17 Feb Keep Up Your Healthy Lifestyle With These 4 Simple Tips
We are already well into the second month of the new decade, so how’s your well-planned New-Year-healthy-lifestyle looking? Are you still on track? Or are these healthy resolutions already dropping off your radar bit by bit as “real” life takes over? It’s only natural – we get it and we’re all in it together. AND, it’s still frustrating at times to fall off the healthy bandwagon after only a few months, isn’t it? Again. Everything looked so achievable and good on paper, so why can’t we make it happen in real life? We have gathered 4 simple tips on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle when your busy everyday life takes over. We want you to have both, to be healthy and real!
Get real with yourself.
This year, you mapped your healthy lifestyle. You planned to roll out your yoga mat every day. Meditate 20 minutes every day. No social media after 6 pm. And the list went on. Now it’s February, you might have fallen way behind already. Yoga might happen every third day if you are lucky. Meditation … ah yes, intention counts, right?!
First of all, a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean a complete overhaul of your diet, work out routines, etc… Realistically these drastic changes won’t last for too long as everything looks great on paper at first, but in the end, that uber-amazing healthy lifestyle is hard to achieve in one fell swoop. It’s the small things that make a big difference.
Before you start to throw in the “healthy” towel completely, re-assess by getting real with yourself. Notice where the resistance is. Watch for where the sticky points are. Perhaps your great idea to start your days with yoga isn’t something you enjoy after all. And this isn’t about getting judgmental about yourself, especially if it’s different from what you see around you. It’s about getting curious about what actually suits you and what doesn’t. You might not be the energised morning yogi as your best friend is, and that is entirely ok. Checking-in with yourself will give you valuable clues about what you need to thrive and, in turn, how to create that healthy lifestyle for you that you want to maintain.
Now that you know what really works for you, keep reading.
Here are four simple tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle:
1. Begin to embrace routine.
Who doesn’t love a good well-structured day? After all, routines don’t need to be a bad thing. We are not talking about a meticulously planned out day from dawn to dusk. Groundhog day again and again. Not at all. Setting some routines in place can be a super helpful tool to keep your healthy habits on track and creating practices that support you in feeling grounded and keep you on track. Keeping them flexible can help you a lot when you have to stay back in the office once again. Or when you are travelling.
You know best if starting your day with meditation, yoga or journaling is what will set you up in the best way for your busy day ahead. Perhaps you prefer to finish your day with rolling out your mat to release tight muscles or stagnant energy. Even sneaking in a few minutes of deep breaths to clear your head during your day can be your miracle worker. Knowing whatever helps you best throughout your day to keep you grounded will keep you sticking to your healthy resolutions consistently. And how to create small back-up options for *those* days when nothing seems to go to plan.
2. Book in time for your self-care.
We’ve all experienced those moments of really wanting to go to that evening class but, in the end, not making it onto our mats as something else ‘more important’ got in the way. Somehow our well-being falls down the priority lists pretty easily. To avoid having to miss out on your favourite classes again, book them into your calendar and stick to it a much as you would to catch-up with a friend or head to an important work meeting. Blocking out time for you in your calendar is a powerful tool to help you stick to your healthy routines. Your yoga class or gym session becomes more official hence more important having its time slot in your calendar. Your self-care just climbed up the priority list a rung or two. Because when was the last time you said, oh this yoga class or even ten minutes of meditation was a bad idea? Most likely never.
3. Set your clear boundaries.
Over the last years, it’s become a badge of honour to be “busy”. We like to sound as if we’re always on the go, not only in our professional lives but even in our personal ones. Think about the last conversation you had with friends; hardly anyone says (or dares to say) that they are just cruising along, not busy at all. However, cool “busy” may sound; we need to graduate from glorifying “busy” schedules. Setting boundaries with our time and energy allows us to devote more to what truly serves our bigger picture and helps us feel more present.
It also helps us make more clearheaded decisions about lots of things, including food, especially if we take into account the times we naturally feel hungry or prefer to work out. It’s possible to say no to activities that are not essential and will take away time and energy you need for yourself. Self-care is your priority number one – always. The busier you are, the more important it gets.
4. Make a loneliness game plan.
So, you declined to spend the weekend away with your friends to take well-deserved “me time” days, but now what? All this time to yourself sounded great at the time, but now you are feeling more lonely than ever. We all get lonely sometimes and it can be triggering, leading many of us to turn to a range of coping mechanisms. Whether it’s Netflix and chill with ice-cream or mindlessly scrolling through your social feed, we all have our weak spots when we get lonely and bored.
Now is the time to come up with a plan of concrete things you can do when that loneliness starts to creep in. And be honest, being lonely is not a bad thing; it happens to all of us. Having a list of your favourite mental or physical things to do when the urge hits to sink into the sofa and watch binge-watch or binge-eat for hours will help you stay on track. Your list could include taking a few deep breaths, dancing like no one is watching, phoning a friend, stepping outside for some sunrays, or rolling out your mat and power through a yoga flow. Whatever it is, make it something that you genuinely find soothing and nourishing when you need it most. It shouldn’t be something you think you “should” do, so if meditation is not your thing, turn up your favourite song instead. You do you!
These are only a few different tools that help you stay on track with your healthy lifestyle choices beyond the first weeks of the year. Most importantly get real and stay real with yourself. Know what works and doesn’t work for you. Keep it simple and don’t overthink it. You are creating your healthy lifestyle not because everyone else is doing it. Continue trying out different practices or habits if you haven’t found your go-to routine yet — anything to keep you grounded and with a clear head. You want to maintain your healthy lifestyle well into the decade and beyond.
Yogaholics – your place for everything yoga
Need some inspiration? Have a look at yogaholics, Power Living‘s online yoga studio, for all things mindfulness and yoga. Whether you are looking for a sweaty yoga flow to kick start your morning, a relaxing yin session in the evening, even pilates and yoga for the kids. Need a quick mid-day re-set with a guided meditation? Yogaholics is your place for everything mindfulness. Now you can roll out your mat 24/7, so you won’t miss your favourite yoga teacher’s class because you are travelling. You are welcome!
What is your favourite healthy habit?
Original article published by MindBodyGreen
