Starting on the road to a healthier, happier lifestyle can be a very daunting affair. You may feel like you have to uproot your entire life and begin again from scratch, but that’s not the case. There are some straightforward steps that all of us can take to get on that road to a healthy life. Today we are going to talk about eight easy steps you can take to begin your healthy lifestyle.
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Assess Your Body
Before you even start considering making changes to your exercise regime, diet and sleeping pattern, you need first to understand your body and what it needs. It is recommended that you visit your GP before making any significant changes to your habits because these changes could affect your health. Once your doctor has assessed you, it is also important to evaluate yourself. Weigh yourself, measure your body and height- and this way you can calculate BMI and have a better insight into your health overall. There are plenty of websites which can calculate BMI for you. Once you begin to understand your body, you can then decide what it needs.
Get More Sleep
Sleep is an essential part of life, and many of us don’t get enough. It is recommended that for a healthy body, an average adult should be getting between 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Of course, usually for most of us this just doesn’t seem to happen, but it is something which you need to consider if you want a healthier body.
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Keep a Food Diary
The hardest thing many people find when they embark on a diet is keeping up with it. This is why maintaining a food diary can dramatically increase your chances of staying on track. Having evidence of your food habits in front of you every day keeps the mind focused, and allows you to keep making those healthy choices rather than reaching for that packet of biscuits in the kitchen cupboard. Apps such as Myfitnesspal enable you to track your calories and macros every day to make sure that you are getting enough protein, fat, and carbohydrate in your diet. We have an article which talks about all things protein, so check that out here to learn more about how protein can help you get fit and healthy.
Exercise
With a healthy lifestyle comes exercise. And although many of us wish it didn’t, moving the body is one of the single most important ways to maintain healthy heart and metabolism, which in turn will lead to quicker weight loss. Just remember that losing weight is a long process if you go about it the healthy way, and it is critical to adhere to a realistic timeline to lose weight. If you don’t want to fork out for an expensive gym membership, that’s not a problem. There are plenty of ways to exercise at home using videos or routines such as on Pinterest.
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Change Your Diet
They say that 80% of a healthy body is down to diet, and that’s right. If you aren’t fueling the body with the right foods, then you can’t expect it to work at its optimum rate. It’s like putting fuel into your car, if you don’t use the correct fuel, the car won’t run, and that’s the same for our bodies. It is imperative to moderate bad habits and adding some high protein, vitamin, and mineral containing foods. Again, you don’t have to change your diet all at once, just begin with small changes to your current diet and evolve slowly. This way you are much more likely to succeed.
Be Positive
A healthy lifestyle isn’t just about the body; it’s also about mind and soul. Surround yourself with family and friends, let go of negativity in your life and lift a weight from your shoulders. A healthy mindset is often forgotten when it comes to beginning a health journey, but it is essential if you want to maintain your lifestyle.
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Track Your Progress
Take photos of your body before you begin the process, and then subsequently every week or month afterward. Having a visual representation of your progress will instill confidence and motivation in you to continue on your journey. It is always difficult to see changes in yourself if you don’t take photos. Also, measure and weigh yourself each week so that you can physically see the numbers going down. There’s no better motivation than proof of success.
Have Fun
Changing your lifestyle doesn’t have to be serious, and it certainly doesn’t mean you can’t have cheat days where you stay in your PJs all day and eat pizza. That’s the whole point of maintaining a healthy body and mind, moderation. There’s no point in keeping fit and healthy, if you can’t allow yourself to enjoy what you love, so have some fun once in a while!
