The How to Basics of a Healthy Sustainable Lifestyle.
When creating a healthy lifestyle the goal is to make things a simple as possible. For most people, the urge is to go from minimal to full blast maximum. The problem is, you never get a chance to master the basics, build foundations and see what more you actually need. Most people don’t have as far to go as they think, for many people, the beginning of a healthy lifestyle is just around the corner. First, you have to ask yourself a series of questions. Understanding these areas will help guide you to your next step. Do you need to recruit help, assign times, or purchase something in order to help you succeed? By answering these questions you are already gaining momentum. Creating a plan will help ensure that your goals become your new reality.
Goals - what you want to do?
Knowledge - what you already know?
Competence and skill - what you can do?
Consistency - what you can do repeatedly and well?.
One of your most important tasks as you explore creating your own personal healthy lifestyle is identifying limiting factors. Most of us have multiple in different areas of our life. For instance, while you might pick whole foods most of the time, you eat quickly while distracted. You forget to chew well, you rush through your meal, not noticing flavors or smells, and by the end, you probably feel unsatisfied and have an upset stomach. Mindset is a limiting factor that many people face. Thinking they aren’t worth the gym membership or buying the new storage containers so you can take healthy foods on the go. You are worth it! Check out some common limiting factors in different areas of life.
Common Limiting Factors
Food choices - Too much processed foods, often come out of bags or boxes, from hot lamps and cardboard freezer boxes. While the convenience factor is high, the nutrition is low for highly processed foods. Instead of thinking about all the foods, you have heard you should cut out. Consider the things you could add in. Can you add a snack of raw veggies, can you add a cooked egg to your meal. Even seeds or nuts can help increase the nutrition of your processed meals. Keep it simple and focus on health not less.
Eating behaviors- Eating behaviors are those things that we may or may not know how deeply they impact our experience of food, nutrition, and satiety (feeling satisfied and properly full). Multitasking when you eat is a surefire way to eat too many calories, impair digestion and lose the satiety of your meal. Pick a meal you have the most realistic chance of having a little quiet time for. It can be a snack, and 10 minutes is all it takes. Sit (or stand) where you can see, smell, and taste your food without distraction. Take a few breaths before you eat, you could even try closing your eyes. Notice how the meal tastes and how you feel about what you are eating. Remember to chew slowly and at least 20 times per bite. While it might seem silly, you might just find as a slow eater you tend to weigh less, have better digestion, and enjoy your meals significantly more.
Exercise and activity- Many people do the typical increase activity and reduce calories. What they don’t think about is the nutrition needed to support recovery for all your new activities. If you suddenly increase your activity without adding the nutrition to support it you may find that sustaining that activity over time isn’t going to be possible. In general with poor nutrition on top of increased activity, you are at greater risk for injury, joint pain, and fatigue. You are also risking damage to your hormones which could impact your ability to drop body fat. Nutrition is essential for being able to consistently participate in your favorite activities over a lifetime
Recovery- While there a ton of topics on recovery and limiting factors for changing your long term health, at the top of the list is sleep. Sleep is the most vital thing a human can do. Without it, you are running at less than your full potential. And if you’re already a bad-ass, can you imagine just how much more of a bad-ass you could be if you prioritized sleep duration and quality? One of the best ways to increase your sleep time is to set a bedtime. If at all possible, a consistent one. Setting a bedtime that allows you an 8 hour sleep opportunity, will greatly increase the odds you will get more sleep more nights of the week. Habits and conditioning will begin to prep your body each night for sleep if you keep the same patterns week in and week out.
Life skills- In all the times you have been told that you should; meal prep, eat all meals at home, or all meals should be made by you for optimum health, in all that time, did anyone ask if you could cook?! Acquiring the basic skills and basic equipment to make simple meals can really help you confidently cook and eat healthier versions of things you actually enjoy. Knowing that you put ingredients together that fit, are delicious, and help promote your health your way is extremely empowering. You can take a class, watch a YouTube video, ask a family member, or even start by watching a cooking show. There are tons of opportunities to get you started. You might not be able to flambé a Baked Alaska quite yet, but you can cook rice and pan fry some chicken!
Mindset and psychology- A solid mindset is essential to a healthy lifestyle. It's easy to Netflix and bon-bon binge your life away. It really is way easier. Sadly it’s simply not better for long-term health. The all-or-nothing mindset that predominates around the fitness and nutrition industry is doing you more harm than good. Realistically, health and all things related belong on a spectrum. You can approach your personal healthy lifestyle spectrum with the idea of doing 1 percent better each day. If you work to consistently, over time, improve yourself, you are going to change your life. Versus the traditional sacrifice and self-punishment for 30 -60 days, then fall off the wagon due to loss of willpower or injury, double the weight gain of the weight loss, deal with an injury, and remember how you let yourself down, yet again.
This cycle sucks, and I invite you to step out of it. Instead, focus on learning how you can slightly improve each day. While maintaining those 1 percent each day, you will start to see how they add up and start flowing seamlessly together in all areas of your life. Make your 1 percent simple. One less minute telling yourself how terrible you are or one more minute on your evening walk, one more serving of vegetables, make it simple, keep it small and succeed.
Environment - Support systems are everything. Ideally, your support system is within your most close personal relationships. But sometimes that’s not possible and the next step is to seek out a support system for yourself. In the days of the internet, this isn’t as hard as it can seem. Reach out to friends on or offline, in different groups that support your goals. Remember to look for people who make you feel good, help you challenge yourself, and are there to help you stay on track, but also to promote self-forgiveness as you change yourself and reach your goals.
A tool for success -
Tracking - you can track workouts, food, sleep, weight loss, muscle gain, grams of protein eaten, miles you’ve run, pounds you have lifted and so much more. What tracking provides you, especially as a beginner is DATA. It’s all about the data when you start something new. By tracking the behavior you are trying to do or maintain you can evaluate your success at it. While many people say they want to have a low-calorie diet, it's hard if you have no idea about serving sizes or portions, calories amounts, and qualities in different foods. By tracking, you can start to understand what kind of foods work best for you and your goals. This is how tracking as you develop a new skill can really help you learn where you are and what it's going to take to get you to your next set of goals or competencies. This tool isn’t meant to be for the long term, but instead on an as needed basis.
You are more than your diet and workout. As a person, you have families, friends, social gatherings, work parties, holiday get-togethers, cultural foods and holidays to be shared. Poor sleep, high stress, and digestive issues can know the best-laid plans right in the dirt. By remembering that you are more than your diet and workout, you can expand your nutrition and movement choices around your life on any given day. Celebrations and holidays should not be missed due to diets. But maybe they are less frequent or based around movement instead of eating, maybe you celebrate with smaller plates, more water, and long conversations. As we learn to live with health as a part of our life, we get the opportunity to see it expand naturally into all facets of our human experience.
