4 Habits To Build For A Healthier Lifestyle

VOZ_KL_Rosie

Rosie shares how she maintains her healthy lifestyle with these few habits

Rosie Hong

Professional Search Consultant

For 18 years, Rosie ran the rat race as a marketer for MNCs while managing a suite of international advertising agencies. In 2011, she decided to exchange all that to set up her own boutique search and recruitment consultancy. Although the scale of business is much smaller, the challenges are by no means less. “Clients and candidates sometimes grow cold or get cold feet. Disappointments happen all the time. This being a people business, you also need to have a broad network of contacts and keen intuition. It takes a lot of self-motivation, discipline and energy.”

The plus side of operating her own business is being able to practise a healthier lifestyle. Back in her corporate days, this mother of two teenage boys weighed at least 5kg heavier.

Now she happily lives by the ethos ‘health is wealth’ with these lifestyle habits:

walking_rosie — Walking one mile a day burns 100 calories. You could lose ten pounds in a year without changing your eating habits (Pic credit: kaboompics/Pixabay)

Work it in the morning

“For the past 10 years, my husband and I have woken up at 6am every day to prepare breakfast for our boys and spend time reading the Bible. By 6.30am, we are out of the house for a 30- to 40-minute walk around our residential area. We do this religiously, rain or shine. If it rains, you will find two crazy people walking with umbrellas! We stick to the same routine during holidays, festive periods, on holidays overseas… It’s a lifestyle.”

Join the 10k club

“I wear a Fitbit to make sure I walk 10k steps per day. The average person walks between 3,000 and 4,000 steps daily so it is a discipline to hit 10,000. I currently have 15 Fitbit buddies that keep me motivated. The Fitbit app keeps track of our daily scores as well as weekly averages. When laziness kicks in, these guys taunt and challenge me back to my routine… or one gets competitive looking at the score board. The competition is real – and at times, intense!

Wearing the Fitbit has pushed me to walk more, climb more steps and increase the amount of physical activity. I feel my stamina has improved tremendously. 10k has become achievable so I’m now pushing myself to hit 12k. Last June, I told my sons to get me a Fitbit Charge HR (Heart rate + Activity wristband) for my birthday so that their mom can be a ‘Fit-babe’!”

salad_rosie — Adding fruit and good fats such as olive oil, nuts and avocados to a salad enable the body to absorb lycopene (in tomatoes), lutein (in dark green vegetables), iron (in spinach) and other nutrients (Pic credit: dbreen/Pixabay)

Yay to greens, nay to carbs

“I make sure I have at least three meals of salads per week. My lunches are predominantly a salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber and some type of fruits, topped with nuts and a boiled egg) and sometimes, a small slice of homemade quiche. I love colours and I make sure my plate is a medley of shades – it’s pleasing to the eyes as well as one’s health. Dinners are high in protein (e.g. cod, salmon, lean chicken breast, tofu), high in fiber and low in carbs.”

Strike a balance

“I have cheat days and cheat meals when I meet up with family or friends. Or when my eldest is back on his university breaks, we indulge in coffee, cakes, wine, pastas, local favourites, Japanese and Korean food. When my husband takes over the kitchen for Sunday dinners, there is usually plenty of red meat for the guys, fish or seafood for me and a bottle of good wine. Then it’s back to the salad and low-carb/high-fibre/good protein routine again. I watch my calorie intake carefully during the weekdays so I can indulge and let go more during the weekends. It is always a balancing game. But it feels good to be able to spoil myself after being disciplined.”

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