After the feast, fast and keep fit

AND the feasting continues.

We’ve had Christmas, New Year’s and now 15 days of Chinese New Year.

Overindulgence is a given during this period and despite your best efforts (or the lack of) the waistline slowly expands.

This is also the period when your New Year’s resolutions get thrown out the door. Yup, you’ve decided that 2022 will be the year you embark on a healthy lifestyle – eating right and exercising more, but you didn’t count on the temptations of the festive period getting the better of you.

So, how do we take part in the festivities but at the same time try to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

If you’re used to a sedentary lifestyle, then a 180-degree change would not only be unwise, but it could also be dangerous.

Changes to your lifestyle should be made gradually.

This could involve something as simple as going vegetarian once or twice a week. Or cutting out rice for dinner.

Drastic changes to what you eat involving new-age fads like the Atkins Plan or the Keto Diet could have harmful side effects if not done right.

Getting advice from a medical practitioner is always important, and starting out with small steps to improve your diet and then gradually building on that, is equally so.

Detoxification diets are more popular than ever. Their proponents claim a variety of health benefits, but the jury is still out on this type of dieting.

A typical detox diet involves a period of fasting, followed by a strict diet of fruit, vegetables, fruit juices, and water. Sometimes a detox also includes herbs, teas, supplements, and colon cleanses or enemas.

A far simpler method that could help you become healthier and leaner, would be fasting and abstinence.

Almost all major religions advocate this method to “detox” oneself, both spiritually and physically.

Lent, from March 2 to April 14 this year, calls for a 40-day fast (Sundays are excluded). Lent, which is observed by Christians differs from Ramadan (starting in early April) which is observed by Muslims worldwide.

Ramadan involves fasting from dawn to dusk whereas for Lent, the individual could choose to give up, for example, meat or alcohol for the 40-day period.

In both the faiths, fasting is supposed to get you closer to God but the health benefits in doing so are proven and tangible too. Many people report feeling lighter and healthier after a period of fasting.

But if fasting or dieting isn’t your thing, and you don’t want to give up on your favourite nasi lemak, then exercise would be crucial in negating your calorie intake. And even here, there are myriad ways of keeping fit and staying healthy.

You would not have failed to notice the number of leisure cyclists on our roads these days. Cycling has become really popular with urbanites.

It’s a great form of exercise but the sport itself is expensive. Kitting up can set you back thousands of ringgit and this includes both road and mountain biking.

For a hassle-free, equipment-free and ultimately easier on your wallet experience, try walking. Yup, putting on your sports shoes and just walking outdoors is proven to improve your health and hopefully increase your longevity.

Fitness tracking devices often recommend we take 10,000 steps a day. But this target has been debunked by medical science. In fact, walking less than 7,500 steps a day is shown to reduce the risk of you dying prematurely from a heart disease.

Walking is an excellent form of low-intensity exercise but when you combine it with hiking, the benefits are immeasurable. And this is the best time to lace up your hiking shoes because Selangor has announced the reopening of its permanent forest reserves starting tomorrow.

They were closed for a period because the monsoon season made it dangerous for hikers trekking in these areas, but with the reopening, Klang Valley hikers are spoilt for choice because Selangor has some of the best trails and waterfalls in the country.

Being out and about in nature is beneficial for both physical and mental health. In Scotland, the National Health Service actually prescribes going for a walk in the midst of nature as being beneficial to one’s mental well-being.

It’s commonly believed that Malaysians’ favourite pastime is going to the mall and with the type of food that the different races in the country enjoy, it is no surprise that many of us have a sedentary lifestyle.

But, as Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah warns, we are seeing an alarming increase in major non-communicable diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. In fact, nearly one in five – or about 3.9 million – adults are estimated to be living with diabetes in the country.

Of course, the pandemic has exacerbated this problem over the last two years. But the imminent easing of Covid-19 restrictions should also make people understand how important health is, and staying healthy or preventing diseases is really, at the end of the day, in our own hands.

So, by all means enjoy the Chinese New Year festivities with the appropriate standard operating procedures in mind, but think of developing healthier lifestyles, such as cooking healthy meals at home and incorporating exercise into your daily routine.