It’s 2016 and we have so many goals and dreams we want to fulfill. One thing people want to change in their lives is their health. It is important to stay healthy, but it is hard to maintain health. Here are three key points that will help you in becoming and staying healthy.
1. Eating habits.
How many of us have said “At the beginning of the year, I am going on a diet”, but fall off within the first month? Being healthy is more important than dieting; it’s a life style change. We can go overboard with the term “diet”. There are so many different diet craves that may help you lose weight, but isn’t something that is meant to do long-term. If you try to change your eating habits, it can help you lose and maintain your weight. By cutting down on your portion size, eating more small meals throughout the day, not starving yourself, adding a salad to your meal or snacking on fruits and not junk food will help you become a more healthier eater which can lead to you in loosing and keeping the weight off. Remember: Eating healthy is 80% of the battle in weight loss.
2. Exercising.
Exercising is important to becoming and staying healthy. If you have not worked out before, please don’t start working out several days a week. By doing this, you will burn yourself out and exercising will become a chore and not something you look forward to. You should begin with exercising for a few minutes a couple of times a week. Every week you should increase your exercising time by at least 5 minutes. If you are able to join a gym, use the free training session as a way to understand the equipment that is there. It is important to understand how to workout so you don’t injure yourself. Also, exercising should be fun and there are different exercise classes you can attend such as Zumba, Hip Hop, Kickboxing etc. You can work out as a group with your friends or co-workers.
3. Conditioning your mind.
I believe the most important way to loosing and maintain your weight so you can become healthy is your determination. If you put in your mind that you will make a conscious choice to become healthy, it will help you in maintaining your eating and exercising. It is easy to talk yourself out of eating right and working out, but understand that being healthy is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It may have taken you years to become unhealthy so it will take years to become and stay healthy.
Healthy does not mean being a size 6 and unhealthy does not mean being a size 12. Healthy is what you and your doctor sees fit, so please consult your doctor to help you with becoming and staying healthy in 2016.
Dione Simmons, MA, LPC
Transitions Counseling offers flexible scheduling hours to meet most client needs and budget.
Contact us today at 817-680-9218
