The most important thing that each and every one of us has is our health. WHY??? Well, you can’t take care of your family and those you care about if you can’t take care of yourself. Think about it. Do you ever notice that when you fly, the flight attendant instructs you to secure your mask on YOUR face before attempting to help someone else, in the case of an emergency? They tell you that because if you lose consciousness you are not in a position to help those around you.
The same is true with life. Remember the number one cause of death in North America is lifestyle related - also known as having an inactive and unhealthy lifestyle. A massive heart attack or stroke can remove you from your family within 3 minutes of setting in. Why not take time now to ensure you’ll be around for years to come.
Now I realize busy schedules, working long hours and various life duties can make being healthy challenging, so I’ve thought of 10 ways you can incorporate a healthy lifestyle and turn your life around right now, if you desire.
- Control Your Weight. You don’t just wake up one day and boom you are overweight… it creeps up on you, giving way to an expanding waistline. Pay attention to your weight and manage it.
- Drink WATER instead of JUICE/POP. We are supposed to drink approximately 8 cups of water a day. Water does a body good while successfully cutting out the sugar and caloric intake found in juice and pop.
- Commit to eating healthy 6 days a week. You are allowed one cheat day if you can eat healthy for 6 days. And that means eating healthy with appropriate serving sizes, loading up on vegetables and fruits. Try eating frequently throughout the day with smaller portions - your 3 meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner plus snacks (i.e. yogurt/apple) between mealtimes.
Exercise your HEART. Try adding some cardiovascular exercise such as walking, jogging, biking or swimming to your weekly activities. Make it something you do 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes a day.
- Add Some Muscle. This is a good idea because it elevates your metabolism even when you’re doing nothing. Greater muscle mass makes it easier to keep lean. You can do this by adding strength training twice a week to your routine. It could involve simple exercises like Squats, Lunges, Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, Crunches/Sit-ups. You can do an exercise routine of just those 5 exercises with 2-3 sets of 15 (be sure to be slow while doing them) to benefit.
- Explore the Athlete in You. Set Varying Fitness Goals during the Year. Try running half a marathon or a bike race. By setting a performance goal of running a certain time or maybe just finishing the race it gives you motivation to exercise.
- Use the Buddy System. Recruit a friend or involve your family with adopting this healthy lifestyle behaviour.
- Adopt a routine. Just like you get up each morning and brush your teeth, shower and get ready for work, having a healthy lifestyle means incorporating it in your regular routines. So, if you commit to work out 3 times a week, schedule it and stick to it.
Pay-up First. Anticipate feeling some Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness when first beginning an exercise routine. Fortunately, the more you exercise the easier it gets!
- Reduce Stress Levels. Take time to think of the good things (a glass half full approach), sleep more, or set 1 hour in the week (or in a day) for you to just relax.
Committed to a healthy lifestyle,
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