Top 5 Life-Long Healthy Habits
So this post was supposed to be published at the beginning of February. It was written to hit right as the initial January motivation starts the wane and we’re all in need of an extra boost. But here we are, the penultimate week of Feb and I’m only just getting out my top tips for staying on track and finding your mojo again.
Everyone I seem to speak to seems incapable of comprehending how fast this year is going (myself included) but here’s to not letting any more time slip by. Here’s to getting back on top - and staying there!
Top 5 lifelong healthy changes to your life.
INCREASE YOUR OVERALL ACTIVITY LEVELS
Get out for a walk mid-morning or afternoon (or whatever time you’re encouraging your little one to have a nap). The gentle rumble of the pushchair can work wonders getting your baby to drift off and the fresh air can make all the difference to your own headspace and wellbeing.
If you’re back at work, make time during your lunch break or first thing when you get home from work. An extra tip is to immediately swap your work shoes for trainers and head straight back out the door. Chances are, once you sit down and start chilling out then it’s going to be a lot harder to motivate yourself to get going again.
SET AN ACHIEVABLE GOAL
Motivation doesn’t last as long as discipline so you need to remember why you want to lose weight, get strong or improve your health and use that as your reason to keep going. In terms of making it achievable, if you have a weight loss goal do some maths and give yourself a realistic timeframe to lose the weight sensibly. Factor in holidays and special occasions so that you can still enjoy life. A rule of thumb for healthy weight loss is 1-2lbs per week.
If you want to get back to running (after making sure your pelvic floor is up to the task) look at how much time you can commit to running and work up to your desired distance slowly.
FOCUS ON A NON-AESTHETIC GOAL
This could be getting stronger, running a charity race or being able to walk up a particularly nasty and steep hill without feeling so breathless. There’s a popular saying: ‘your weight is not your worth’ so try not to focus solely on what the scales say. Think instead about how you feel in yourself, how your clothes fit and how your body shape may be changing.
ADDRESS YOUR EATING HABITS
Whilst the proverb ‘you are what you eat’ isn’t strictly true, it is important that you fuel your body well and that what and how much you eat aligns with your overall goal. If you have no idea about how much you’re currently eating, or how balanced it is in terms of the three main food groups (carbohydrates fats and protein) then why to track for a few days the adjust accordingly - there are plenty of calorie tracking apps out there*. If tracking isn’t your thing, then keep it simple and consider your portion sizes, and consume snacks and any high calorie drinks mindfully.
STAY CONSISTENT
Every health and fitness journey has its ups and downs. You may have a birthday party at the weekend and eat a lot more than you would normally but enjoy the moment, draw a line under it when it’s over and get back to your healthy habits.
*the most common calorie tracking app is MyFitnessPal but others include LifeSum, Calorie Counter + by NutraCheck and Noom. NOTE: I don’t recommend calorie counting long term however, it is a good means of understanding how much you are putting into your body and what the best sources of macronutrients are.