Lessons for a Lifetime of Lifestyle Change

Healthy Lifestyle is a Process

Before, during and after adapting a healthier lifestyle, there are few points that need to be kept in mind for successful outcomes:

Run through your daily habits before shifting to your new lifestyle

Getting to know where you stand helps you realize the changes you need to make to get you onboard your health journey. Revisit your eating and exercise habits to know where you are making a mistake. For example, a friend of mine realized that she was consuming 36 grams more of fat than she is allowed to on a daily basis, which amounts to 324 calories of extra fat every day. Realizing where you are going wrong and knowing what changes to make in your lifestyle must be your first step.

Make it a Family Affair

Getting support and encouragement of family members is crucial for motivating yourself every day. A compassionate yet duty-bound wife who constantly pushes you to hit the gym every morning or accompanies you on your walk or a strong taskmaster in the form of your son/daughter are the kind of people who are required to help you change for the better. Do you know that when either of the couples takes up a weight loss program, it surely helps the other lose weight too? Read more on the couple effect at www.firsteatright.com.

Note Down Every Small Snack/Meal

Most of us commit the mistake of either totally staying in line with a fitness ritual or completely ignoring it. Every single meal every day cannot be as perfect as you think. On some days you might feel like taking a small portion of your favorite ghee paratha. It is completely normal to indulge in this and maybe accompany it with a healthier gravy as a substitute. The change is a long-term one that is going to stay for your lifetime. Hence, small indulgences here and there are allowed or rather inevitable for maintaining a long-term healthy lifestyle practice.

Decide on Short-term Goals

Having short-term goals help us focus on the process rather than the progress. Have a heavy long-term goal but break it into smaller short-term goals. If you don’t, having one massive goal is never going to motivate you to get up and workout every single day. Rather, chalking your day with a small goal, such as a macronutrient goal, scheduled gym trip or calorie limit, will help you accomplish them or even if you fail, motivate you to try harder for hitting your next day’s goal right on target.

Vacations are Time for Relaxation & Not for Breaking Health Goals

Some factors remain the same, vacation or not! Maybe they can be adjusted but never should they be ignored. Following your exercise and eating habits rigidly during vacations are impossible, but doing your best helps to maintain your positive outcomes and sets you for a smoother transition once you are back home.

Enjoy What You Do

Rather than counting your time while walking or tracking your sets while doing push ups or using the treadmill, involve yourself in an activity that you enjoy doing. When you treat exercise as a passion rather than a chore, you are likelier to stick to it. If you are bored of some activity, explore yet another new fitness class or join a sports class.

Learn from Mistakes

Mistakes are inevitable and all of us are humans and we do commit mistakes. The most important part lies in dealing with them! Realize what went wrong and why things had taken a bad turn. Analyzing this way helps in preventing further such errors from your side.

Progress is Important

Knowing how a perfect healthy meal looks or what an ideal workout means is not indicative that you must achieve it every single day of your life. Live by a set of rules, but don’t expect yourself to follow them perfectly. There might be some days during which you feel like eating your favorite pasta or skipping your gym workout. Don’t feel bad to knock off your daily routine and enjoy these little things in life. Use your next day as an opportunity to get back on track and straighten things.

Leading a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong process-it involves making best use of the opportunities provided, lifting yourself from your pitfalls and avoid a momentary lapse from becoming a relapse.