Living a Healthy Lifestyle - Is It Really That Complicated?

One of the main barriers to maintaining a healthy lifestyle that I hear from clients almost every time I begin working with them is that it's all so complex and confusing; from the right type of workout to the right type of diet to the latest fad they hear about through social media. The information is contradictory and overwhelming and most people give up before they've even started. Here's the thing, I agree with them! I think we have over complicated what living a healthy lifestyle actually is and there is a perception that it is a very difficult thing to achieve due to the time commitment, complexity and cost.

The good news is that the general concepts of living a healthy lifestyle aren't difficult at all. They are actually intuitive and simple. The difficult part is changing the habits that lead to living a healthy lifestyle. Making the right decisions and staying committed is difficult. However, understanding what decisions are good for you and understanding what living a healthy lifestyle is isn't complex at all. At least it shouldn't be. Let me break down the different components of a healthy lifestyle for you to see if I can make it less confusing and more achievable for you.

Healthy Eating

1. When you eat or drink, you are consuming energy that your body needs for two things; first, normal daily functioning for keeping you alive. These are the things like your heart beating, lungs breathing, stomach breaking your food down and using what it needs, your organs filtering out the stuff your body doesn't need, etc. Second, supporting additional energy needs you have like chasing your children around at the park, riding a bike, running, walking, surfing, etc. The general rule is to not consume more energy than you use in a day. The more active you are, the more energy you use, the more you need to consume to support that energy output. The less active you are, the less energy you use, the less you need to consume to support that lack of energy output.

2. Limit "added" sugar and processed foods as much as possible. I'm talking about the junk sugar, not naturally occurring sugar. Think about it this way, did humans add sugar to something to make it taste better? If the answer is yes, limit how much of it you consume... this includes what you eat and drink. If the sugar is naturally occurring like in fruit and vegetables and not modified by a human, go ahead and consume. The body knows how to process the natural stuff and is actually pretty effective and efficient in using it as it needs to. The non-natural stuff, stuff that was added by humans is confusing for and hard on your body. It takes a lot more effort to break it down and your body doesn't always know what to do with it. Overtime, it becomes extremely taxing on your system and can cause health issues because of how hard your body has to work to break that foreign stuff down and figure out what to do with it. Processed foods are those that are not naturally occurring or have been modified for taste. Best rule of thumb is to eat more food that is not pre-packaged. If you are eating packaged foods, look at the ingredient list on the packaging. If there are ingredients that you cannot pronounce or you don't know what they are, your body will also not know what they are or how to break them down and what to do with them. Think about it this way; our bodies are very good at using natural foods to keep our bodies functioning and healthy. It's been doing it for thousands of years! Overtime, we've added artificial (not naturally occurring) ingredients to food to give them longer shelf lives, more intense colors and more intense flavors. The problem is that our bodies don't recognize these artificial ingredients and also don't know how to break them down. They're confusing and hard on the body. Again, overtime this becomes extremely taxing on your system and can cause health issues due to how hard it has to work to manage these foreign ingredients. Steer clear as much as you can.

3. Limit alcohol. You wont realize the difference in how you feel until you refrain for a period of time and then have a drink again. I would encourage you to try it for yourself. I always get the eye rolls from my clients on this. 100% of the time they come back and are shocked at the difference in their quality of sleep, energy level and generally feeling better overall. Again, the body has to work pretty darn hard to break alcohol down. Give your body a break for a bit and see how you feel.

4. Eat lots of Fruit and Vegetables. The more natural color you can put in your diet from produce, the better. More color means more variation which means lots of different nutrients your body needs to keep you healthy! You'll hear all sorts of stuff about fruits and vegetables to avoid with different types of diets. Don't get caught up in the complexity of which you can and cannot eat. They all bring value in their own way due to nutrient content. The more variation you have, the more nutrient dense your diet, the more your body will appreciate the help it's getting to do its job.

5. Protein is your friend. It's what your muscles are made of and what your body needs to keep you strong and mobile. You can get protein from certain vegetables, red meat, white meat, fish, beans... the list goes on and on. Enough said.

6. Carbohydrates are also your friend. There is a huge difference between processed carbohydrates and naturally occurring carbohydrates. Again, naturally occurring carbohydrates are great and your body knows exactly what to do with them. Your body needs them for energy. Processed carbohydrates (packaged stuff with ingredients you can't pronounce) are not a great choice because they're hard on your body. Don't be afraid of carbohydrates, be afraid of processed and non-naturally occurring carbohydrates. To review why, go back to number 2 above.

