Tips and Tricks for Sticking to Your Healthy Lifestyle Goals
Living and leading a healthy lifestyle can be challenging. Starting is always easy but Sticking to Your Healthy Lifestyle can become a little more challenging as time goes on. With a few minor changes to your daily routine, you will be able to stay on top of your goals and track your health.
Sticking to a healthy lifestyle starts every day.
If you think about it, the first few minutes after you have woken up sets the tone for your day. Starting a healthy lifestyle is the easy part; maintaining and Sticking to Your Healthy Lifestyle is the hard part. Many experts recommend starting your day off right, that way if your day hasn’t been as productive as you would have liked, at least you have maintained your health.
Set a reminder on your phone to gently stretch, and pack a healthy lunch before getting ready and dressed for work. Keeping a routine ensures that you don’t grab a chocolate bagel for lunch in a rush out the door. Drinking fresh water first thing in the morning will also help you feel refreshed and revitalized after a good night’s sleep.
- Set realistic and achievable goals
The secret to a consistent and healthy life is setting realistic and achievable goals. Using the SMART goal system works not only for academic and career goals, but the system is perfect for health and wellness goals.
- Specific: Setting specific goals is the number one way to ensure you achieve the results you need. A specific goal is: “I want to work out three times a week for 1 hour.” or “I want to lose 8lb, in 30 days.”
- Measurable: The goal should be measurable; in the first example, you can count the number of times that you have worked out.
- Achievable:Setting an attainable goal is the best trick to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Your goals need to be viable, or you run the risk of feeling disinterested and upset if you do not achieve them. Setting goals that are easy to achieve can always be adjusted later once you have achieved them.
- Relevant: Setting relevant goals is single-handedly the most vital step in staying healthy. Realistically speaking, people tend to stick to goals that they have set for a reason, i.e. “I want to work out four times a week to get fit for my marathon in August” or “I want to lose 25lb for my wedding in March.” If there are defined reasons why you want to get fit, you are more likely to accomplish your goal.
- Timely: Setting a time limit on your goals helps you stay on track and enables you to strive to meet your goals.
Setting small and SMART goals at the beginning of your journey helps ensure that you achieve them, creating a healthy relationship with your health goals. Once you have established a system that works for you, you will start getting bigger and more adventurous with your goals.
- When in doubt, plan your week out
Working deadlines is a way of life for most adults. The rush between work, home, and social lives can often leave little room for better health choices. Many adults have found that mapping out the week ahead helps them stick to healthier options.
Meal prepping and booking gym classes in advance are easy ways to meet your goals consistently. You are more likely to stick to a plan and adjust your week around your health if you have planned with meals and exercise.
A gym partner that attends classes with you is also a great idea; they will hold you accountable and encourage you to attend even when you feel like backing out of a class. Healthy lifestyle changes are more likely to stay in place if you plan to make time for them.
- Weight loss and health begins within
If your goals are to get fit and lose weight, there are a few tips to keeping you on track and help you Sticking to Your Healthy Lifestyle. When making significant lifestyle changes, try not to go too drastic. An all or nothing leap into change can create an unhealthy relationship with your diet. One mistake can create a snowball effect of bad eating for most people for the rest of the day.
The key to staying on track is creating a healthy relationship with your food. You can still enjoy tasty food and be healthy. Merely swapping out ingredients can change your meals from unhealthy to healthy in no time.
If you are ever craving KFC but don’t want to cheat on your diet, you do not need to limit yourself. There are plenty of recipes out on the internet for healthier versions of your cravings. Try swapping your chicken out for tofu and adding greens to your meal instead of potatoes and fries.
Social engagements don’t have to come to a stop either, calling ahead to restaurants to find out what is on their menu that suits your diet is a trick anyone with dietary restrictions has learned. Sometimes restaurants will be happy to create a meal for you.
- Snacks, Snacks, Snacks!
What is life without a few snacks? Starting a diet can be intimidating, with many people caving at the smallest hunger pang. The trick to stay on track with your healthy diet is keeping healthy snacks on hand. High-protein snacks are known to curb hunger and help you stay motivated.
Try clearing out your kitchen cupboards of junk food, replace the junk with healthy snacks such as nuts, dried fruit, and rice cakes. Stock your fridge with veggie sticks and fresh hummus. Ditch the bread and try alternatives like peanut butter on rice cakes instead.
- Tricks to make your life simpler
Starting a new diet is a lot easier if you change your exercise plan as well. You are more likely to maintain your diet and workout routine if you start the two together. You are more likely to see and feel a difference in your health when altering your lifestyle completely.
People who see positive results and feel better physically are more likely to maintain and stick to healthy habits. It is essential to stick to a healthy change for at least 21 days; there is a famous saying; it takes 21 days to break a habit. Mark the days off on your calendar. Celebrate your milestones and do not be afraid to adjust them if they are not working for you.
- Honesty is the best policy.
Be honest with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Healthy eating and exercise is not a black and white process. There will be good days and bad days, maintaining a healthy mindset is critical to help you stay on track. Set a daily aim to get at least 15 minutes of exercise.
Be honest if you have more time to work out and push yourself a little further. Holding yourself accountable for your health is an excellent way to motivate yourself further in achieving your goals.
- Kitchen prep to lose weight
You don’t need a professional kitchen to make healthy meals. You could invest in a tofubud press or an air fryer, however, your kitchen has all the tools you need to be healthy.
Make a menu for the week, with at least four dinners planned out—Prep your refrigerator and cupboards with all the healthy foods and ingredients you need for your meals. You are less likely to stray if you have all that you need.
Set boundaries, no junk food on Sundays or Mondays. This nifty trick helps start your week on the right foot, with little room for failure. Studies have shown that starting your week right sets the tone for the week ahead.
The real secret to sticking to change
The real secret to maintaining your new healthy diet and staying motivated is your need to be healthier and happier. You are your own best motivation to get better and do better!