Most Indians who have worked in a diverse multi-cultural organizations know that Indians tend to talk very fast and our western counterparts find it difficult to comprehend – well nothing new in that! (Don’t think I need to provide a citation or reference for this statement)
However, a recent survey conducted by pharma major Abbot, showed 62% of those interviewed had a body mass index of over 22.9 and 65% had uncontrolled blood sugar levels. An interesting observation made by Dr Shashank Joshi, president of the Indian Academy of Diabetes was that Indians tend to eat so fast that the pancreas struggles to keep up pace to produce adequate insulin to metabolise the food.
If we Indians also walked as much + fast as we talk or eat we could lead a healthy lifestyle! Some of the other key observations and simple lifestyle changes which could go a long way in preventing lifestyle disorders are as below:
- 150 minutes per week – moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise spread out at least three days during the week, with no more than two consecutive days between bouts of aerobic activity is recommended
- Having frequent small meals 5 to 6 times a day (whereas average Indians have 3.5 meals/day)
- Average time gap between waking up and having break fast should be short (current average is 142 min)
- Average time gap between dinner (or last meal) and sleep should be approx 90 minutes. However, these perspectives were mainly from populations of shift workers, night eating syndrome patients and a clear link was established with large meals at night and risk of weight gain, obesity and cardiometabolic diseases.
- Avoid or have in moderation – 3 White Foods – White Bread, White Sugar and White Flour (maida, bakery items)
Probably the old adage “Eat Breakfast like a KING, Lunch like a PRINCE and Dinner like a Pauper” makes more sense – however, the timing and interval between the meals is also key…
Please share at least 1 or 2 simple #Lifestyle hacks which you have found easy to implement in your day to day life and makes a huge impact on your health and work-life balance. I will probably do a follow-up post on the top 100 #Lifestyle hacks soon!
#Lifestyle Hacks which I found useful – 1) Walk-a-Talk: Try to take some of your phone calls on a hands free device while walking (in a safe traffic free zone) – I do these everyday for 20-30 min and clock about 2000-2500 steps 2) Do NOT use Lifts – make it a habit
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/49684353.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
"It's better to light a candle than curse darkness" 