Feel Great Again with these 5 Effective Healthy Lifestyle Tips

I lost about 40 pounds in 10 months. I was doing everything right in my healthy lifestyle routine- eating healthy, working out 5+ days a week, drinking lots of water, etc. Then, after the dreaded quarantine, I stopped working out and lost most of the muscles I had built. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was getting back on track. I knew what I had to do to get the results I wanted, yet I was doing the complete opposite.

It’s time to get back on track!

While this post is mainly referring to a healthy lifestyle, the tips below can be applied to any improvement you would like to make in your life. Have you stopped reading and now want to get back on track? Have you stopped writing? or playing a favorite sport? Then you can use these tips to get back on track. Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Everything I share in this post is my personal experience and what has worked for me. Seek medical advice before entering any diet or new lifestyle changes.

Have you fallen off your healthy lifestyle track? In this post, I will share 5 simple tips you can follow to get back on track.

Healthy Lifestyle Definition

Before you embark on this journey to a healthier version of yourself, let’s understand what it means to have a healthy lifestyle. But first, let’s begin by saying what a healthy lifestyle is not. A healthy lifestyle is NOT a diet. This is what happened to me. I thought I was living a healthy lifestyle, but I was just treating it like a diet. Diets might work, but only while you are on them. As soon as you stop them, you will go back to the same place you were before. A healthy lifestyle is also NOT a temporary thing. A healthy lifestyle is a complete physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. This means taking the necessary steps to ensure all these areas of your life are taken care of. It all starts in your mind.

Physical

• Regular exercise
• Balanced diet
• Resting
• Proper stress management

Mental

• Positive thoughts
• Positive self-image

Spiritual

• Inner calmness
• the ability to find hope even during hard times

Find your WHY

Lacking motivation is the worst obstacle to overcome when you are trying to begin a healthy lifestyle or to get back on track. The first question you need to answer when entering a new, healthy lifestyle is WHY? Why do you want to do this? Your WHY might be a health issue that you have, needing to improve your self-image, or just to challenge yourself.

Some questions you can ask yourself are:

*Am I doing this to impress someone?

*What reward will I get from this journey?

*Will my confidence level be elevated from this?

Make sure you have a clear answer to your WHY. Your WHY is what will help you get up every morning and work for your goals.

Change your bedtime and morning routine

If you would like to work out early in the morning, then you might need to update your bedtime and morning routine.

-> Some changes you can make to accommodate your workouts are:

*Going to bed half an hour earlier

*Setting your alarm 20-30 minutes earlier

*Changing your kid’s bed times

There might be some habits that are keeping you from having a healthy lifestyle. Read about these 5 mistake that you might be making and find out how to change them here.

Have something to look forward to

Coffee, cute workout clothes, favorite songs, seeing the sunrise from your window, a tasty breakfast smoothie, etc. These are examples of things that will get you excited to wake up and workout. To build discipline, you need some incentives that will help you build consistency. Once you form a habit, you’ll find yourself waking up on your own without the need of an incentive.

Create a fun workout plan

Grab a pen and paper and write down what days you want to work out. Then, write down what types of muscle group you will work on for those days. You can go to Pinterest and find different exercises for those muscle groups.

You can also subscribe to online workout programs like Beach Body on demand and choose which workout program you would like to start. They even give you a nutrition guide to make things easier for you.

Prevent routine boredom by changing things up a bit.

Fake it till you make it

This is one of my mottos. I know that to some of you this may sound like a plan to fail but hear me out. You need to start this journey, right? So, begin with just one thing. Oh, and before I forget, let me tell you that you need to start as soon as you get that urge from within you. What I mean by that is that you do not need to wait until Monday to begin. If you get that gut feeling on Thursday afternoon, then get up and workout on Thursday afternoon. After you do that first workout, you will know how great it feels and you will want to schedule your next workout.

Back to faking it till you make it now. What I mean by that is that you should celebrate every small step you take toward reaching your goal. Small steps look like: drinking water regularly, choosing a healthy meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner), walking after a meal, etc. Feel happy that you have accomplished something.

By being realistic with yourself as to what is a doable plan of action, and following the tips above, you should be able to go back on track or begin your journey to a healthy lifestyle.

Sincerely,