This blog isn’t only for beginners!
It’s also for those seeking a more balanced lifestyle AND for those of you who feel as though you’re doing everything right but you’re still not getting the results you want.
In this 20 min live video recording I discuss the 3 major components that I believe we should be focusing on when creating or improving a healthy lifestyle.
Or you may prefer to read on for a brief overview:
When we’re starting out to create (or improve) a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to set strong foundations – get the basics 100% spot on.
It’s also really important to understand that the following 3 components all interrelate and will affect each other in either a positive or negative way. You can’t create a healthy lifestyle by ignoring any of these basic components.
EXERCISE:
The Australian National Heart Foundation recommends:
- 2.5 – 5 hrs of moderate exercise each week.
- Bouts of activity should be no less than 10 mins.
- 2 x sessions of muscle strengthening activity each week.
- Break up long periods of sitting.
My suggestion would be to start each day with a minimum of 10 min activity. Walking is perfect for this.
MINDFIT (or mental health activity):
A positive mind, resilience, will power, assertiveness, confidence, good self esteem… are all hugely beneficial to our health and happiness and yet few of us dedicate little, if any, time to improving it.
My suggestion would be to dedicate a minimum of 5 mins each day to any of these MINDFIT activities:
- Meditating
- Journalling
- Spending quiet time in nature just breathing
- Using a guided app like “headspace”
- Contemplating our daily MINDFIT questions on my SBF Challenge (you can learn more about that here).
FOOD:
Food is going to be the biggest time consuming component of your healthy lifestyle. It requires a lot of planning, organisation and preparation.
However, the key here is to not get overwhelmed and try to make drastic changes all at once. I would recommend these goals to get started.
- Make sure you are including 7 vegetables every single day.
- Make sure you are drinking a minimum of 2 litres water every single day.
- Reduce the amount of sugar in your day (processed sugar from cakes, biscuits, sauces, drinks etc.)
- Reduce the amount of alcohol in your diet – this will have a HUGE impact on both your physical and mental health.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE EXTREME, YOU JUST HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT.
Remember that it’s not what you do once in a while, it’s what you do daily that’s going to make a difference.
You need to nail these basics Every. Single. Day:
- Min 10 mins exercise.
- Min 5 min MINDFIT exercise.
- 7 vegetables.
- 2 litres water.
- Reduce sugar.
- Reduce alcohol.
If you’d like an easier way to achieve all that – and to create your own healthy lifestyle, you can learn more by clicking the links below…
