Start Living a Healthy Lifestyle!

A fresh start to the year, for many of us, presents an opportunity to change our old ways and begin new ones. Have you felt lost and unsure of how to begin your 'fitness journey' because I have? In fact, I'm a beginner too but I've learned some valuable lessons that I'd like to share. Stay tuned for helpful and realistic tips on how to change your life for the better.

3 Key Tips

Focus on the feeling.

It seems nowadays that the 'results' aka the destination is all that matters- which isn't true. Social media seems to only highlight people's physical transformation- which there is nothing wrong with- but it fails to express the mental as well as an emotional change in one's journey. I'm here to remind you that your fitness journey is all rounded so don't be swayed by the beauty standards, health tips and other information which may well be fabricated.

Working towards your fitness goals requires hard work, discipline and resilience. The best results come from when you enjoy what you are doing too. Focusing on how you feel is a more sustainable and better means of motivation. How you feel inside is how you will reflect on the outside. Likewise, if you don't feel particularly great you should focus on how and what you could do to healthily change that. To me, that is the true essence of a health and fitness journey.

Prioritise movement and rest.

We all have our own schedules, agendas and different priorities in life. I've talked myself out of 'working out' or getting any form of exercise in because 'i'm too busy' or 'don't have the time' way too many times because my fitness wasn't a priority. Have you done that too? YES, you do have time. Whether you realise it or not you need to move somehow to get to point A to B (e.g. home to school) throughout your day and that is good enough. The trick is to identify your daily movements and evaluate if there is a better way for you to do this. Instead of having your full commute to school via a bus, you could get off a stop earlier and walking to your destination instead to get more movement in your day.

To make progress in your health and fitness journey, I'd encourage you to make a conscious effort to be active anyhow you can (e.g.increase your steps, dance, stretch, stand etc). Equally, you need to learn to listen to your body and provide what it needs. Your body will thank you and function better if you give it the chance to recharge by resting (e.g. more sleep, massage, nutritious food).

That is how you will reach your fitness goals and feel so much better too.

Develop healthy habits.

There are tonnes of videos, articles, professionals that can give you an idea of 'healthy habits' and their benefits but you have to look and understand your own habits. My definition of healthy habits is "doing what is best for you always"

You can then introduce more healthy habits into your daily routines to make a difference in your lifestyle. The results of your fitness journey don't come from doing just one thing but a combination of different small changes you have made over a long period. The reason why our journeys differ from each other is that we discover and learn more about ourselves (health) in our own times and in different ways. Change is gradual and in order to see the outcome of it, we must continue to do our bit day by day. Comment below what habits you will be working on this week?

I hope that these tips were helpful to any of you who want to really and truly embark on your health and fitness goals. I want to continue learning and even taking my own advice as I prioritise my wellbeing once again.

Until Next Time... Ludel.