can get 10,000 easily. Key is to remain active as much as possible :)

      Well done! :)

      • I push myself, even on those rainy days as it always makes me feel better and it is good for me! Good role modelling too – win – win! :)

    Reply
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