Pathway to healthy lifestyle

The pathway to a healthy lifestyle offers many obstacles but reaching your goals, completing your purposes and making permanent healthy changes are some great bonuses.

There are various tracks we go down, since the day we start having some kind of control in our lives. At the beginning of this process, we may go about it with negligent recklessness, not bothering about the outcomes of it. Despite your plan, often these plans guide us in diverse directions. As we go through life, separate pathways attract us in various directions. Ultimately, when we reach a certain point in life, we understand that we can command which paths we go down, and to a certain degree, the outcomes; For some people, it’s in their early 20s, for others, it’s not until their late 50s.

Many of us are trying to go down the path of a healthy lifestyle, now more than ever. And some of us want to stay far away from this way. In our "map to success," there are lots of barriers to surmount, even at the start. Finding this path to a healthy lifestyle quickly is challenging if you decided to take turns early in your life that drove you away. The excellent thing is, no matter how far you have deviated from the path of a healthy lifestyle, once you start walking in this path, you are always moving forward.

Moreover, there are apparently ideas because of which you turned away from the healthy lifestyle, and you need to settle them. Going down a certain track is a continuous course, one that includes acquiring and learning at each step of the path. We need those habits to help us along the way. Working hard and getting to the "start" of this path may not give the results that originally inspired you. Instead, it will yield consequences way more valuable which are the principles which will help you reach any goal you place your mind to, and you are ready to work hard towards it.

The expression 'healthy lifestyle' is a concise description of the way you must live if you want to get the salutary body that both looks great and makes you feel great. You know the simple things that describe somebody who is healthful and takes care of himself or herself. A healthy man or woman doesn't smoke, works to stay in a healthy weight range, eats healthy meals with vegetables, fruits, and fiber and, obviously, exercises on a routine basis.

And there are some more components to add to the list also. Someone who is healthy also knows how to handle stress, doesn't drink too much, gets a good night sleep every day, doesn't sit around too much; so basically, he or she does everything in balance. When you think of anything that could probably go into a healthy lifestyle, you realize just how difficult all of these things are in this modern world. But you don't have to change all the things at the same time. In fact, the deal of healthy living is in making tiny changes, taking small steps each day and then taking more, having another glass of water, adding fruit to your meals, etc. etc.

One thing you should do right now is to move more to make your lifestyle healthier. Everyone knows he or she needs to exercise, but there are a lot of excuses not to do it. You are very busy, you don't know how and where to begin, you do not have enough motivation or you are afraid of hurting yourself, and the list goes on.

Perhaps you think that you have exercise really hard or it has to be that way or it is not good enough for you. Whatever definition you have of exercise about what it is or isn't, the fundamental and most important factor is that exercise is movement. Even if you are walking around or running a marathon, every movement is a form of exercise, and if you move more than you usually do anytime, it does count.

It's excellent if you can find time for working out. Doing exercise means you are sweating, doing something to strengthen your body or you are operating in your target heart rate zone. But it doesn't have to be that way always. Normal daily activities like gardening chores and walking can create a change.

The best thing about such exercise is that just some minutes a day can give you continuous interests and even many of which you might not be aware of.

These unaware benefits include improvement in joint stability, reduction in the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, Progress and improvement in the range of motion, Maintainance of bone mass, Enhancement in self-esteem, Help in maintaining flexibility with your age, Improvement in mood and reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression, Prevention of osteoporosis and fractures, Reduced stress, good memory in elderly people, etc.

Even if you go for little changes in your lifestyle and opt for a more reasonable weight loss, you will see the results are still pretty good.

In fact, sometimes you don't even need to have an intention to lose weight, especially if you are already thin or have difficulty in sticking to a plan. Focus on being healthy, to begin with, and get bothered about the weight once you have acquired some healthy habits.

There are many simple actions which can lead you to a healthy body. If you're not willing to do a structured plan, start with a small one. Every little step counts, and it will all add up. Reduce your time on the TV and laptop and do something a little more physical. Play games with your family, go for a walk, do nearly anything but sitting on the couch which will be more active than this.

Find ways to walk more. Take a walk around when you get the mail or take your dog for an additional walk each day. Do some chores which makes you move. Work in the garden, rake leaves or sweep the floor; these are not vigorous exercises, but they keep you moving when you are keeping your house in order.

Be aware of the physical activities you do on a normal day. Make a list of it. If you find that you spend most of your sitting, then make another list of how to move more.

Eat a healthy diet. It will not only help with weight management, but it can also make your health better and improves the quality of life as you get older. Eat more vegetables and fruits and limited processed foods. You might have a list of things you want to do for a healthier diet but, again, do not make too many changes at once as it can backfire.

Find ways to make a few changes every day. Add fruit to your cereal, dinners, salads or make it a dessert. Add veggies to your food wherever you can peppers on your pizza, a tomato on your sandwich, or extra veggies in your pasta sauce.

Eat dairy products which are low-fat or fat-free. Switch to skim milk or fat-free yoghurt and eat lesser calories without changing too much in your diet.

Set smart and realistic goal if you do set one which is specific, attainable, measurable and timely. Look for what makes you happy and what does success mean to you.

Make a schedule for your workouts and stick to it without excuses.

Set a bedtime and get a good sleep. It is essential for increasing your energy level and overall mood.

Surround yourself with friends who believe in you and boost you up. Workout with friends, find exercise partners with alike goals, to share your journey with and to hold accountable.

Remind yourself that you can make mistakes, even repeatedly. Take a deep breath and forgive yourself and let things go. Learn to be content and satisfied with where you are in your journey. Work hard but also be satisfied with your current fitness, and with your body. Do not compare yourself to others and instead, constantly work towards being the healthiest YOU you can be. Adopt a mindset; it is amazingly powerful to your health, self-confidence, and outlook on life.

Don't ever give up on what you have set your mind and heart on. Stay positive and true to your goals. You should know that it will take motivation, hard work, and tremendous strength to pursue this path, but believe that you will achieve your goals.

The pathway to a healthy lifestyle healthy lifestyle doesn't necessarily require drastic changes in your routine. Make small changes in the way you live; it is a slow process. You will adapt to change better with time. Just choose one thing and work on that each day. You will be surprised seeing those little changes making a big difference.

Enjoy the journey and have fun.

Rashmi Adwani based in Mumbai. She is currently working with Currae Hospitals (https://www.currae.com/) to create awareness among masses about women’s health.