It is very easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of health and fitness advice available to us all. There always seems to be some new product that promises all of the answers to your weight loss dreams and your fitness goals.
Unfortunately 99% of the time, these products or diets don’t deliver and we are left feeling disappointed and frustrated , still yearning for that feeling of better health, mindset, and quality of life.
So what do we do? Well, we can curl up on the sofa, keep feeling frustrated and unhealthy OR we can choose to change our situation.
How can I Change?
The most important thing here is to get back to basics. Turn off the outside noise of what you or others think you should be doing to improve your health and think about this…. Control what you can control!
Once you let go of all of the outside expectation ie: not getting to the gym when you had promised yourself, not eating as healthy as you wanted each day, not going to to a social occasion you really didn’t want to go to in the first place, then you can start to focus on the basics and make progress.
Our Basics:
Eat a well balanced diet. Include mostly unprocessed and natural foods – focus on your portion sizes and eat consistently through out your day. A lot of people eat most of their food intake in the second half of the day, having snacks in the afternoon and large dinners that mean they wake up feeling full from the day before and skipping breakfast. Perhaps this is something that affects your eating pattern, are you able to eat in a more balanced way throughout your day?
Drink more water. Water is essential to hydrate us whilst aiding the body to perform many crucial roles such as absorbing nutrients, and removing toxins and waste. Consider if you are meeting the 2 litre minimum water recommendation per day and start to focus on this as a goal.
Reduced your stress. This is not always easy especially at the moment with the Covid pandemic situation affecting us all. Think about all of the priorities and responsibilities you have in your life that may impact your stress levels. When we have increased stress the body’s response it to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol which, in increased amounts can be detrimental to our health.
Move everyday. This does not mean you have to put huge expectations on yourself to perform high intensity exercise, particularly when you may not have exercised regularly in a long time. Choose something you enjoy and try to do this consistently. Walking around your local park everyday is much better for your mind and body than an intensive gym class you don’t particularly enjoy and can only get to once a week. You may end up feeling sore and fatigued anyway.
If we can focus on these basics that improve our overall health and wellbeing then we are on on way! It is impossible to be perfect all of the time, so keep in mind, to chip away at the basics each day and then each day we make progress. Consider how you manage your basics. Make them a more consistent part of your everyday routine and start to see the profound effect on your health and mindset. A strong base is built, a foundation for good health now and for your future!
