Cultivating a Healthy Lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle doesn’t just happen. It takes dedication, hard work, and to be really great at setting goals - or at least finding the right people to help you do it.

But where do you start?

Here are some tips to help you start cultivating a healthy lifestyle.

jamie-street-94242-unsplash.jpg

Honesty

Most of us know where our ‘weak’ spots are. We know if we like wine a little too much, or if we enjoy one too many potato chips. So the first step is, to be honest with yourself. What would you say you needed to work on. Is it the extra portion at lunch, or the fact you don’t want to walk a few additional steps when a bus is an option.

Goals

Once you can have been clear about what you could do better, it’s now time to nail those down. The key to setting really great goals is to be as in-depth as possible.

For example:

I will cut down my potato chip intake by buying less (or none at all) and replacing cravings with a piece of fruit or some nuts.

So you have given yourself an alternative behavior, that is healthier, to help you create these new habits.

Endorphins

It is time to start flooding your body with hormones. The best way to get them is by exercising. Now, it’s up to you whether you would prefer to hit the gym hard or do a daily workout that isn’t as grueling. But whatever you do, make sure that what you choose is something that you can comfortably fit into your routine, and something you won’t get bored with. Club4Fitness is an excellent example of a supportive program.

Rewards

It is very easy to fall into a very counterproductive path. Every time you go to the gym, you treat yourself to a piece of cake. Or cheat day spills over into many days. Try not to use sugary foods as your reward. Instead, do something like, when you complete 7 days at the gym, on day 8 you could have some fro-yo, or at the weekend you will give yourself an extra hour in bed. Try to disassociate those sweet treats with being a reward, and begin to build a link between fruits and veggies instead.

Share

When you are being held accountable for the decisions that you make, you are more likely to stick to them with vigor. Sharing your goals with people who are also on that journey will mean you have a support network when things get rough. And, when you meet your smaller goals, there will be a cheering squad for that too.

Kind

When you have made the decision to change your lifestyle, it becomes very easy for you to be down on yourself for not losing enough weight, or the fact no one has noticed yet. But one of the healthiest things you can do is being kind and supportive of your own goals and ambitions. Give yourself time to achieve, and you will appreciate it so much more when you do.