Are you ready to start living a healthier lifestyle?
Real talk it took me many years to understand what this looked like, what it actually meant, and how I could best apply specific healthy changes to my own life. I spent years going through a trial and error process, trying new things, and eliminating bad habits. While there were some healthy changes I have successfully incorporated into my lifestyle, there have also been some that I have ultimately decided did not best serve me.
Yes, this can be a very tiring process because you really have to experiment and give yourself time to adjust to the new lifestyle. You should also keep in mind that everything that is considered a “healthy habit” may not be the most ideal change for you. Therefore, you have to be mindful of what healthy changes you may be able to incorporate into your lifestyle because you won’t be able to have them all.
There are a lot of things you have to take into consideration when making a transition to living a healthy lifestyle. While it may seem overwhelming in the beginning, it doesn’t have to be. After years of struggling with finding a healthy lifestyle made up of healthy habits that best serve me, I’ve discovered the best formula to help you get there faster.
Today I’m going to share with you my best tips to making the transition to living a healthy lifestyle.
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1. Make a list of changes you’d like to make
Before you can begin incorporating healthy changes into your current lifestyle you should know what changes you want to make.
When I first started my journey, I had no idea how healthy I wanted to be, let alone the necessary changes I should have made. This was mainly due to the fact that I started my healthy lifestyle journey out of constant criticism with my image. I grew up never feeling comfortable in my own skin and that stayed with me until my mid-twenties. It wasn’t until I attempted to adopt a healthy lifestyle for my own reasons that I started to understand the changes I wanted to make in my life.
For you to begin making healthy changes you need to understand what those specific changes are. These desired changes also need to be for yourself and not for someone else. Before you begin to transition into living a healthy lifestyle sit down and write out your list of changes that you want to make.
Take your time with this and be honest with yourself. When writing your list these are the things, I want you to think about as your write down the desired healthy changes you would like to make:
- What is the specific change you want to make?
- Where did you gain knowledge about this healthy habit?
- Have you done research about this healthy habit before deciding that it’s a change you want to make?
- Is this healthy habit something you think you could commit to?
- Does making this change in your life make sense for you currently?
This is exactly what I did when I started my transition into a living a healthy lifestyle that works best for me. Asking yourself these questions about each of your desired changes can help bring clarity to the importance of these changes for you. Often times we take on a healthy habit simply because we believe that it’s something we need to do in order to better our lives.
But that is not always the case. You need to know if the desired changes you want to make for your lifestyle could help you live your healthiest life. Ask yourself these questions and pay attention to how you respond to each of them. If there is any hesitation or uncertainty, then that specific change is probably one you should hold off on making right now.
2. Identify your reasoning for wanting these changes
Once you’ve made your list of changes the next thing you should do is dive deep into why you want to make these changes. Again, you should be wanting to transition to a healthy lifestyle because it’s something you genuinely want for yourself, not because of the influence of someone else.
Much like asking the questions above, identifying your reasoning can take on the same process. Whenever I think about healthy habits I want to adopt, I get real with myself about why I feel the need to make that change.
Am I uncomfortable in my own skin? Am I feeling lethargic all the time? Am I gaining or losing weight too fast? Am I having acne problems? Am I having a hard time sleeping through the night? Is stress causing me to engage in unhealthy habits, which are making me feel bad about myself? Is this a self-esteem issue?
Whatever your reasoning, you need to understand the main reason you want to make these changes. Doing so could help you better know if the desired change is something that could better your current lifestyle, possibly make it a harder one to live, or ultimately end in no results at all. When transitioning to a healthy lifestyle the goal should always be to better your current one anyway you see fit.
Don’t just want this lifestyle for the hell of it because it’ll be harder for you to actually commit to. Even if it’s in the smallest of ways, such as eating fruits and vegetables daily, whatever changes you make should be bettering your life because there is a specific change you want to see.
I’ve seen a lot of people attempt to adopt healthy habits to improve their overall health, but not have a clear and specific reason why they want to make these changes. This often leads to people engaging in the healthy habit for a while before feeling defeated because they weren’t seeing the desired results as fast as they thought they would. Since no results were happening, they ultimately decided to quit and go back to living the lifestyle they were before attempting a healthy one.
