Living a Healthy Lifestyle

I know that there are countless articles when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. You'll find some articles on weight loss, nutrition or fitness. I think that all of those articles are great, and they all in some way or another serve a purpose.

But I feel that the desire to want a healthy lifestyle must come from within you. Its not enough to get a personal trainer who's going to tell you to do a bunch of push ups and then do a cardio workout. I say that its not enough, cause once your away from that guy or gal who is helping you to advance on a fitness level, without that inner motivation, you may just not have that feeling of wanting to get up the next day to workout.

There are a couple of ways when it comes to building a foundation toward a healthy lifestyle. These may be beneficial to some, but others may not agree.

*Find a hobby or an activity that you enjoy doing, whether its a sport or some kind of recreational activity. If you enjoy something like speed walking, or just taking your dog out for a walk, that may be helpful as well. As long as you find enjoyment and fulfillment while doing that activity, the more power to ya. Do this fun and rewarding activity at least once or twice a week just to start. The time duration while partaking in that activity, should be at least 1-2 hours each time. Doing any activity that you love, that engages in bodily motion can be helpful especially if you are just busy and don't find yourself having a lot of time to do other things.

*Eat healthy. I enjoy berries, strawberries or bananas. I do have my once in a while cravings for junk food, but I tend to balance it out. Some will say to cut out junk food all together, I say that it's ok to have once it once in a while. I'm not a big advocate of hot cheetos, sugary gummi worms or things like that, but I do love my occasional pizza, hamburgers or fries, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The only thing wrong with that is over consumption, and having a difficult time controlling your eating habits. Remember to balance your meals out with wheat, grains, vegetables, fruits and have fun with your meals too. I believe that the point is to love your food, not be on such a sparse diet, that you just don't enjoy the meals that you eat.

*Get Rest/Get enough sleep. Try to make it a good conscience habit of getting 6-8 hours of sleep. I know that it might be hard, especially if your just on the daily grind. If possible, see if you can get a 1 hr afternoon's rest in. If you have trouble sleeping, try some chamomile tea before going to sleep.

*Cut down on the boos and alcohol. This may tie in with getting enough rest or sleep. Its ok to have fun every now and then, but if your drinking on a consistent basis, and your losing sleep over it... my suggestion would be to cut down. Too much of what you think may be a good thing, might end up making you a crazy night owl, and you may even feel the counter effects from the drink which may end up causing you stress.

*Eat a good breakfast. Just eat. I know that it can be hard to have breakfast sometimes, because you need to leave your home and head right over to work, but even if its a power bar, granola bar, just eat something. It's not good to move around on a empty stomach.

*Drink water. Its a very basic suggestion, but we forget to do this. Don't forget to chug down on some H20. You want to stay hydrated and get enough replenishment.

*Read good books and listen to empowering and positive audio. Look, there is a lot of hog wash in the world. There are many distractions, and to top it off negative people that you may come across or meet. By being distracted by time wasters, things that don't serve you, listening to someone's complaining, it doesn't do your heart, mind and soul any good. My suggestion is to start reading a good positive book or listening to good positive audio, for instance, John C Maxwell, Anthony Robbins, Les Brown, Brian Tracy, to Jim Rohn, from 10 pages a day / 10 minutes of a good audio a day, and you will be amazed at good personal development will be able to do for you.

*Get off the phone/email/text/social media- People spend countless hours a day just being on social media. I love checking my social media posts as well, but sometimes I feel that if your on it too much, you create a dependency on technology, where you literally just feel like you can't be without your phone. Try to make it a good conscious habit of staying away from social media or to cut down.

*Do something for you. On top of doing a side activity or sport to help your blood pumping and keeping the heart healthy, make sure that you do something nice for you. Make sure to reward yourself, especially when you are giving off energy into the world, through the daily hustle/grind. The ways in which you can reward yourself, can be through going to the movies, getting a massage, talking a nice walk down the beach or park, anything that will make you feel good and boost your mood.

*Nurture your Relationships- Its important to create a loving and happy bond with family & friends. If its been a while since you've spoken to someone, pick up the phone just to say hello or write a nice greeting note and send it to them. Make sure to time with loved ones. Strengthening the bond that you have with others is great, because to have loving support in your life and to let others know that you're there for them as well, is a beautiful reward in itself.

Stay healthy my friends!
Stay away from things that don't serve you, whether it's drugs, alcohol or any kind of addiction.

You have the power within you to create the life you wholeheartedly want and desire!
Go out and prosper

Your Friend
Simone