We hear it all the time. We’ve probably even said it to ourselves from time to time. “I’m starting a diet.” “I’m starting an exercise regime.” “I’m giving this up.” Too often, when we’re talking about getting healthy, we’re talking about starting or doing a thing. Instead, we need to change the conversation and the way we approach. Don’t aim for a beach bod, don’t try out a new diet. Think about it as making changes, as well. Forget the health kick, live the healthy lifestyle.
Honesty, acceptance, and respect
It all begins by recognizing the need to change your ways. However, that isn’t about thinking that you, as a person, need to change because of some outside influence. You have to be honest with yourself. Recognize what you want to do differently and accept that some changes are necessary. However, respect that you’re doing this for yourself and show yourself that respect. Write a list of promises to yourself for yourself and no-one else. Look at them every day then yourself in the mirror, right in the eyes, and commit to that change verbally. Don’t be flippant with yourself and don’t denigrate your efforts. Take yourself seriously.
Set the fads aside
Once you’ve done that, recognize that it’s going to take some work to get there. You need to build yourself and find the right path. This means no looking for shortcuts with those all-encompassing workout regimes and fad diets that are going to help you make quick progress. They usually don’t work, and even if they do they are rarely sustainable. Sure, you can learn about new workout techniques and the real benefits of lauded superfoods. But they are only going to be arsenals in your toolset. Your individual path to a healthier lifestyle isn’t something you should look for in a single article or single discipline.
Find your motivation
It’s going to take a bit more work that relying on some fads and hoping they work. To get yourself through that work, you need to think about what gives you motivation. Some of the points we work through below can help you build it in the long term, but the hardest part is often getting the motivation to get up and start making progress in the first place. There are a lot of ways to motivate yourself to get out and keep going throughout the workout. Music does tremendous good for helping people work harder for longer and to even be happy as they do it. Having a friend join you can make it a social experience and thus a lot more bearable, too. What’s important is that it gets you over the initial hump. Once they get over it, many people find that finding motivation becomes less and less of a problem. Your body learns to tolerate the stress and to crave the adrenaline.
Commit yourself to goals
The reason that one fad workout isn’t going to work for everyone is because we all have different aims, different needs, and different obstacles to face. We all need to take the time to individually learn about the different exercises we can do and how they fit into the long-term goal of a healthier life and the kind of body we want to work towards or maintain. But it is also important in helping you set both long-term and short-term goals. The more you measure and see your progress, the easier it is to develop that long-term motivation mentioned above.
Set some rules
Let’s not create the impression this is all about exercise either. When it comes to eating, it’s a good idea to build a balanced diet over time by learning more about the nutritional content of your food and incorporating more variety into your food bit by bit. Making too many changes at once can end up setting you back because it makes it all the easier to cave into the pressure you’ve put yourself under. You can start, however, by setting some strict rules you follow from the get-go. Pick a few pieces of great nutritional advice, such as only eating a set amount of meals a day or counting calories and never going over a certain amount. That ensures you’re making some progress as you make the journey to adding the balance that makes a great diet in the long-term.
Be comprehensive
Following in that spirit, you can’t only commit to being healthy in certain ways. This is a lifestyle change, so you have to incorporate every aspect of your lifestyle. This includes kicking habits like smoking, even if you have to use replacement tools like Teleos eLiquid products to do so. It also means committing yourself to a proper night’s sleep by scheduling and sticking to when you’re going to go to bed. All the seemingly separate aspects of your health are integrally connected, so your efforts to maintain a healthier lifestyle must be connected, too.
Be mindful
It’s easier to build motivation over time, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to be faced with temptation. You might just feel like skipping the gym one day. You might feel like indulging in some lasagna even though it doesn’t fit with the nutritional plans for the week. You might be in a social situation and feel like joining a friend for a smoke. You need to practice becoming mindful and catch yourself before you make those bad decisions. Learning the factors that lead to them can be a very helpful process in identifying the risks before they happen and preparing for the urge so you can better resist it. When you do fail, however, it’s important you don’t beat yourself up over it. Pick yourself up and keep committing to yourself.
It takes dedication and it takes some serious decision making. When you talk about those factors in a life-long endeavor, people start thinking about how much work it’s going to be. However, the first steps are always the hardest. Once you get on the path and stay on it to climb over those first hills, it becomes much easier to keep living that healthier life.