While this is a normal part of transitioning into a healthy lifestyle and with adopting any healthy habit, I’ve also seen the opposite happen when someone fully understands their reasoning for making the change. So don’t just jump into new healthy habits in an attempt to transition into a healthy lifestyle because you think it would be a good idea.
Know how these changes would best benefit you, and understand if they are most appropriate for your definition of living a healthy lifestyle. Once you identify your why the rest is pretty much smooth sailing (mostly anyways).
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3. Slowly incorporate your desired changes into your daily routine
Now that you have make a list of desired changes you’d like to make, and you’ve spent some time identifying your reasoning behind them, now it’s time to start incorporating them into your daily routine. While this may seem a bit overwhelming in the beginning, I’ve come to learn that it can a very easy process.
Most of the time when we are ready to make changes, we think we have to do so immediately. We think that we have to start these new habits the very next day and from there attempt to remain consistent until we start seeing our desired results.
Transitioning to a healthy lifestyle does not work this like this. You have to slowly begin to implement these changes into your routine before they become a habit for you. Furthermore, you have to let go of the idea that once you start engaging in these new habits you are going to see results immediately.
Everything we do in life takes time and transitioning to a healthy lifestyle is no different. You can’t just jump right into these habits and expect yourself to become accustomed to them overnight. You have to build up the discipline to be able to engage in them daily so that they do become an automatic part of your day.
For example, when I first began to exercise consistently, I thought I had to do it every day in order to make it a habit. So, I was literally exercising seven days of the week for at least 30 minutes every day. I didn’t even bother splitting my days up to focus on different body areas. I did full body workouts seven days out of the week for nearly two months straight.
The results? My body crashed big time! I didn’t even achieve any of my desired results, I tricked myself into disliking exercise, and I even stopped exercising for a whole year. All because I had pushed myself too hard way too fast, and didn’t acquire the discipline needed to make these changes sustainable.
Now, I exercise six days of the week giving myself one day of rest. On my rest days I’ll do some stretching or yoga and then engage in other healthy activities. I also only exercise anywhere from 15-30 minutes a day, and each day I focus on a different area of my body. Approaching my desired lifestyle changes this way has helped me remain consistent with these healthy habits.
This process can do the same for you too. Take one change that you are ready to make and begin to work on it the next day. Give yourself time and space to ease into the new change and keep slowly working at it until it becomes a habit. Once you have conquered that specific change, move on to the next one applying the same process.
4. Keep what’s working and let go of what’s not working
After you have accomplished all of the steps above all that you need to do now is decide what’s working for you and what’s not working.
Just because you have identified a desired change you want to make, your reasoning for why, and have been able to incorporate it into your daily routine, doesn’t mean that it’s the most appropriate change for you. Sometimes adopting a healthy habit sounds like the right move for you in the beginning, but once you spend time engaging it in you may realize that it’s not.
Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy and there is no straight and narrow path.
There is a lot of trial and error and part of that process is being honest with yourself about what’s working and what is not. If you are not enjoying doing a specific activity daily then stop. Don’t continue to push through it simply because it’s a “healthy habit”, because when it stops being healthy for you mentally it’s no longer a healthy habit.
Don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board and try new things. It’s how we grow, learn, and remain consistent with everything that we do. These are the most important disciplines and skills to have when living a healthy lifestyle.
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5. Stay consistent
Finally, stay consistent.
There are going to be days when you are enjoying your transition into a healthy lifestyle, and there will be days when you won’t enjoy it. This is a normal part of the process. The key to keep going so that you can continue to see the results you desire is to stay consistent.
Even if that means on some days when you don’t want to give it your all, you just give 50%. A little bit of something is always better than nothing. This not only shows the commitment you have made to yourself to add these new changes into your life, but it also shows how serious you are about transitioning into a healthy lifestyle.
The hardest part of any change is the beginning. Once you have your game plan and have begun to put it in motion, the only way you can go is up. Stay in the fight and remain consistent. Transitioning into a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard, it just needs to be meaningful and fun.
What healthy lifestyle changes are you wanting to make? Do you have any tips to share? Drop them in the comments below.
-Xo
Kimora