Terri Ramsey Beavers Living a healthy lifestyle is the ultimate goal for a lot of people, and that might include you! But even on your way to making positive changes here and there, you’re finding it hard to commit and lock down a few good habits. And this is especially true when it’s summertime and there are so many dinners, BBQs, and trips to the ice cream shop on the horizon!
But it’s important to remember not to rush yourself here. Your lifestyle doesn’t have to fit that cookie-cutter mold that most people aim for when trying to make a positive change. You just need to find the balance that suits you! And with the help of the tips below, you’ll soon be well on your way to managing just that.
Follow Your Idea of Fun
A healthy lifestyle needs to be fun! Because without fun how are you going to enjoy your life? What’s going to make you smile? Sure your resting heart rate is lower than ever, but have you been able to laugh and giggle and feel full of life in the past few months? You need to do things that you enjoy, and not force yourself into an activity just because you think it’ll make you healthy.
So if you hate jogging on your own, why not take your dog down to the park and have a run around with them? Or if you hate swimming, you could always try something like bodyboarding with a local class down a local river. Have fun, enjoy yourself, and it won’t even feel like something you’re committing to!
Always Go at Your Own Pace
Heading into a lifestyle change at your own pace is key to making a sustainable habit you can commit to. Going too fast can scare you, going too slow can mean you’ll get bored, and you just need to find that balance. But most of all, never let someone else rush you – they don’t know what you’re going through.
If you’re someone who experiences chronic pain, for example, it can be hard to make a healthy change without causing a flare-up elsewhere. And that’s something you should try to target first. If you’ve never considered it before, heading off to a physiotherapy session or two could be the middle ground you’re looking for here. Living a relatively pain-free life is a very healthy thing to achieve!
Cook the Foods You Like
The diet we follow is a big part of how healthy we are. And when you’re trying to be healthier, you can end up cutting out all the ‘fun’ foods you used to love. No carbs here, very few fats there, and you soon find you’ve never been so hungry for chocolate in all your life. And that’s your body trying to tell you something: it’s actually a good thing to have these food groups around!
All in all, snack on the things you like but balance them out with full plates of nutritious meals that really fill you up. Use these meals to power you into a fitness routine you actually enjoy, and they might even help you sleep better at night as well. Yes, the foods you eat have an effect on the rest you get!
Schedule Regular ‘Me Time’
We often make the mistake of thinking that healthy people are busy people. They look like they’ve got the energy, their skin looks great, and they’ve always got something going on. But the truth is way more complex than that! Busy people can miss out on sleep, skip meals they really should eat, and it’s magical just how much makeup can do for your look.
Don’t buy into an outward picture; everyone needs some me time, and it’s hard to live a fun and healthy life without it – Me time really is a must. Never let yourself feel guilty about needing to relax. Never let yourself feel bad for rearranging something because you’re booked up all week and want to have some downtime. And most of all, take those days off you’re perfectly allowed to have – it’s called vacation time for a reason!
A healthy lifestyle is going to look different on everyone, and that’s OK! Don’t let the pictures on Instagram and all these online opinion pieces get in your way. As long as you’re doing things that make you feel healthy, it doesn’t matter how far you go. One positive change is better than none, after all.