“I will start tomorrow…” Everyone’s famous last words as they binge ice cream and watch another movie.
We all, at one point or another, have considered starting a “healthy” lifestyle. Fad diets are in: keto, low fat, carnivore, vegan. People are trying so many different things trying to feel better and be more disciplined.
Yet, it remains incredibly difficult to start. I mean, with all of the different information on the internet, how could it be easy to start? Where does one even begin?
Related Book: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
If you want to live a healthier lifestyle and change some of your habits so that you feel better physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, I am here to tell you that it is entirely possible.
You have all of the necessary tools to build and sustain a healthy life.
Here are 10 ways that you can become a healthier version of yourself.
- Weekends don’t exist.
It seems harsh, but I stand by this statement. Your body doesn’t care if it is Monday or Saturday. I understand that everyone has their own weekly rhythms, but I also need to express that every other step to health relies on this principle: weekends don’t exist.
I am NOT saying that you can never have fun, relax, have a cheat meal, and take a break from exercise. In fact, I would advise that you actually DO those things.
A healthy life is a habit-filled life. Without habits, you will never succeed.
How easy is it to “be so good” Monday-Friday and then gorge when the weekend comes. That is not the path to a healthy life, and it surely is not fun to feel guilty on Monday morning. “Living for the weekend” doesn’t make you feel better, so stop letting society tell you that it does.
- Stop making excuses.
The second that you say you want to live a healthier lifestyle, the world seems like it is out to get you. Fast food commercials instantly turn on the screen. You get sick. You make the decision right during the time you’re supposed to go on vacation. You get injured. There are so many things that come up, and they all seem to happen right when you get your intentions right to start living in a healthy way.
This will happen every single time. If a healthy life was easy to live, everyone would do it and you wouldn’t be reading this blog. You have to set your mind on the fact that no matter what happens, you will push to accomplish your goal.
Related Book: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
Accidentally stay up too late? Don’t push snooze. Feeling overly sore in the morning? Go to the gym anyways.
It is in the moment when you want to quit that you need to do just a little bit more. If you become a person that stops making excuses you will be set apart from 95% of the population.
- Do the same thing over and over again.
“But that sounds like such a boring life.” At times, it can be.
Consistency is key, though. You need to be consistent in doing the same thing every day, over and over again, until it becomes second nature.
If you are a Christian, there are things that should come naturally for you to do every day. Reading your Bible and praying are among them.
As a person striving for health, doing some form of physical activity should be something you do consistently.
You must become content to do the same thing over and over again, or you will never make it. The “fad” diets and lifestyles are not sustainable to make your life healthy. It may work for a period of time, but it rarely ever sticks. That is because people don’t set the expectation that it will become monotonous eventually and the purpose of it is to last a long time.
- Save money.
Money problems will eat you alive. A healthy lifestyle is not just in the physical realm with eating right and working out, but it also encompasses your mental and emotional health.
You need to get right with handling money. Don’t spend more money than you make. If you need more money to survive, find ways to make more money. Learn how to use and benefit from credit cards. Learn how to leverage money to make more money. Learn how to invest.
Money is extremely important to your health because it will open doors to freedom in other areas. If you need help, here are 3 steps to financial freedom.
Pride is what keeps people from becoming financially free. Here’s a bit of truth: nobody really cares about the car you drive, clothes you wear, or house you own. The thought that you can’t take a second job or live with roommates because of appearance is killing your ability to save money.
This is not about popularity, but about your kids’ future. Think about the cost of not changing your financial habits.
- Wake up early.
This is a consistent habit between all of the most successful people in the world – they get up early. There is something great about waking up before the sun, sitting in the peace and quiet, and starting your day off right.
Can you imagine what you would accomplish if you could gain an extra hour every day? That is 365 hours every year, or an extra 15 days that you can create in your schedule. That is 15 days to spend with friends/family. 15 days to do housework, chores, and all the other life things that get in the way of your weekly schedule.
You have time, but do you have the time management skills to wake up early?
Stop using the excuse that you could do the same things just at night. That’s not the same thing. You have something called willpower, and it drains on a daily basis until you sleep and refill it. You are strongest in the morning (after you wipe the eye booger off your face).
I believe that you can create the habit of waking up early and reading, writing, or exercising. Something that sets your mind on anything that is not yourself. Wake up early!
- Cut out added sugar.
Don’t hate me for this one. Growing up, my favorite food was chocolate lava cake. I would take a slice and put three scoops of chocolate peanut butter ice cream, some additional peanut butter, and if I was feeling it, some extra chocolate sauce. I get it – sugar tastes AMAZING and it does help you feel better about life.
