Simple tips to quickly feel fitter
We all want to be healthier, fitter and live longer. Many people think that you have to go to the gym at least three times a week, never eat cake again and go to bed by ten every night. Not necessary at all, says doctor and aging scientist David van Bodegom of the Leyden Academy knowledge institute. Together with professor of geriatric medicine Rudi Westendorp, he wrote the book 10 years gift. According to the authors, with simple adjustments to your environment you can go a long way and get 10 years as a gift.
Surround yourself with healthy temptations
In ’10 years of gift’ the writers adopt a strategy with the 4 R’s: remove, replace, avoid and prepare. The idea is that if you surround yourself with healthy temptations, they will ‘automatically’ apply. The first step is to remove unhealthy temptations. Is there a glass jar with chocolate cookies in your kitchen? By seeing them, you will often be tempted to grab one. Put them in a tin so you can’t see them, or better yet, put the tin in a kitchen cupboard so you can’t see them at all and be tempted.
Replace the chocolate chip cookies with carrots
Replace! Instead of those chocolate chip cookies, place a bowl of carrots, a bowl of tomatoes or a bowl of apples, in short, something healthy. Only by putting down healthy temptations, people will start eating healthier. Recognizable, right?
Take a different route
Do you come across a snack wall with croquettes, a supermarket and/or a bakery with delicious brownies from work or school? There’s a good chance you’ll go into one of these stores on trek to buy something and then eat it. Then it is important to think of the third R: avoidance. Take a different route and avoid the temptations! That detour that you have to take immediately ensures more movement.
Never hungry for a party
‘Take a banana and you can resist the bitterballen’, says Van Bodegom. So we’re talking about the fourth and final Q: preparing. Almost everyone knows that you should never go shopping at the supermarket hungry. But even if you go to a party or reception, you know that tasty unhealthy temptations will pass by. By taking a banana or something else healthy, you will be able to refuse bitterballen or other fatty and usually unhealthy snacks more easily.
Surround yourself with toys at work
You can also make changes at work. According to Van Bodegom, people forget to keep playing as they get older. There is far too much sitting, while alternating play and work is good for both creativity and productivity. So buy, for example, two badminton rackets or a table tennis table and play. Take a lunch walk, take the stairs or cycle to work. Get plenty of exercise throughout the day so you don’t have to go to the gym at all.
Don’t put your phone on the bedside table
The strategy with the four V’s can actually be applied in all environments. For example, think of the smartphone in your bedroom. Do you always take it to bed and put it on your bedside table? By not doing this, you will avoid grabbing him while you are already in bed. By replacing it with a good book, you will start reading. Better for your night’s sleep and therefore for your health! You can also easily apply it in the living room by turning your living room into your hobby room. Especially if you plop down on the couch for three hours every night to watch television. Put your guitar in the living room and play!
And all these little nudges, nudges, together ultimately provide 10 healthy years of gift.
More tips?
Above you have read a number of tips that are also described in much more detail from the book 10 years gift by David van Bodegom and Rudi Westendorp. In 10 years of gift various environments from everyday life are discussed, such as the kitchen, the bedroom, supermarket, work and the neighborhood. Don’t expect raised fingers; this approach is based on seduction rather than prohibition.
