This article’s for you if you’ve ever:
• Ditched the three day juice cleanse on day one after having been enticed to meet ‘the gang’ down the local instead.
• Binge read fitness articles, nutrition guides and healthy living magazines whilst chowing down on a family sized bag of Doritos.
• Opted for the elasticated waistband; it’s got way more give, we know.
• You’ve read chicken soup for the soul, twice.
You already know that healthy living incorporates physical and emotional health and that there are things that boost a healthy lifestyle, so why is it so hard to form good habits and find the right balance, what’s the key?
Dream big, start small.
We’re all guilty of biting off more than we can chew, we have a general sense of what are goals are, the way we want our bodies to look, the respect we want to receive from our partners, work colleagues and friends and the relationships we want with our nearest and dearest but that doesn’t mean we should work ourselves into a frenzy by trying to achieve it all at once.
When you start to master healthy living, you feel good and when you feel good, good things happen.
STEP 1: EAT FOOD, NOT CONCEPTS
Palio, no carbs, only carbs, no fats, protein dense, vegan, raw until 4 and as the list of new dietary theories continues to infiltrate the media, think about this for a second; why are there so many different dietary theories?
Because nutrition is a fledgling science and also a multi million dollar industry so here’s what you can do; make sure you’re eating real food not concepts as you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet or nutritional theory that does’t suit your lifestyle or physiology.
STEP 2: DEFINE WHAT BEING HEALTHY IS FOR YOU
What is healthy for you? Does it mean you feel lighter, does it mean you have a clearer complexion, does it mean you can run 5km, does it mean you can breathe easier?
Get clear on what healthy is for you personally and then set an intention for your journey.
Here’s an example to get you started.
“Healthy for me is cooking at home more and eating more whole foods so that I’m not tempted to snack on junk food throughout the day. My intention is have more energy and feel confident”
Everything that happens in the universe begins with an intention.
Intentions are the starting point for dreams, it’s this creative power that fulfills all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening, or love, in the simplest form, your intentions are simply your thoughts directed towards a desired outcome.
Be clear and specific with the intentions you set but flexible with the journey, and how you get there.
STEP 3: WRITE DOWN HOW YOU FEEL AFTER EXERCISE
When you’re low on motivation, pull out these notes to remind yourself how great you felt after your last workout, even better, when you lay out your exercise clothes the day before, leave one of your post exercise notes on the top and have a quick read before you set off.
This is one motivational trick that works every time, also, let’s not forget that exercise is just moving your body in a way that feels good and if you are looking to drop a few pounds try focusing on gaining health as opposed to loosing weight, it feels so much nicer that way.
Let’s recap on all those health and fitness articles we read (online, in January, whilst sipping on a hot chocolate from the corner of our favourite coffee shop).
Our bodies naturally remove toxins every day by eliminating and neutralising them through our skin, lungs, lymph, kidneys, liver and colon so the best thing we can do to support our bodies natural self cleansing system is eat whole foods and get moving.
After we’ve finished that hot chocolate of course.
For more on health and wellness with a sidekick of adventure travel you can find Emma on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Originally published at medium.com