Setting Your Mind Towards a Healthy Lifestyle

07/04/2022 Leave a comment

Good health begins in our mind.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy asserts that our actions and behaviors are a product of our thoughts and feelings. Therefore, if we want to change our actions and behavior, we must change our thoughts and feelings. 

Does that make sense?  

Indeed, it does, especially in the health and fitness field — for the road to health, fitness, and well-being begins in the mind.

It starts as a feeling.

We often feel dissatisfied by our body shape – especially when we reach a certain age when what used to be lean and mean becomes rounded and saggy. 

We often feel dissatisfied with our energy level or the decreasing amount of work we can do before we feel tired. We begin to ask ourselves what happened and why.

Sometimes, we don’t notice the subtle yet dangerous changes in our body and our physiological responses to stimuli until we end up in the emergency room or the doctor’s office. Then, when the blood chemistry or scan reveals what is wrong, we get scared and anxious.

People try to ignore these feelings of discontent, frustration, fear, and anxiety about the state of their health. Some deny that they have these feelings.  

But, these feelings are essential.  

They can bog us down with self-pity and paralyze us in hopelessness, or they can be the stimuli for positive action. These can be feelings we don’t want to feel ever again. So, we do all that is in our power to get back into shape and live a healthier lifestyle to prolong the days of our enjoyment of life and all it offers.

If you are concerned about your health and lifespan, are thinking about chronic illnesses, and are at risk for such, you are not alone.

Maybe you have been diagnosed with a lifestyle-related medical condition or know someone who has, causing you to re-examine your health status.

At some point, all of us begin to consider such issues seriously, and good for you! It can motivate you to take action. Once you’re on the edge of action, go further and set your mind and behaviors to a healthy lifestyle.

Step 1: Let your fingers do the walking! 

Get on your smartphone or tablet PC and start browsing the internet for information. Be careful, though; many sites out there can scare you with disinformation and leave your pockets bleeding.  

Go to trusted sites and get relevant and accurate information about healthy diet and fitness. Read all you can to find out what that looks like, and then take action. 

Step 2: Make a choice! 

Armed with your education from step one, you can now examine all unhealthy aspects of your life and make a list of goals with specific action steps to reach them. 

Step 3: Get moving! 

Join a gym, follow a healthy eating plan, hire a personal trainer, or attend an aerobics class at a nearby community center. Ask your doctor for advice. 

Make small changes that will result in significant changes in time.  

Want to lose 100 pounds? Begin with losing 100 ounces. Begin by shaving off 100 calories from your diet by skipping your usual glass of soda, candy bar, or bag of chips.  

If you drink 3 cups of coffee daily, try cutting it to two. If you take sugar and cream with your coffee, cut the cream and sugar in half or strive for black.  

Skip the cake, choose an apple or an orange for dessert three times a week, and build up from there.

The power of visualization.

If and when you are trying to lose weight, it helps if you visualize your goals. By visualizing yourself reaching a goal, you’re actually training your brain to interpret that imagery as reality—and creates new neural pathways to support that reality.

  • Create an image of what healthy looks and feels like in your mind. Find short phrases, written words, or find a picture.
  • Visualize yourself succeeding at your goal. You might picture yourself crossing the finish line of your first 5k, or stepping on the scale 20 lbs lighter.
  • Create a vision board of images of your goal body, and put it somewhere so you can see it daily.
  • What is your favorite thing to do in the world?  Is it carrying your kids? Is it playing basketball or football with them? Is it driving your car? Is it going camping or traveling? Imagine how you are going to do those things (if you can still do those things) if you’ve lost the use of half of your body because you’ve had a stroke.  Sobering visions, aren’t they? And they work. They stop your cravings! They distract your mind from unhealthy desires and sway you towards a healthy mindset.

The battle is in the mind.

The mind is a powerful thing. It can make you do certain things that you would otherwise not do. A man diagnosed to be in the initial stages of coronary artery disease – his arteries were narrowing because of arterial plaque, which motivated him to go on a diet and exercise.  

He took pictures of his kids and put them in front of him every time he ate. Each mouthful of vegetable and fruit meant that much more time that he would be around to watch them grow.   

Whenever he felt like skipping his morning walk, he would imagine his kids living without his support and love. Immediately, he’d get up and walk like his life depended upon it – and it did. Happily, he was able to reverse the coronary artery disease through small lifestyle changes – his kids are now in college.

Use your mind to be informed. Use your mind to choose what is good for your health. Use your mind’s eye to motivate you toward your health and fitness goals. It all begins in the mind.

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5 Daily Habits of Super Fit People

09/07/2016 Leave a comment

Photo credit: Kafziel [CC-BY-SA-3.0]

Have you ever noticed that some people find it much easier to lead a healthy life and exercise regularly, while others can barely manage to get enough motivation to go for a run once a month. In some cases, certain people will work out every day for a couple of months, only to return to their old sedentary ways and unhealthy eating habits after a certain amount of time.