Until you wake up the next morning. Maybe not even that long – you might regret the sweet treat you ate merely seconds after eating it.
Sugar is damaging to so many areas of your life: your gut health, your mental health, and your physical health. Mental health? How is sugar damaging my mental health?
So many people rely on it as a crutch, as a coping mechanism for the anxieties of life. Like alcohol, it can become an addiction. Some people say, “there is nothing wrong with a cookie.” Unless you are someone who can’t stop at one cookie – which is a lot of us.
I say added sugar, because there are good sugars out there to eat and that will satisfy your sweet tooth. Fruit, for example, can be used as a substitute sugar source.
This section may seem like there is no room for cheat meals or desserts. No room for fun. For me, my problem was so severe that I have no room for those things – because to me, the torture that came after eating them was not fun at all.
I know that some of you are in the same boat, and it is okay to completely cut it out and to say no when people offer it to you at social gatherings.
Cutting out added sugar will help you feel less sluggish, more energized, and mentally focused. I can promise you simply because I have lived the transformation.
- Control your emotions.
This one might be the most difficult step on the list of living healthier. Your emotions rule your life. We all know the person who gets easily angered and flies off the handle – and we probably avoid certain topics with that person.
We all know the person that is emotionally unstable, maybe we are that person. If you don’t learn to control your emotions, your emotions will control you.
Anger is not the road to a healthy life. Emotional eating is not the road to a healthy life. Excessive exercise and dieting is not the road to a healthy life (even though to everyone else it might seem that you’re doing fine).
There are emotions that seem good and that seem bad. Either way, if they are out of control they can all become equally terrible.
A healthy life is a stable balance of feelings. You can’t rely on your feelings anyways because most of the time they are lying to you. You will never live out of true reality if you are bound by the way you feel.
This is one that also requires humility – sometimes the way you feel just doesn’t matter that much… and that’s okay!
You have to learn how to control the way that you feel and center it around others. Put others above yourself and learn how to serve them and to love them.
What emotion controls you right now? What are ways that you can help to take back control?
- Challenge yourself through exercise.
This list doesn’t seem fun anymore and everything sounds kind of hard, right? Well, if things were easy then everyone would be living a healthy lifestyle.
The majority of men cannot do more than 10 pushups, or even 1 pull-up. The last time a lot of people ran the mile was during the physical fitness tests for high school gym class. We get tired just thinking about the pacer test now.
“That was a different life,” we say, “I was way more in shape then.” That’s probably true. But in shape can look different for everyone.
I am not saying that we all need to look like Thor’s brother or sister, but I want you to feel confident in your body and comfortable with doing normal things in life (like lifting laundry baskets, squatting to sit down, picking up dog messes).
Exercise is practical and it helps you in every facet of life. You need to get a consistent workout plan. Whether that is simply walking every day or joining a Crossfit gym, do something that you enjoy doing that gets your body moving.
- Make your bed EVERY morning.
This one sounds weird, I know. Making your bed, though, will set your mind on accomplishing things throughout your day. You are starting your morning with a small win. Multiple small wins throughout the day will leave you proud of the effort you put in when you get home!
To me, my bed is one of my happiest places. I love sleeping. I also eat and watch movies on my bed sometimes. I can close the door to my room and simply lay on my bed. It is my comfort spot – my safe place.
You want your environments to be clean physically, because for some reason it helps to clean the mental environments that you have going on in your life. While it is hard to be consistent, there is no better feeling than to have all the dishes cleaned and put away, laundry fully done (not left in the dryer for three days), bed made, desk cleaned, and bathroom wiped down. Why? Because your mind will be a little more free by looking at your physically clean environment.
Related Book: Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life by Admiral McRaven
- Have Fun!
None of these steps will matter if you forget to enjoy your life. You need to find friends – join a community!
Yes, these steps can be challenging to implement, as living a healthy life is hard to implement. However, it is so totally worth it in the end and you will feel 1000x more accomplished and confident in yourself.
A healthy lifestyle will open the door for you to enjoy so much more of life. The older you get, the longer you can enjoy sports with your kids. The more financially free you become, the more you can enjoy giving away time, money, and resources to other people. The more physically fit you are, the more you can enjoy competition.
Find something you enjoy and hold on to it. Healthy living is VERY easy to be consumed in. You will quickly find yourself focusing on you way too much. You will look in the mirror every chance you get. You will track metrics and think about them every waking minute.
It is easy for the pursuit of health to become unhealthy. Don’t forget to take some time to enjoy your life, your family, your hobbies, and your values.
Have fun! Do something that you love.
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