It’s never easy to make a healthy change in life. Breaking an old habit to create a new one can be challenging and at times, discouraging. However, your efforts will pay off in spades in the long run. Whether you want to change the shape of your body or reduce the risk of chronic diseases, this post will help you by discussing different ways that you can have a healthy and fulfilling life. Let’s get started!
How do you make healthy changes to your lifestyle?
Everyone wants to have a healthy lifestyle. But where should you start? Once you’ve decided that you want to make the change, you need to believe that it’s possible by coming up with a clear plan. To change your unhealthy lifestyle:
Identify the unhealthy habits that you need to change. For every habit that you list, write down the reason you want to change. Maybe you want to dance at your grandkids’ wedding or boost your mental wellbeing.
You are responsible. Lack of time or blaming others for failing to change bad habits doesn’t help in any way. You need to keep in mind that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Even if it’s not entirely your fault, you are responsible for how you react. Make a promise to yourself. And remember, a promise is a debt.
Eliminate negative triggers. If passing through a certain path makes you crave alcohol, avoid the path. If social media lowers your self-esteem, delete the account. You know the things that trigger bad habits. Do your best to avoid them.
It’s possible. A huge part of winning a battle is telling yourself that you can achieve your goal. Negative self-talk will drag you down like a sea anchor. By visualizing what you want and follow a plan you’ll achieve anything you put your mind to.
Know that it will take time and you’ll have setbacks. Change is not easy. There will be days when you’ll fail miserably. Instead of focusing on the failure or your shortcomings, keep working hard.
Make a plan and take baby steps. As the popular saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. You have to have a clear plan and follow it through to the end to achieve your goals. Without a plan, it’s easy to lose direction and difficult to track your progress.
Importance of setting goals
Setting healthy goals is one of the best ways to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle. Setting goals enables you to have something to work for and keeps you motivated to keep on keeping on. When you set goals, you give your mind something to focus on. With goals, you can measure your progress to know how much you’ve achieved.
You need to set realistic goals. For instance, if you want to lose 50 pounds or quit smoking, it cannot happen overnight. Failing to reach your goals at the expected time can be discouraging and increase your chances of giving up.
Instead of focusing on the big goals, focus on one small goal at a time. For instance, if you are smoking ten cigarettes a day, focus on reducing this number gradually. If you want to lose weight, focus on jogging or working out three times a week and consuming more vegetables and fruits.
Track your progress to ensure that you achieve these small goals every week. When you incorporate these goals into your routine, you’ll easily achieve your big goals.
How to be mentally healthy and happy
Most people associate a healthy lifestyle with exercise and diet. However, mental health plays an integral role in creating a healthy lifestyle. You need to focus on how to be mentally healthy and happy. According to Dr. Gregory Dikos, most patients recovering from traumatic injuries have to endure lots of pain in rehab to get better. Patients who think positively usually feel better quickly.
Your ability to manage your emotions and deal with challenges every day can be challenging. To maintain good mental health, you need to put your needs first. You can’t take care of others if you don’t look after yourself. If you want a healthier lifestyle, you need to focus on improving your mental health and ensuring that you find time to relax and reward yourself for achieving your daily goals. Spending time with your loved ones and seeking help from professionals is one of the best ways to boost mental health.
Positive self-talk
How think of yourself will have a huge impact on how you feel both physically and mentally. Negative thoughts can negatively affect your self-confidence and those around you. Instead of focusing on the negative side of life, practice positive thinking.
Don’t look down on yourself. Talk to yourself in a loving, strong, and reassuring way. To live a happier and healthier life, you need to find value in yourself.
Positive self-image
One of the best ways to make a healthy mental change and practice positive self-talk is to have a positive body image. A positive body image is accepting your body the way it is and knowing that you can change some parts to improve your appearance. When you are comfortable with your body, you’ll naturally improve your self-confidence. There is no one with a perfect body in the world. Also, there’s nothing like an imperfect body. You can cultivate a positive body image by:
- Appreciating everything your body allows you to do in life
- Being grateful for the things that you have
- Being aware of the negative messages that you receive from the people around you and the media
- Writing down a list of the things you love about yourself and keep it close by
- Doing things that make you feel good. This could be relaxing at the beach, painting, or traveling with loved ones.
Conclusion
As you’ve seen, it’s not difficult to make positive changes in your life. All you have to do is set health goals, create a solid plan, and follow it through to the end. Don’t just focus on the big goals. Remember, achieving the small goals is key to achieving the big goal.
