It's no secret that we envy others, and want what they have. There is several strong contributing factors that are present in a healthy persons day. Every single day. Not one day a week, not two days a week, all seven days! And here they are;
#1 Proper sleep
It's no surprise that proper sleep, in both quality and duration are vital to maintain a healthy body, mind, and mood. Without this, you will suffer from the get go.
This all starts with your alarm. There is to be no snooze button. No "Just 5 more minutes". If you allow yourself to do this every morning, then you are showing and proving to yourself you have very little determination and self control.
If you are having poor quality, broken sleep, or just simply waking up tired all the time then something is definitely wrong. One of the best supplements available to you is magnesium. This will help to increase your quality of sleep by assisting your body to relax and also aiding the biochemical reactions in your body.
Magnesium also supports your ability to absorb calcium, leading to stronger bones and teeth.
Add to that, a good quality zinc and calcium supplement and you will also maintain a strong and healthy immune system.
#2 Nutritious breakfast
A healthy person eats a big, nutritient packed breakfast. They drink water with breakfast, they include lots of protein and healthy fats to kick off their day. Starting with good quality protein and healthy fats is vital to kick start your metabolism, brain function and energy.
If you eat a higher carbohydrate based breakfast, you are straight away slowing down your fat burning engine by consuming slow burning foods that deliver little to no nutrients. Higher sugar based foods ie. fruits, cereals, muesli etc. give you a spike in blood sugar, causing your body to release insulin to combat the response. Insulin now circulates your body grabbing onto the carbohydrates, with the extra insulin now circulating your body, with nowhere to go, it will grab onto your fat stores to "anchor down". Hence, leading to an increase in body fat.
Reduce your simple carbohydrates to avoid this process occurring.
#3 Adequate water intake
Healthy people drink above their expected daily intake. They never complain that water is boring. They see water as a source of nourishment and vitality. Without water, we die. Simple. Think of water as a life source, that your body needs to survive, and your mood will change.
Drink water in the morning. Drink water throughout the day. Drink water in the evening.
Yes, you will go to the toilet more. That's just your body finally removing waste product from your body, don't take it personally, it's a good thing!
You should be drinking at least .033 X your body weight (in kgs) in litres per day. If you exercise, or if it is hotter weather, then your intake must go up.
Stay hydrated and watch what your body is capable of!
- Increased energy.
- Improved skin.
- Enhanced strength and performance.
- Healthier cells and body.
- Effective and efficient waste removal.
The list goes on.
Drink up!
#4 Prepare for the day ahead
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".
This one is simple. It reverse to your entire life. If you're not ready for your day ahead, you will more than likely make a decision you regret or is detrimental to your goals.
Plan your meals. Plan your workouts. Plan your rest. Plan to succeed.
Map out your week of all your meals. This is especially important for those of you who are already under the pump with work, family, life, or anything in between.
If you're clear on your routine, everything else falls into place and it becomes less overwhelming.
#5 Proper exercise routine
This comes back to our failing to plan from #4. Plan out your exercise for the week. Know exactly what you're doing when you walk into the gym.
Monday, legs. Tuesday, upper body. Wednesday, yoga. Thursday, lower body etc etc. you should be clear on your whole week. This will also allow you to set goals, stepping stones towards those and measure results easily.
Better yet, use a personal trainer and take the guess work out of it. Just choose one that knows your goals and can help you.
#6 Cope with stress well
Do you manage your stress well? Do you let it all build up?
How do you release it all?
Holding on to stress is not good for anything. Exercise is a great way to release stress and tension. Regular exercise is good for the body, but more so your mind. The next time you feel stressed, don't grab that bottle of wine, go to the gym.
Exercise is the most under-utilised anti-depressant in the world! Endorphins are a plenty when you workout. How often do you see someone angry and upset at the gym? .... Didn't think so!
Don't dig yourself into a pit of misery. Stick to your plan and it will even out!
#7 Don't follow fad diets or bad industry advice.
There is a lot of confusion out there, with millions of people trying to make a buck off your lack of will power and the need for a "quick fix". Don't get sucked into all of the hype that goes with fad diets and all these new crazy "methods". Stick with the basics, nail those first, then begin to make small changes that all together create big change and sustainability in your life.
#8 Have healthy relationships
This goes for both personal, work and everything in between.
Personal, includes exercise, food, emotional, and physical relationships. You need to maintain control over all of these and the more you stress over one of them, the more you will lose control of the rest! Don't focus on physical, because without a healthy relationship with food, the physical will never happen. Balance all of them out, and you can control ALL areas of your life.
Not in a healthy relationship? You may need to take a serious look at it. What is it giving you that is beneficial? If you can't answer that, then it may be time to rethink it.
If you hate the type of exercise you're doing, then no matter how hard you persist with it, nothing will change. Change your attitude before you try anything else. All you will do is create an even worse relationship with it, and fail time and time again. Burying you deeper into self pity.
#9 Self respect
Healthy people have a lot of this. They do all of the above well, and therefore, the level of respect they have for themselves goes up, and they don't want to do the hurtful negative actions that cause nothing but pain. Whether it be choosing a higher quality food, reducing the damage caused by excessive drinking, or even by focusing on all the things they need to do right to achieve their end goal.
Without self respect nothing else matters. If you don't respect yourself, you will never respect anyone or anything else.
#10 Passion
Yes. Passion.
Passion for training. Passion for eating. Passion for themselves. Passion for their health. Passion towards loved ones. Passion for travel. Passion for helping others. Passion.
You can't have too much of it.
The people I work with who get the best results, you guessed it, have PASSION!
The passion to be the BEST they possibly can be!
Start to implement these strategies into your life and enjoy the journey. It's going to be an awesome one!
Let me know how you go, and if you have any questions about anything I mentioned.