7. Water, water, water. I cannot stress the importance of water enough. Without it, processing and breaking things down inside your body gets sticky and clunky. It needs water to function at a healthy level. Without it, you will feel sluggish, get weird cravings, and your body wont run as efficiently as it can. Without water your body has to work much harder to do its many daily jobs to keep you healthy.

8. Supplementation can become very expensive and very complicated quite quickly. Here's the deal, supplementation by definition, is "the addition of an extra element or amount to something". This means that you only need to buy and add supplements if you are deficient in something or if you aren't getting enough of a nutrient from your daily eating habits. If your eating habits are in line with what I described above, then a simple multivitamin should fill any gaps that you might not be aware of and your body will flush out what it doesn't need. If you have specific deficiencies, your physician can help you develop a supplementation plan that's appropriate for your specific situation. Outside of that, keep it simple.

9. One thing I will add... have some grace with yourself. I typically find that clients who go "all in" 100% of the time cannot sustain their healthy eating plan long term. The goal is to establish an 80/20 plan so that you can sustain it for your lifetime. This means follow the rules above 80% of the time. If you go out to dinner, relax and enjoy and get back at it tomorrow. 1 meal wont ruin your plan and progress, I promise.

Movement

Movement doesn't have to be complicated or something that you dread. Just move. Find something that you enjoy doing and do it!

Dancing in your kitchen? Do it!

Walking around your neighborhood listening to the birds and looking at the flowers? Do it!

Jump roping with your kids in the driveway? Do it!

You could take a conference call while on a walk instead of sitting at your desk. There are so many ways to move, don't think it has to be a miserable addition to your day. I have never had a client that added movement to their day that said it made them feel worse. Ever. I typically find that movement builds momentum. Once you get moving, you find the joy in it, you love the way it makes you feel and you look forward to it. It becomes a non-negotiable part of my clients' day almost every time.

The goal is to increase your heart rate for a period of time. 30 minute a day is the minimum amount of time to get your heart pumping. Think about this... there are 1,440 minutes in each and every day. 30 minutes is 2% of total minutes in a day. 2%! How long were you on social media today? How long did you watch TV today? How long did you scroll through ridiculous news feeds that made you feel like hell? Change your priorities. Fit it in and have some fun with it.

Sleep

You need sleep. It isn't a luxury or self-indulgent, it's necessary. When you sleep your body does the really important work of restoring and repairing because it doesn't have to focus on all of the tasks that keep you functioning when you're awake. Think of sleep time as the time when the cleaning crew comes in and gets the office ready for the next day. If the cleaning crew doesn't come in, things are disorganized, chaotic, dirty and as time goes on it compounds and builds up. If the cleaning crew comes in when everyone is working the cleaning isn't as thorough as it could be. Same thing happens with your body internally. If you don't let your body do its cleaning and restoring by getting the sleep you need, your body will not function properly in days ahead because it's getting bogged down and backed up. You will see the negative results cognitively and physically. Give your body the rest it needs to keep you healthy and clear headed.

Social Connection

This one is important... find the people that lift you up, support you, make you laugh and feel like family and hold them close. Find the people who will hold you accountable when you aren't reaching your full potential and hold them accountable as well. Surround yourself with those that have similar values as you and push each other to be and do better. Surround yourself with people who look out for you and your family like they'd look out for their own. Make the time for them and stay connected. Everything is better when you have people in your life that support you and cheer you on.

Joy

Don't be afraid to do the things that bring you joy. Sometimes it feels irresponsible or childish to make time for things that bring you joy, but gosh it's important. Do you love to paint? Decorate? Play Pickleball? Go to garage sales? Go all out for Halloween? Jump on a trampoline? Play dress up? Sing karaoke?

What are the things that brought you joy when you were a child that you no longer do? Can you do them now? Do they still bring you joy? Find those things and make the time. It'll make you feel like a child again. Free and excited and in the moment. Give it a try.

Boom! That's it, there it is. Living a healthy lifestyle... simplified.

Put clean and nutritious stuff in your body, move daily, sleep well, surround yourself with good people and don't forget to do the things that bring you joy, regardless of how silly they may seem.

Now go get your healthy on!