A Sedentary lifestyle has become more common in modern times, as technology has reduced our physical labour. In a sedentary lifestyle, a person is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like reading, playing games on the phone or using the computer for much of the day.
Being sedentary is the least healthy way to live, but sometimes people are more used to it. During this pandemic time, an inactive or sedentary lifestyle had been a reality for a lot of us, especially working professionals, as our screen time and work pressure led us to live a sedentary lifestyle and got us stuck to one place only.
5 ways Sedentary lifestyle is affecting our health:
Weight gain is one of the obvious effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Little or no physical activity leads to unnecessary weight gain, as the one is taking a proper diet and doing nothing to burn off the calories leads to weight gain. One should always find time to do some physical activity so that gaining weight is not the problem they face later on.
- Flexibility loss:
The more the person sits, the more inactive the person is, the more likely for you to lose flexibility. Loss of flexibility increases the chances of muscle injuries and makes one muscle weaker, which is not safe for longer runs in a sedentary lifestyle.
- Poor Mental Health:-
This uncertainty of pandemic has a bad impact on our mental health. In this pandemic time, a sedentary lifestyle makes a worse impact on our mental health. People who step out or do some exercises on a daily basis feel more energetic and happy, as while exercise our body secretes endorphins ( happy hormones), which can reduce chances of mental health issues.
- Risk of bone diseases:-
Being a sedentary lifestyle can increase the risk of bone disease as exercise and physical activity helps to strengthen the bones and prevent it from more frequent fractures and bone injuries.
- Slow Metabolism:-
In sedentary lifestyle the body does not move, it gets indications that the body does not need energy, hence this leads to slow metabolism. Metabolism is the rate at which the body burns the food you eat for energy. If the body metabolism is very slow, this leads to weight gain and stomach problems like indigestion and constipation.
With the right amount of calorie intake and physical activity, one could lead a healthy lifestyle. Some tips and tricks to have in your daily life that actually imparts a great change in your sedentary lifestyle:
- Take the stairs instead of elevators. Practise home workouts with your family and friends.
- Focus more on fruits and vegetables. Have a plate full of fruit salad for breakfast, two different colours vegetable for lunch and dinner, while staying within your calorie intake range As fruits and vegetables are rich in fibre and low in calorie.
- Pick perfect protein for your body. As the body muscles need protein, still you are not exercising. Choose lean protein as chicken, turkey seafood, but avoid frying them. Opt grilling and broiling for chicken and seafood.
- Be Careful with Carbs. Consider whole grains such as brown rice, red rice, quinoa, oatmeal, barley, ragi in your diet to add little fibre and crunch in daily meals.
You can start following free diet plans from Vedique Diet App.
