Modern day life makes it easier than ever for health myths to become commonplace “knowledge” and can therefore impact people’s progress in their journeys to a healthy lifestyle, whether a beginner or a veteran. Advertising has made it easier and easier to demonise certain elements of a healthy lifestyle in order to sell products that “fix” problems that never existed in the first place.

A healthy lifestyle is for everyone and can be a reality by making small changes, from slipping some carrot into a lasagna, to taking the time to go on a morning run, whatever the ability level.

Healthy eating
No, protein is not bad for your kidneys, and it is commonly the least eaten nutrient of the food groups, despite it being the most satiating. It is easy to incorporate into all diets: vegetarian diets still benefit from natural sources of beans and vegetables, along with newer products such as Quorn. However, fat and carbohydrates shouldn’t be demonised at its expense – they both should exist in your diet.

Low carb diets are often short fixes that do not keep the weight off when the diet is over, and low-fat diets encourage the overcon-sumption of carbohydrates in their place, which is equally unhealthy. The ideal plate should be half vegetables, a quarter protein and the other quarter shared between carbohydrates and fats. ‘Clean eating’ doesn’t necessarily equal weight loss, though, if that’s your goal, as calories are the single most important thing to keep track of.

Don’t forget lifestyle
Eating ‘clean’ is not the only part of a healthy lifestyle. Strength training (that is, lifting or using weights) is frequently avoided by women in fear of becoming manly, or else super light weights are lifted. Women do not bulk in the same way as men, and as such with a regular protein intake and heavy weights, their muscles will become toned, not huge. Regular weight training can also help to increase metabolism, as it decreases the body’s fat percentage and increases muscle in its place, which burns more calories while at rest.

Cardio is also hugely important for the health of the heart and lungs and can be done by everyone, whether sprinting, jumping rope, walking, rowing or dancing. Being active outside of a specified time to exercise is also important, as it can be done more frequently than organised activity. Exercise that makes you sweat should not be practised every day, as the body needs time to recover, whether from running or from lifting weights – regular sleeping is also important to this cause.