A Do-It-Yourself Healthy Lifestyle

Simply put, lifestyle is the way you choose to live your life. No matter how hectic life may be with family, work, health, and other responsibilities, you determine how you will prioritize what you do on a daily basis and how you will live. It’s easy for “things” to pile up on your “to do” list, to feel overwhelmed, and never get around to taking care of “YOU”. This happens so often that many times, we are unable recognize it as unhealthy and we allow the situation to control us.

So what do you do? Accept it and work with it. The reality is–get ready for this–it will never get any better, unless you can manage your priorities. You see lifestyle is all about Y-O-U and unless you can make time for yourself, your lifestyle will be about everyone but you. Doing things for you is just as important as doing things for others. If life becomes a vehicle of ONLY helping others it generates a void of your entire being. Unfortunately you are too busy to realize what’s happening and the toll its’ taking on everyone around you. Life can very easily take advantage of you.

It’s important to realize that life never slows down unless you intervene. The job is never done–there is always more to do or a crisis to avert. But it DOES NOT have to be this way. You can save yourself and be responsible for regaining your life.

For starters, take a minute–in the shower, on the commode, in the car, while at the salon–steal one minute to think of one thing that you can do for yourself. Think about how you will fit it into your busy schedule and the logistics to make it work. Then dive in. You can teach yourself how to enjoy life again. It won’t take long for you to get back in the saddle as you reclaim what means the most, your life!

Now I’m going to go out on a limb. I may get criticism from my peers but I’m going to call it the way I see it. It’s easy for others to make suggestions on what “will” improve your lifestyle. You have heard it a million times. Eat right, exercise, rest, get sleep, and de-stress. Yes, this is what is considered healthy. But maybe if there was no pressure to make all these changes, and no need to follow any guidelines or rules put forth by others, you might be successful in shaping your own “healthy way of life.” Just do what makes you happy. When you do what makes you happy the positive results will follow. You will in turn sleep better, experience less stressed, make better food choices, and maybe, just maybe, become a little more active.

I’ll start you off with a few pointers to help kick start your plan….

Be true to yourself: you can’t be everything to everyone

Learn how to say NO to others and just say YES to what matters to you.

Make time for you–pull out the schedule and block the time. Once it’s there it is etched in stone. No changes unless it is an emergency.

Think of things you enjoy doing and place it into your schedule with the time you have carved out, even if it’s 10 minute mini- sessions, 3 times a day (singing in the shower, researching healthy recipes, get up from your desk and take a quick walk just to get a mind break).

Take a break–take some time to just breathe and gather your thoughts.

Think about how the rest of this plays out, what is “your” plan for a healthy lifestyle and how will you make it work? As you get used to doing things for yourself, you can start expanding on these, one at a time, to include the way you choose to eat better or be more active.

Leading a healthy lifestyle is within your reach. Start with small steps and discover what you need to be happy. Make a difference in your own life. Regain YOU!