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A healthy lifestyle will help you in more ways than you can count, starting with making you feel better. However, it does happen that we end up with unhealthy lifestyle habits due to the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. There will come a moment when you have an epiphany and decide to make lifestyle changes.
But this is not going to happen overnight. As it’s said, it takes 21 days to make something a habit, and 90 days to make it a lifestyle choice.
7 tips to kickstart a healthy lifestyle
While you will not be able to make concrete changes to your lifestyle overnight, there are certain tips that will allow you to steadily adopt a healthier lifestyle.
1) Select your goal
You cannot make a lifestyle change without understanding your goal. If your goal is to eat cleaner, you have to change your grocery list. If you want to be fitter, you have to change your daily routine. So first figure out what type of healthy lifestyle changes you want to move towards.
2) Pick the type of change
Now, let’s assume you have chosen to eat healthier. Therefore, instead of changing your entire grocery list, start small. Pick some of your eating habits that you can change almost immediately.
For example, cut down on sugar. Make a conscious choice not to add any sugar-filled beverages or snacks to your grocery list. You can continue to make small changes as and when one change becomes a habit.
3) Make a commitment
If you want to eat healthier and have decided to start by cutting out sugar, you need to commit to yourself. A healthy lifestyle will only become a possibility when you stay true to yourself. If you find yourself craving sugar, find healthier choices such as a protein bar or a sugar-free beverage.
4) Find a reason to stick to the change
Now, if you lack a reason to make the change, you will not be able to stick to it. Hence, if you have decided to eat healthier, cut down on sugar, and begun using healthy alternatives, it’s time to add a reason.
Staying motivated in your fitness journey requires sheer will and some form of workout. Therefore, you can add an hour of morning runs to your routine. You will not want to discard the benefits of the entire run by consuming sugar, which will enable you to cut down on sugar further from the diet. Additionally, this will motivate you to make further changes to your diet to keep up with your goals.
5) Eliminate all possible obstacles
When you make changes towards a healthy lifestyle, you will run into obstacles. For healthy eating, you can start by eliminating all forms of sugar-filled products at home. Cleaning the pantry can help you focus on shelving it with better choices. Obstacles are often the reason why individuals fall off the wagon.
6) Add more goals to your list
Once you have successfully achieved your first goal, while you continue that, add more goals to it. For example, you can add a four-day workout every week to your healthy lifestyle routine. Not only will this enhance your healthier choices, but it will also allow you to work on your physique along with your diet.
7) Reward yourself
As humans, we will always react positively to rewards. So, when you reward yourself after achieving something, it helps you with your mental peace and brain health. So, you can reward yourself with something you have been craving since the beginning after you successfully cut out sugar from your diet. However, this is a cheat reward. Do not get into the habit of having sugar again after your cheat meal.
8) Don't be overly hard on yourself
You are bound to fail during the initial phase. That’s okay. The only way to ensure you do not fail is to never give up. Don't be overly critical towards yourself, and allow yourself to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.
9) Don’t become overambitious
It might seem like you can cut out all unhealthy habits overnight, but it does not work that way. It may work for a day or two but sooner or later you will give up. It’s better to start off slow before making the changes more intense.
10) Hydrate yourself
Water will be your best friend when you make lifestyle changes. You will find yourself being able to cope up with the changes better if you constantly hydrate yourself. Keep drinking water at regular intervals even if you do not feel thirsty.
Keep the above pointers in mind and you are ready to move towards a healthy lifestyle!