So, what’s the secret behind being able to exercise and maintain a healthy diet on a regular basis? Here are 5 daily habits of super fit people that will show you what type of mentality is needed for leading a healthy life.

Make It Fun

If exercising feels like something you have to do, then don’t expect to have a lot of motivation to work out in the long run. People who are successful in maintaining a fitness routine always find a way to feel enjoyment and fun when they’re working out and fueling up with nutrient rich foods. Try different activities, such as biking, hiking or a group fitness class, until you find something that peaks your interest.

Learning to cook healthy foods and having friends over to try your meals or exercising with someone close to you is also a great idea, as it will make you look forward to leading a healthy life. Ideally, you should be constantly experimenting and trying new things to stay fit.

Set Short and Long-term Goals

No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, setting goals will definitely keep you motivated and on track. However, when it comes to fitness, it’s best to have both short and long-term goals. Short-term goals will allow you to take baby steps towards attainable goals and help ward off frustration, as well as give you the extra time and energy to achieve those long-term goals, such as completing a fitness challenge or losing a significant amount of weight.

This means that you will feel good about yourself sooner, which will without a doubt help you stay motivated to reach your next goal. However, if you constantly need motivation to keep exercising and eating right, it might be a good idea to re-evaluate your goals.

Keep Expectations Realistic

You’ve started working out and eating healthy, and you’ve kept up this routine for about three weeks. Great. However, you’re not really seeing any significant changes in your appearance. Well, the thing is that you aren’t really supposed to see any major differences yet, and results are also dependent on your fitness goals. Some people exercise for weight loss while others want improved endurance, energy, or to build muscle. Generally, most beginners will start to see results after the first 6 to 8 weeks of exercise.

While finding the motivation to begin your fitness journey is an essential first step, it doesn’t mean that you will instantly reap the benefits. The key is to make exercise a regular, sustainable and integral part of your life.

To stay motivated, you need to keep your expectations realistic. Don’t expect to have a perfect beach body in less than 2 months.  It might even take you 2 years or longer, but the important thing is to stay consistent and focused with your workouts and good nutrition. Permanent healthy lifestyle changes take time, so don’t expect any quick fixes.  If you put in the effort, you will see results.

Eat In Moderation

Just because you’ve started eating healthy doesn’t mean that you need to eliminate treats completely. The all or nothing approach will not last very long, so allow yourself to splurge on rich food every now and then.

Focus on eating a variety of whole foods and cut down on processed foods which offer very little nutritional value. Build your meals around vegetables, lean protein sources, and fruits.  Choose whole grains instead of processed white starch, avoid added sugars, drink plenty of water and avoid trans fats. The key is portion control and moderation. If you starve yourself or constantly deprive yourself of foods you love, no diet will ever work.

Push Yourself

Fit people don’t just hit the gym regularly; they make sure that every workout they do is better than their last. They do this because that’s the only way that they will see real results. Whenever you push yourself past your comfort zone, you will instantly get that feeling of accomplishment as soon as you’re done with the workout, which will also motivate you to continue exercising.

 

 

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Top 3 Tips for Building a Home Gym You Will Actually Use

08/20/2015 Leave a comment

Photo credit: Andman8 [CC BY-SA 3.0]

People tend to have a love/hate relationship with their local gym or workout center. They are usually paying a monthly fee to be a member, and know they should go. However, after working all day, picking the kids up from school, and fixing dinner, who has time to go to the gym? It would be much easier and cheaper to find ways to workout at home. What if you were to take it one step further, and create a home gym? What are some ways you can do this in order to get the most benefit?

Find the room – The first thing you have to determine when building a home gym, is where you are going to put it. In order to maintain some organization and avoid distractions while working out, it’s important for the gym to be separate from everything else. Choose a guest bedroom that isn’t getting used, a closed off area in the basement, or possibly part of the garage. Make a list of the equipment you want to have and make sure there is enough room for everything to fit.   Once this is done you are ready to start creating your home gym.

Equipment – You can create a gym that revolves completely around your likes and dislikes. If you hate the treadmill or stationary bike, don’t bother making one of these a part of your home gym. Strength training would require a weight machine or free weights as part of your workout routine. Yoga mats, steppers, elliptical machines, fitness balls, and stretch bands are part of the endless supply of workout equipment to help with your daily mantra. The important thing is creating a gym around your likes and dislikes in order to keep you motivated and active.

Create a Routine – The only thing better than having a home gym is using it. Even though you have easy access to workout now, it’s still going to tough to keep up with it if we don’t have a daily routine. Carve out an hour or two during the evening, or possibly before you go to work in the morning to use the home gym. Grab another family member and workout together. This is one way you can avoid the excuses and maintain the motivation to keep at it.

A home gym is one of the best ways for your family to create and stick to a daily workout routine. It’s also the cheaper route when you think about how much a gym membership is on a yearly basis. You can motivate and encourage each other to reach your fitness goals and have a great time while doing so. Not only are you getting in shape, but spending important quality time with your whole family.

 

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