Over the last year especially, we have all been focused on our health and the health of our loved ones. After all, the many measures we are taking each day to stay safe keeps a healthy lifestyle uppermost in our minds. However, living with the constant dangers presented by the pandemic and the additional stress created by the many unexpected changes to our daily routine, other goals and aspirations easily slip to the bottom of our to-do lists. Don’t despair. A few simple steps each day will help you begin to build or strengthen a healthy lifestyle now.
Create Good Habits
Creating healthy lifestyle changes need not be a burden. You don’t need to feel like you’re fighting against the current. Even if you’ve been in a rut these many months, it only takes one simple choice to turn the corner and head in the other direction.
The key is to gently and slowly add positive habits into your routine. Lower your expectations. Choose one tiny change and stick with it. Before you know it, this positive step will become a natural part of your routine. Fortunately, that’s all you need to get started because as you begin to feel better it will become easier and easier to add new steps. Habits build slowly over time and begin to lay the groundwork for the next healthy lifestyle habit.
Supplement Your Diet
A healthy diet is, of course, a major ingredient to a healthy lifestyle, no pun intended. Because it’s not always easy to stay on top of the quality of our diet, you may want to consider adding a couple of supplements based on your specific needs. The most obvious supplement is a multivitamin designed for seniors. As we age, we sometimes need more vitamins than we can comfortably get through our diet. Vitamin C, and B as well as things like Iron and D3 are the most common deficiencies among our age group. You might also want to consider a protein supplement like whey protein. A lot of people’s diets simply don’t provide them with the amount of protein that they need and benefit from this type of boost.
Find Activities You Enjoy
For many, exercise feels like a chore, and a painful one at that. If that’s the case for you, you are familiar with the feeling of dread that comes at the thought of starting any kind of workout program. As a result we often come to believe that it is exercise in general that is the reason for this feeling. But, the truth is, it’s more likely we are choosing activities we don’t enjoy. The most important aspect of developing an exercise habit is to insist that you do something you love to do! Choose an activity that you are naturally motivated to do because it feels good or is fun. It should been an activity to keep your mind fully engaged as well as your body.
Keep Your Goals In Mind
If you’re making the shift to a healthier lifestyle, you’re doing it for a reason. Take some time to think about, even write down, your reasons and goals for making these changes. Staying well connected to these goals will help you stay motivated and succeed with your efforts. Whether you’re trying to improve your health in general, slim down a little, or recover from an illness or injury, keeping your goals front and center in your mind will keep you going. Keep track of your successes and give yourself grace when you slip up. Perfection is not the goal, slow, incremental progress toward a healthy lifestyle is.
Get some rest
If there’s one problem that just about all of us have it’s that we’re not sleeping nearly as much as we should be. Life can be incredibly busy and it’s all too common to think the best thing to do is to cut out a few hours of sleep to get everything done. This, however, is a serious mistake. In truth, if you’re not getting enough sleep, then you’re not going to be on top of your game. Even low-grade fatigue will sabotage your efforts to create a healthy lifestyle. And, sufficient, quality sleep is an essential ingredient to our health and wellbeing, at every age.
Focus on the positives
May people take their first steps toward creating a healthy lifestyle for the wrong reasons. If your motivation to change is because you feel bad about yourself, then you’re going to end up losing motivation quickly. When we feel bad about ourselves, no matter what we do we will find away to turn it into a negative.
A change in your life should come from a positive place. Forget what the world says you’re supposed to do, or what you’re supposed to look like. Instead, focus on the positive elements that come from a given activity, like more energy, alertness, and feeling good in your body. Feeling good is a powerful source of motivation.
Above all else, go easy on yourself. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a challenge in the best of circumstances, let alone during these chaotic and difficult times. There’s nothing wrong with finding yourself slipping away from a healthy lifestyle. Remember, however, that a day off from your exercise routine, or a food choice that is not a part of your plan, isn’t the end of the world. Resist the temptation to beat yourself up as it will only drain your energy. Set it aside as quickly as possible and refocus on your long term goals.
“The reason for desires, goals…for finding those decisions or points of focus, is because they are the life-giving things of the Universe. Without objects of attention, or objects of desire, Life Force does not come through any of us.” ~ Esther Hicks
