Have you ever sat down and just thought, “where do I start?” This thought crops up across multiple areas of my life from projects at work to home renovations and back again! Staring down the road at the horizon of life, you begin to realize there are a lot of stops along the way, but where to begin. Creating your healthy lifestyle takes time, and we can accomplish it together.
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Why Start Your Healthy Lifestyle Journey?
- Being overweight and obese is a real problem here in America.
- Approximately 250m Americans are overweight/obese.
- Every year, approximately 360k Americans die from diseases directly related to obesity and unhealthy lifestyle.
- Approximately a third of our children here in the US are overweight or obese.
- A noteworthy point is the American Heart Association designating February as Heart Health Month! Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women domestically. Check out the American Heart Association for more details.
- As a result, I began my journey to better health more than 15 years ago! Since I did not know where to start, I spent several years figuring it out and finding my starting line. I had fits and starts as I tried this ‘n that. Finally, I settled down with a basic list I could refer back to. This is that list.
- This post breaks my list down to my best tips, plus those of my readers.
What is An uN-Healthy Lifestyle?
- Overweight is defined as above the normal or desirable weight. This can be extra body fat, muscle, bone or water.
- Obesity is defined as too much body fat.
- The Scale! The scale is to weigh your body from head to toe, muscle, bones, organs blood, etc.
- The scale DOES NOT measure body fat. There are many ways to calculate body fat. Here’s a simple Body Fat Calculator from Active.com
- We do not solve lifestyle problems by weighing ourselves everyday or exercising daily or even eating right. We solve these problems with mindset shifts and small steps toward certain, and many, milestones.
Why does this happen?
- Unhealthy habits do not occur overnight. There are many reasons we develop these habits, and it is usually because of some type of emotion.
- For example, I binge eat. In order to understand why, I decided I would journal how I was feeling. I left a pad and pen in my kitchen for 30 days. When I felt “that feeling”
I would write. I found a common theme. In true introvert style, I examined its causes and responses, developed a plan to change my behavior. - Only being AWARE of the fundamental issue allowed me to move past it.
Best Tips to Get Your Healthy Lifestyle Journey Started
- Tip 1: Hydrate – humans are 60% water!
- Next time you you feel hungry, get up and pour yourself a glass of water.
- Tip 2: Nutrition – eat to live
- Choose your food based on the rainbow, and choose your amounts based on MyPlate.
- Tip 3: Move – 90/20
- Our bodies are built to move around. To try: for every 90 minutes you are working, stand up and move for 20 minutes.
- For us 9-5ers, try just standing up tall at your desk and taking 5 deep breaths.
- Tip 4: Day of Rest
- Resting helps to reduce stress, high blood pressure and improves mental health.
- Tip 5: Sleep – try to average 7-8 hours per night
- Affects everything in your life from your mood and stress levels, your appetite and will power, your energy and recovery.
- Tip 6: TRACKing is not just for Macros!
- This seems so obvious, but you will not find out where your opportunities are unless you are AWARE of them. Choose something to track, emotions, water, sleep, exercise, food, minutes in the care, # of times you laugh. Just choose one thing to begin.
- Tip 7: Me-Time
- Carve out just 5 minutes for yourself when you just stop and smell the roses. For example, practice legs up on wall to lighten the load on your legs and decrease tension in the nervous system.
- Tip 8: Twist
- Standing up tall, start twisting at the waist right and left. If you can, move on your breath: inhale to start, exhale twist right, inhale back to start, exhale twist left. This will release tension in your lower back, ring out organs and aid in the oxygen flow to muscles and extremities.
- Tip 9: Breathe
- Take some calming breaths: big inhale for 4 count, hold at top for a 7 count and exhale for an 8 count. Repeat 3-4 times. This breath technique lowers anxiety and sends a message to your nervous system and brain that all is calm and good.
- Tip 10: Socialize
- According to Chic Thompson, author of What a Great Idea!, we smile over 100 times a day as children. By the time we are young adults, we smile LESS THAN 10 times a day! What the whattt…???
- Pick up your phone, smile, and make a date with your bff!
The Last Thing You Need to Know about Starting Your Journey
- Don’t end up in overwhelm by doing All. The. Things! Choose 1-2 tips to practice at a time. Notice I say “practice”. Some may work and some may not. Toss the ones that don’t suit your life. Practice the heck out of the ones that work.
- Be aware of the point at which “you miss” practicing your choice. That is the beginning of the habit. Keep going and choose another tip to practice.
These are my best 10 tips; now it’s your turn!
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No one is worth it more than you are!
