How to Start and Maintain an Active and Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle is important at any age. When you are more active, you feel healthier, and you feel like you can tackle anything that life throws at you. However, as you get a little bit older, you begin to realize just how important health and wellness is, and you realize that it should be part of your lifestyle -if it isn’t already! It is important to remember that it is never too late to make a change and make a difference in your lifestyle. So, what steps should you be taking?

Be Prepared to Change

Firstly, you need to be prepared to change, your mindset is everything, and if you are not prepared to change, you will find that you will struggle to face the obstacles that may come your way. Saying that you want to change and become more active and healthy is one thing, but actually making the commitment is another thing. To ensure that you are prepared for change, you need to be mentally and physically prepared. Getting your mindset right from the start will give you a better chance of success. To ensure that you are ready for change, you may also find it useful to build a support network around you. Having others to reach out to and turn to can give you a confidence boost when you need it the most.

Know Your Limits

There may be lots of things you want to do as part of your new healthier lifestyle. However, it will not be possible to do everything that you want at any given time. You must know your limits, and you must know your capabilities. If you push yourself too hard (or push yourself out of your comfort zone), you could be setting yourself up for failure. Of course, this is not what you want to do. So be aware of your physical or mental limitations, and try to stay within them where you can. This way, you will not feel overwhelmed or under too much pressure.

Split Your Time

You only have so many hours in the day, and being able to split your time between the activities you want to do (and need to do) is important. Time management is crucial on the path to a healthier and more active lifestyle. If you are not effectively managing time, you will find that you will be burning the candle at both ends and not having a lot to show for your efforts. To effectively split your time, you need to look at where your time is spent (currently) and on which activities. Then you have to look at where you want your time to be spent moving forwards. Getting a harmonious and workable balance between reality and expectation can be difficult, but with persistence, it is possible.

Work on a Timetable and Routine

When you are starting out on a more active and healthier lifestyle, you may find it beneficial to establish a routine and set a timetable. When you do this, you then know how much dedicated time you have for each activity or area of your life/lifestyle. When you implement a timetable alongside a routine, you also have more chances of success and sustainability with your health and active lifestyle. If you try and make changes without having a routine in place, you may find that you see results after a few weeks (but after this, they disappear). When you are establishing a routine and timetable, think about your existing commitments. Think about work and family commitments, and then see how much spare time you are left with at the end of the day or week.

Focus Your Efforts

To get the most out of a new lifestyle, you have to be sure to focus your efforts. When you are trying to make changes, it can be easy to get distracted and even lose sight of your focus. However, this should be avoided at all costs, simply because it will derail your plans for the near future. To ensure that you can focus your efforts at all times, it is important to only make a few changes at any given time. Getting these changes firmly in place and established as part of your routine is important, and it will give you the drive and the push to make more changes. If you are struggling to focus your efforts, then try and think about why you are making changes and improvements. Try and think about what your end goals and objectives are in relation to a new healthier, and more active lifestyle.

Mix up Your Exercise Routine and Pattern

When you are incorporating more exercise routines into your new and improved lifestyle, it is important to remember to mix things up every now and again. If you keep things the same, you will find that your new lifestyle is not as exciting or as fulfilling as you had hoped it would be. When it comes to mixing up exercise routines and patterns, you could look at alternating what you do every other day, or perhaps even every other week. When you mix things up, you keep things fresh, and you keep your efforts and energy focused on the end goal. If you do not mix things up regularly enough, you will find that you will get stuck in a rut, and your results and achievements will then wain off too.

Focus on a Healthy and Balanced Diet

When you eat a healthy and balanced diet, you give your body the nutrition that it needs. Without adequate nutrition, you will find that your body struggles to adapt to new fitness regimes and routines that you want to put into place. Getting healthy and balanced meals at all times can be difficult, especially if you are busy and on the go, and this is where meal planning comes in useful. To make the most out of meal planning and preparation, you should look at the meals that you are currently preparing and serving. What nutrition and nutrients are you getting from these meals? When you have a starting point, the process will feel easier.

Making Time For Yourself

Within your new healthier lifestyle, you want to be sure that you take adequate time for yourself. Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical health. If you do not make much-needed time for yourself, then you will find that your efforts may be wasted. You want to implement changes and growth that is sustainable, and working on self-growth and development should be part of this. For example, within your new lifestyle, you could look at advancing your career or even continuing with your studies. For instance, if you are currently a registered nurse, then why not look at a nurse leadership master’s degree as this could help you achieve career success, and it would even give you a more balanced approach to your life, work, and overall lifestyle.

Staying Hydrated

It can sound simple, but are you staying hydrated, and are you giving your body the hydration that it needs. If you are not staying hydrated, you will find it even more difficult to maintain a healthier and active lifestyle simply because your body will put as much resistance as possible. If you have trouble drinking enough fluids throughout the day, then why not look at keeping a log or record. When you do this, you can see where and when you need to be drinking more water and, of course, where you need to be drinking less caffeine.

Look At Supplements and Vitamins

As part of a new lifestyle, you may also want to start looking at taking supplements and vitamins. It is important to note that even though you may have improved your diet and started drinking more fluids – your body may still be lacking key nutrients. When your body is missing important (or key) nutrients, you may find that it does not perform as well as you would like it to. If you are looking at adding vitamins and supplements to your diet, then see where your deficiencies exist first. There is no point in taking lots of vitamins and supplements if you do not know what is needed and beneficial to your body.

Get Plenty of Rest and Relaxation

In your new and improved lifestyle, you have to remember to focus on rest and relaxation. Overdoing it or trying to do too much too soon can leave you with a negative outcome, and of course, this is not what you want. Ensuring that you get enough rest and relaxation is crucial. After all, your body needs time to heal and repair at the end of any given day.

Focus on a Healthy Balance

Aiming to achieve a healthy lifestyle is important. When you are making changes, you want to be sure that you create balance within your life. If there is no balance in your new lifestyle, it may not be sustainable, and it certainly won’t get you the results you are seeking. To get a healthy balance in your new lifestyle, you may find it beneficial to set and work towards personal goals and targets.