Like GrinningKittie points out, there IS no easy way.
Staying active is the best way to stay physically healthy and have an attempt at staying physically fit. If you can create a routine
and stick to the routine, you can maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The army has a decent program at
staying fit, but if you want to actually take a stab at becoming fit, you'll have to push yourself more.
Mon, Wed, Fri: Cardiovascular training
Tue, Thu: Muscle failure training
Back in my active duty unit, on our cardiovascular training days, we would start with rotations, stretching (flexibility), then do a combination of 5+ mile running, fartlek runs (where you jog for a few minutes, then sprint for a few minutes, then repeat until you're ready to fall on your face, then run some more), last-man up (very much like fartlek, but when running in a 2-column formation, the last person on signal sprints up to the front... this being repeated until you're ready to fall on your face, but of course, you don't stop), etc., then do a cool-down, more stretching, and release. On our muscle failure days, we would do rotations, stretching, then a combination of exercises focused on upper body or lower body (a combination of different kinds of pushups, resistance exercises using a partner, utilizing weights - our rifles, and other varied exercises, or a combination of different kinds of situps, leg raises, and other varied exercises).
This would KEEP us in shape and tone if we weren't exactly athletic to begin with, but we were expected to go to the gym or do extra physical training of some sort to keep us from the "fatboy" program.
Eating right also plays an important role, and GrinningKittie has a point with eating more frequent, but smaller portion meals. You want to keep that metabolism on its toes!
Contrary to popular belief, healthy foods ARE good to eat. I lke to use Italian dressing and salsa a lot to add flavor to any soups and salads, and some of that weird stuff you've been avoiding might actually be pretty tasty. ("Weird" stuff like tofu is essentially flavor-less, so you can throw that into just about anything to add some protein and avoid other, less-healthy fillers.) I can't part with my meat though... I still find most veggie burgers pretty nasty. But take a look into eating healthy foods and figuring out what you like and what you can use to substitute for your less-healthy cravings (i.e. sorbet/sherbert/frozen yogurt for ice cream, fruit for sweets, more water and salad instead of eating a larger meal, etc.)
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