Quick coaching question for you: last time you hit a significant fitness or weight loss goal, what was your reaction?
Did you mark the achievement then carry on, or did you do a mental fist pump and think “thank god that’s over”?
This is the difference between “getting in shape” and living a true fitness lifestyle. And it’s the only thing that will get you off the rollercoaster.
What is a “healthy lifestyle”?
When you make fitness and healthy eating part of your routine, it’s no longer something you are striving for. It’s just part of life, and even part of who you are.
A life build on healthy eating, exercise, and activity means that these things will become part of your identity. A good way to kickstart this is to dig into your core personal values and beliefs.
It’s important to recognise that a healthy lifestyle won’t always be dialled up to 10. In fact, once you have these habits in place it will be easier to turn the dial up or down in line with life. But when you want to lose weight or train for a fitness goal, you will be able to shift gears – and success will come easier.
12 things a healthy lifestyle includes
- daily activity (not necessarily exercise)
- walking (especially if you have a sedentary job)
- exercise 3+ times a week
- some resistance training or weights
- an awareness of your caloric needs
- eating mostly healthy, wholefood
- knowledge of food quality, protein, and fibre
- good hydration regardless of busy lifestyle
- mindfulness around portion sizes and other eating habits
- coping strategies to reduce and manage stress
- good sleep hygiene to ensure 7+ hours sleep a night
- adopting an 80/20 attitude to allow for flexibility
Find what you love – then keep doing it
One of the most important elements of a true healthy lifestyle is enjoyment! There are so many ways to stay active and do formal exercise. There really is no need to punish yourself with an exercise routine that you don’t enjoy.
The same goes for healthy eating. Cover off the basics (adequate calories, protein, minimal processed food, plenty of wholefoods) but make the details personal to you.
Think outside the box with exercise, cardio, resistance training, healthy eating, and recipes. Aim to develop a list of things you love so you can mix & match in line with life’s demands.
Identifying your core values
If you’ve never done any work on your core personal values and beliefs, I invite you to do so now. Check out my previous blog posts on values and beliefs.
The aim here is to discover the values and beliefs you already hold that will support a healthy lifestyle.
Of course, not everyone will have these. But the very fact that you’re here, reading about this topic, is a good start.
Here’s an example
If your values are Growth, Family, and Contentment, you could create healthy lifestyle statements like this:
Living a healthy lifestyle will support my need for personal growth because I will be healthy, energised, and able to think clearly.
Living a healthy lifestyle will tie in with my views on family, because I will be able to set a great example and be fit and healthy for my partner, children, and future generations.
Living a healthy lifestyle will help me achieve contentment because I will be confident that I my daily decisions support my body, mind, and wellbeing.
Process goals vs outcome goals
Developing a healthy lifestyle, rather than jumping on and off the fitness and fat loss bandwagon, is a very healthy way to approach long term goals. By focusing on the process and each mini goal along the way, you will get more value from the journey. If you hang on to an outcome-goal outlook, you will miss all the lessons along the way in your hurry to hit your goal.
How to create your own fitness lifestyle
I can’t give you a template for a healthy lifestyle (although I’m only a phone call away if you want help – start by sending me an email). The whole point is that it needs to be built around your routine, commitments, priorities and preferences. If you don’t make it bespoke, it won’t last long.
There are some basic categories to include: movement and activity, formal exercise, healthy nutrition, food habits/relationship with food, and sleep and stress.
Do get in touch if you need some outside help in creating a sustainable, lasting healthy lifestyle that will get you to your goals – and beyond.
‘The number one rated Personal Trainer In Henley and Oxfordshire’
