You might think that living a healthy life is all about what you DO but it actually starts with what you THINK. Everything that goes on in your head deeply affects your behaviour. If you’ve been struggling with eating the right food or perhaps can’t find the motivation to get your body moving, here are some key mindset shifts that can get you on the road to better health.
Take it one day at at time
You can’t live any faster than one hour at a time and one day at a time so don’t create unnecessary stress for yourself by looking too far into the future. An example of a future tripping thought: “But what about my upcoming trip to Italy where there will be all this good food and temptation?” Yes, I 100% agree that you should plan certain key things like your meals in order to set up a winning scenario but a lot of the other stuff that is taking up all that mental space doesn’t need to be tackled right away and it will just make you feel overwhelmed. Focus on the NOW and take it one day at a time.
Surround yourself with inspiration
This one is so important! It’s key to have visuals that remind you of what your health goals are and why you have set them for yourself. For example, on my inspiration board, I have pictures of confident women that are successful in their career, that travel around the world and that have healthy and fit bodies. It doesn’t necessarily have to be fitness pictures though. In fact, those don’t always help as we tend to compare ourselves to the people featured in the photos. We must remember that our body is unique and we should strive to be the best version of OURSELVES, not someone else.
Make your meals enjoyable
Someone very close to me is on a new health journey and for the longest time he thought that healthy food meant eating something that tasted like cardboard. If you don’t make your meals enjoyable, you won’t stick to healthy eating habits and will quickly feel deprived. That’s usually when we get frustrated and start binging on chips and chocolate. I personally love starting my day with a beautiful and healthy breakfast. It sets the tone for my eating habits during the rest of the day.
Remove the obstacles to healthy living
You have to pin point what has kept you from staying on your path to great health in the past and bust those obstacles out of the way. For example, if planning meals is a challenge for you, you’ll love this post. If your gym is far from your home and your work, find a more practical space to exercise. Make sure to surround yourself with the right healthy living tools whether that’s recipes books, Pinterest boards or health experts that can guide and support you.
Look forward, not back
We can all be harsh on ourselves and what good does that do? Living a healthy life is not about perfection, it’s about everyday progress. It doesn’t mean never treating yourself. It means that most often you go for the healthy option. We all have days where we just don’t have the motivation to workout or perhaps indulge more than we wish we had. When that happens, have compassion for yourself, forgive yourself and move on. Beating yourself up will only cultivate a negative mindset and that is your worst enemy when wanting to live a healthy life.
See the glass half full
This post is all about how your mindset affects your decisions and actions towards being healthy. You must also make sure that your overall attitude towards life (not just your eating and exercise habits) is a positive one. If you only focus on what is wrong with the world/your job/partner/body, that negative energy will drag you down and kill the momentum you need to move and eat clean on a daily basis. If you want support to create a positive outlook on your life, I strongly encourage you to follow my Daily Inspirations (I share them on Facebook every morning).
Be kind to yourself
Just like we talked about not looking back on those times when we “slipped” and didn’t have our best healthy moment, we must speak kindly to ourselves everyday. Do you ever take the time to notice your internal voice? What does it say to you (especially when you are embarking on a new journey)? Many of us have our ego dominating our internal dialog and it goes something like this: “You suck and you will never be enough.”
Apparently, this is normal and just how most humans are made but fortunately, we can change this discourse one thought at a time. I used to suffer from self-esteem when I was younger but with lots of work and self love, that inner mean girl is almost entirely gone and you too can say goodbye to her.
Celebrate the victories
We so often focus on what we believe we are doing wrong that we forget to celebrate what we are doing right. Because a positive mindset is so important to staying on a healthy path, you’ve got to give yourself kudos when you do take the right actions to treat your body right.
Notice the small things like the fact that you passed on dessert or just stuck to one glass of wine instead of the usual two or three you would indulge in. All these mini victories will give you the self confidence to propel you forward and will prove to yourself what you are capable of.
Let loose and have some fun!
I’m the first to take life too seriously sometimes and have to remind myself to chill out and put things in perspective. If you are a Type-A personality like me, you might be so driven and focused on your health goals that you don’t leave any room for fun. For example, you don’t want to go out and eat with friends because you’re afraid of what temptation that might represent from a food of alcohol point of view. My trick is to pick a restaurant that offers healthy options and not go crazy on the booze. It’s all about balance…
You now have some powerful tools to establish a winning mindset that will allow you to lead a healthy life starting from the inside out. Let me know if there are certain areas you struggle with (comment below!) and when you try some of these tips, I’d love to know how they impact you. Wishing you an incredible journey to a healthy self and your best year yet.
Images (1) Frankie Marin for Urban Outfitters (2) Society 6 (3) My Own (4) My own (5) Unknown (6) My own (7) My own (8) Huffington Post (9) My own (10) Megan Hess (11) Pinterest