5 Steps to Begin Transforming Your Health & Body Today

The idea of transforming your body probably conjures up the image of a hard, sweaty workout, but there is a lot you can do to get started on the path to health that is easy and not painful.

Here are five steps to get you started on the road to enjoying the benefits of feeling better and being healthier. The best approach is to take action on each one, and then go back through them, doing a little more.

Small changes add up and by continually making small improvements, you will build strong habits and eventually transform your health and appearance.

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1. Raise the Bar on Your Food

Start by cutting out processed foods. Not only are they loaded with chemicals for preservation, flavor and color, but processing also destroys nutrients. Begin to make high-fiber vegetables the majority of what’s on your plate, but include good quality protein and fat. Great sources of fat include avocado, seeds and nuts. Look for foods high in Omega 3 fatty acids and include them in your diet staples.

Drink lots of water, too. It’s vital to helping your system clean itself out as you start eating better in addition to being necessary for healthy organ function.

2. Make Exercise a Priority at Least Three Times a Week

Exercise is key to good health, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours at the gym. If you aren’t exercising now, start with taking a 20-minute walk every day. Gradually make the walks longer and faster while you start including a more rigorous workout a few times a week.

Strength training helps to build lean muscle mass and increased muscle means you burn more calories, so you look better, feel stronger and lose weight more easily.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an extremely effective way to build strength and get a cardio workout without spending a lot of time on it. There are many different programs, and details are readily available online, but the gist is that you perform very intense exercise for a short period alternating with a period of lower intensity activity.

For example, you might do pushups for 30 seconds and then walk for 10 seconds, repeating this four times, then moving on to squats in the same time pattern. HIIT can also be done on an exercise bike, with weights, or any other type of workout you prefer.

3. Manage Your Energy

Raising the bar on your nutrition and exercise will make noticeable changes in your body, but to really transform your health, you have to expand beyond those two simple physical parameters. You’ll have more physical energy from good food and working out, but there are other kinds of energy affecting your health.

Having too many goals or too much on your to-do list can make you feel like a failure at the end of a day, regardless of how productive you actually were. Feeling like you failed drains your energy and makes you less inclined to get up in the morning ready for a great day.

It’s important to set boundaries for what you can reasonably accomplish in a day. Setting realistic expectations helps get your attention on your accomplishments and keeping you from getting too focused on the things you didn’t get done.

The feeling of success helps to build confidence and belief in your abilities, so choose your priorities and let the rest go.

4. Care for Yourself in Ways that Make You Happy

Your overall health is impacted by your mental state just like diet and exercise, so it’s important to do things you enjoy. Those who love to work out have a bonus in the health transformation department, but most of the rest of us can find some healthy ways to express ourselves whether it’s a sport, movement class, or even exploring healthier recipes for our favorite foods.

Stress is a major factor in ill health and relaxing with something you enjoy is one of the best ways to combat stress.

5. Gets Lots of Sleep

Life these days is busy and we all have too much to do, but if you want to transform your health, one of the most important steps is also the most luxurious. Get at least seven hours of sleep.

Some people feel they do fine on six hours, but most need seven to nine hours of sound sleep every night to be at their best.

When you don’t get enough sleep for your body, you will experience an increase in ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates appetite. You’ll also have lowered leptin, a hormone that helps you burn fat and feel full when you eat.

If you have difficulty falling asleep, a few things that help are making the room dark and cool, avoiding sugar and stimulants in the evening, and getting off electronics an hour or two before bedtime.

These simple steps to transforming your health and your body will result in big changes in your life. Try them and see for yourself, and if you stick with it, you will see major results from small efforts.