Memphis Open

It may be that your thoughts about wearing a bikini already panic you… As far as I know, I’ve never had these thoughts. Swimsuits, I have worn them but that time is really over! Every year I buy 1 or 2 new bikinis and go with a beautiful body into the summer. But what if you do have those thoughts, remember that with some small changes in your diet and daily routine to implement, you are ready to go to the beach.

Correct power supply

It is important to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables during the day. And preferably more than 2 pieces of fruit and 2 ounces of vegetables, as the Nutrition Centre indicates. Even more important is to have breakfast. I notice that now that I breakfast more regularly, I am better able to control my weight. If you skip breakfast, you often compensate with too much food at lunch or (unhealthy) snacks in the afternoon or late in the evening. If you don’t succeed in eating that much during breakfast, try a bowl of oatmeal made with soy milk and some fruit.

Do not eat (or as little as possible) bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. And if you want to eat the last two, grab the whole-wheat products. Go for sugar free, sweetener free (aspartame) and free of chemical additives. And apply high-fibre products, good fats, nuts, seeds, oily fish, poultry and eggs to your food.

Above all: drink water instead of soft drinks!

Movement

It’s always a challenge to find the time to train, but it’s vital if you want to control your weight. I myself have integrated Ismakogy into my daily life. This allows me to (un)consciously train my muscles throughout the day.

If you have trouble finding time during the day to fit in a workout, try setting your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier. So that your training will be over first.

If you are not a morning person, you can – together with a colleague, which is also fun and he/she can motivate you if he/she has heard about your plans – hold a power-walk during lunch.

If you can’t free up 30 minutes in a row, divide it into 3 mini-training sessions of 10 minutes. Research shows that it is fine to add up the number of training minutes in a day. Another study shows that walking vigorously during those 30 minutes is already very good for your body.

Set yourself goals

Set a measurable goal that you know is achievable for you. And not only ‘I’m going to train more’, but ‘I’m going to take a brisk walk three times a week’. Or, decide how much you want to walk every day. You can even keep up with this with a simple pedometer.

I myself have had a guest since 3 months (a 13 year old dog). With her I go for a (long) walk at least three times a day. By the way, it’s really an incentive to see how far you’ve come in reaching your daily goal. Setting reasonable goals that you can actually achieve will lead to more permanent changes in your lifestyle.

Celebrate your success

If you get the feeling that your motivation is diminishing – and this happens in everyone’s mind at times – remind yourself why you started it in the first place. Keep the focus on your presentations (instead of your failures). And give yourself a pat on the back for all the good habits you’ve made.

And know: ‘You are a beautiful person!’.

Find the right balance between healthy living and enjoyment

For many years I have been working on finding the right balance between healthy living and enjoying life. As many of you will recognize, a snack and possibly a drink is part of a pleasant meeting with friends, family or a moment of enjoyment with yourself on the couch. For a number of years I put a movement moment opposite each snack in order to ‘stay in balance’. At that time I was able to measure in every possible way how healthy I was. That was always sweating!

A very simple and widely used way to measure whether your weight leads to underweight, healthy weight or overweight, is BMI (Body Mass Index). In this method the body weight is divided by the square length.

Example: I am 1.82 m tall and I weigh 73 kg.

73

——————————– = 22,04

1,82 x 1,82

This would mean that I have a healthy weight.
BMI categories

< 16; seriously underweight

16 – 18.5: underweight

18,5 – 25: normal (healthy) weight

25 -27: slightly overweight

27 – 30: moderately overweight

30 – 40: serious overweight, or (medical) obesity

40 – 50: sickly overweight, or morbid obesity

50: super obesity
BMI alone is not reliable enough for diagnosis

However, BMI cannot be used on its own as a reliable measure of obesity, because differences in physique are not taken into account in this calculation. This also includes the ratio of fat mass, bone and muscle tissue. When you perform multiple measurement methods, you will of course get a much more complete picture of the person.
Complete picture

Measure your waist circumference around the narrowest part of your waist. Measure as you exhale. It is recommended to lose weight for men from 102 cm in size, for women from 88 cm in size.
Your normal weight can be calculated by your body spring minus 1 meter for men, for women it is minus 1,10 meter. For me that would be 1.82 m – 1.10 m = 72 kg.
Skin fold thickness measurement is also a method that says something about your healthy weight. This is best done by a professional. He / she then measures your skin fold in four different places. Based on this, your fat percentage can be determined.

Confirmation

These methods can help you gain insight into your health. For me they work more as a confirmation than as an eye-opener. I now know for myself when I feel comfortable in my skin, feel fit and in balance. So don’t be surprised and listen to your own body.