I'm not exactly a fitness guru, but being healthy is definitely easier than you think.
In January 2017, I decided to be healthier. This decision came after the realisation that I was making the wrong choices when it came to my lifestyle: before then, I had stopped working out, didn't do any exercise at all since I went to work by car, I ate whatever I wanted without being sensible, I went to bed really late and was dead tired by 3pm the next day - not to mention the number of hours I wasted on the weekends by waking up at 11am. One could say I was losing control, and that reflected a lot on my general health and the way I saw myself.
Came the New Year, I decided to make improvements, step by step, and thanks to motivation and the positive effects I started seeing, I have turned these improvements into habits and I can happily say more than one year later that I feel healthier than ever and would never go back.
There are so many positive outcomes in embracing a healthier lifestyle in an easy, achievable way - I'm not advising you to lift weights every day and live on coconut water and avocado, far from it! I just thought I would share with you the tips and tricks that work for me and make me feel the difference.
GET YOUR BODY MOVING AND EXERCISE
On
this one, I will be very blunt: when I say exercise, I don't mean
take the stairs instead of the lift or go for a twenty-minute walk
every day. I mean put some music on, find some fitness exercises that are achievable at your own level and put the effort in. If you
want to feel the change, you have to sweat it out. I used to hate
sports and avoided PE at school at all costs, but I find that fitness
has really made my mindset improve and I have become much stronger
physically as well as mentally. It's one of those things that shows
that making effort and pushing yourself really does make a difference and
changes you for the better.
I
would advise to work out three times a week - cardio, yoga, weights, pilates, kickboxing, dance classes... do what you feel the
most comfortable with. However stick to a routine, add your workouts
to your to-do list, and you'll quickly form a habit that you'll look
forward to every time. Fitness is also such a stress-reliever, and
you can see the progress on your body as well - I have never felt
stronger, and I feel it doing simple things like lifting heavy bags
or walking up a hill. Every physical effort has become much easier,
and all thanks to working out. I couldn't recommend it more.
BE MINDFUL OF WHAT YOU EAT
I do really believe that we are what we eat. The better our diet, the better our health becomes. Make easy changes like limiting fried and
processed food, but also snacks that have no nutritional value (as much as I
love crisps, they really don't fuel the body!) as well as fizzy/sugary
drinks and alcohol. Easy changes, and again once you create a habit, you will never look back.
My
favourite tip would be to think about macros when you cook or plan
meals. In short, macros are how much carbs, protein and fats
there are in what you eat. Also have a look at the amount of sugar you are consuming. You don't need to measure these macros, nor do you need to count the
calories or look at the scale; just think about whether a dish
balances out all these elements to figure if it's healthy or not. Of
course always go for lots of fruit and vegetables, but make sure you
get enough protein too - especially if you work out.
Some
of my favourite foods to have as part of my diet are: peanut butter
(don't be afraid of healthy fats), broccoli, grapes, nuts, wholemeal
bread, eggs, tomatoes, rice, chicken and turkey... Whole,
natural products are the best but you can also find some helpful
alternatives like frozen veggies or ready-made vegetarian burgers and
so on. Mindful eating does not equal restriction - I eat peanut
butter every single day and will never feel guilty for it! It has
just become a healthier, more natural swap for plain, dairy butter. Also,
always look at the ingredients list when you buy something. You never
know what crap industrials can put in what seems like the most
inoffensive foods!
LOOK FOR INSPIRATION BUT REMEMBER TO KEEP IT REAL
There
are hundreds of fitness/healthy lifestyle inspiration accounts on all
platforms: YouTube, blogs, Instagram and so on. I find that finding
inspiration in other people's journeys and mindsets is important,
because it shows you that you are not alone and other people are
doing the same thing, going through the same thought process and they
will maybe give you ideas for recipes, workouts and tips. I mainly go
on Instagram to find women who promote healthy lifestyles, my
favourite is Louise from My
Better Self - she posts in English (and French!) to motivate
you to make changes and embrace the lifestyle that will make you feel
healthier and happier. However, and this ties in with my next point: she keeps it real and speaks up about issues that you might encounter
in the world of healthy living: body image, the pressure of social
media, being too hard on yourself, and so on. She also gives yummy
meal ideas and shows that healthy living doesn't mean eating salad
all day every day.
Keeping
it real is very important: the pictures you see online are made to
fool you. Even the healthiest person on earth can have cellulite,
looks bloated after a meal, has dark circles and eats fast food once
in a while. I feel like there is an "all or nothing"
mindset online that always pushes you to be perfect in all you do.
Truth is, nobody is perfect and no matter how perfect people look on
their pictures, their stomach's aren't flat all the time, and they
probably have a few stretch marks. Their thighs do the
annoying spread thing just like all of us random people, and when
they're in a hurry mid-week their plates look like they've just
thrown a bunch of veggies and chicken together. Because real life is
not what you see on Instagram. But finding like-minded people can
definitely help and motivate you.
ENJOY EACH STEP OF THE JOURNEY
Making
these changes shouldn't be a chore. If you dread the thought of
working out at the end of the day, then this workout is not for you -
try out something else and see what works. If you hate carrots, don't
force yourself to eat carrots. Have something else instead. If you're
not ready to wake up earlier on the weekends because having a lie-in
is your favourite thing to do, then it's okay to stay in bed until
10am. Find your rhythm, turn my advice into your own thing so maybe
you can share about your experience too. And bear in mind that
changes in health can take time - every little step you make now will
be rewarding as you go, and you will probably notice it only when you look back.
Is
there a trend at the moment about being healthy and working out? Yes.
But does healthy living have benefits? Also yes. Sometimes, trends
can actually be meaningful if you take them to your advantage and use
them to grow as a person. A healthy mind and a healthy body can never
be out of style, right?
Are there any healthy tips or advice that you apply to your everyday life?
Lots of love,
Julia x
Lots of love,
Julia x
