You can be healthy and plus size at the same time. Being healthy does not only depend on the size of clothing you wear or how much you weigh; it also depends on what type of lifestyle you lead, if you are happy and what kinds of food you eat.
Developing a Healthy Plus Size Lifestyle
There are many ways to determine if you are a healthy plus size woman. Besides diet and exercise, being healthy also includes reducing stress, surrounding yourself with loved ones and basically being comfortable in your own skin. The better your self-esteem, the more likely you will want to be healthy and happy.
Create Healthy Eating Habits
For starters, take a look at your diet. You don't need to count every calorie that hits your lips if you watch what and how much you eat. Healthy eating habits consist of:
- Eating a wide variety of foods
- Getting enough foods high in complex carbohydrates, low in fat and low in cholesterol. Those include:
-
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Legumes
- Whole-wheat grains
- Low-fat dairy products
- Proteins including lean meats, fish and poultry
- Limiting fat and sugar intake
- Drinking at least six to eight glasses of water a day
- Limiting caffeine intake
- Using healthier cooking methods such as grilling, broiling or baking instead of frying
Get Up and Get Moving
Just because you are a plus-sized woman doesn't mean you can't be active. This doesn't mean you need to train for a marathon, but it does mean you should do some type of exercise a few times a week. This will not only help you lose weight and develop muscle tone, but it will also help lower your cholesterol and blood sugar, as well as reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases. Some simple ways to get moving include:
If you have never exercised before -- or haven't for a long time -- then you need to start out small and slowly build up to a regular exercise routine. Even if that means walking for five minutes a day for a week, and slowly increasing it over time. The key here is to get moving. Another main element to exercising is that it will help you feel better about you!
Reduce Stress
There's the old adage that says stress is good for you. This is true -- to an extent. But to live a healthy lifestyle, you mustn't let stress get the best of you. Some indications of being overstressed include:
- Not sleeping enough
- Being listless, tired or short-tempered more often
- Not following a healthy eating or exercise plan
- Not spending quality time with family or friends
If you are overstressed, a plus-sized gal can do a number of things to relax including:
- Reducing workload (if possible)
- Scheduling a little "me" time each week for shopping, manicure, pedicure or even a hot bubble bath
- Making time to exercise
- Planning your meals to include some healthy choices
- Trying to get at least eight hours of sleep a night
- Planning a "Girls Night Out" or "Date Night" at least once a month
Being Happy, Healthy and Plus Size
Not every plus size gal is happy with the way she looks or feels. She may not have become plus-sized until her children were born or there was some other life situation that caused her to gain weight. Or she may have always been a woman of size. It doesn't matter how she got to be a full-figured gal, the point is, she is. But can a woman be happy, healthy and plus size? Yes!
There are many medical guidelines out there that tell you what you should and should not weigh, and while those may be true, the key to a healthy lifestyle is also being happy with who you are, having healthy eating habits, exercising and reducing the stress in your life. Couple that with having fun and surrounding yourself with the things and people you love, and you can have a great and confident life.
