The happy news is that you can activate yourself to be healthier and use your creative power to visualize A Better You as a way to a healthier life. Your own experience and buckets of research on health and wellness tell you that building healthier habits isn’t easy, but that doesn’t have to deter you from your health and wellness goals. There are five steps you can follow now that will help you start and sustain good health practices now.
Step 1: Take A Measure
You start down a path to better health choices—especially if you’re 50 or older or haven’t had a good general check-up in awhile—by consulting your doctor and taking a measure of your overall health. Here’s a word of caution from the experts though: let your test results motivate you rather than create needless worry. Collect your results for blood pressure, cholesterol and bone density and keep moving toward a healthier you. Don’t get bogged down in numbers. Keep your eyes on the prize: you want to feel better, eat better, feel more fit and be more active.
Step 2: Set Priorities
Decide the health goals that you want to pursue. What is your aim? To lose weight, build muscle or increase your flexibility? One way to set your priorities for a healthier you is to follow some advice from Dr. Deepak Chopra called “Sweet Spots and Hot Spots.” Here’s how this works: make two lists labeled Sweet Spots and Hot Spots. The list of Sweet Spots includes things that give you joy like spending time with your family or pursuing your favorite hobby. The list of Hot Spots includes things that make you feel anxious or unhappy like struggling to get a good night’s sleep or eating a rich dessert when you already feel full from the meal. Use the information you gather from these two lists to identify the health and wellness priorities that motivate you toward your best life.
Step 3: Visualize a Healthier You
This useful tool is one that is commonly used by Strength and Conditioning Coaches who prepare professional athletes for competition. Visualize how you look and feel when you choose healthier habits: see a thinner, fitter, happier You munching healthy snacks at a relaxed picnic on a sunny day or riding your bicycle along a beautiful, tree-lined bike path or slipping into your smart-looking walking shoes for a brisk walk in fresh air. People change when they meet and conquer challenges, so use the power of visualization to strengthen your resolve and picture yourself healthier and happier.
Step 4: Embrace Steady Change
Define the victories you celebrate by making peace with incremental changes: skip red meat for a week or put your fork down halfway through each meal, breathe deeply and assess whether you’re still hungry or full and satisfied. Over time, you’ll notice the step-by-step changes occurring in your body and brain. Health and wellness experts tell us that the key to becoming healthier is to become more aware. Predict when you know you’re tempted to skip your workout and invent a strategy to outmaneuver yourself. If you hit the snooze button when you really want to exercise before work, put your exercise clothes across the room from your bed and set your alarm clock on top of them.
Step 5: Reward Yourself for Good Behavior
Change isn’t easy. As the saying goes, the only people who like change are wet babies. Treat yourself as you change your less-than-healthy habits to healthier ones and reinforce the good choices you’re beginning to make. The key is to choose healthy rewards that build your confidence and happiness quotient even more. In the past, if you’ve indulged yourself on a weight-loss diet with negative rewards like a slice of calorie-rich cake or an order of greasy French fries, choose better now. Instead of eating sugary or fatty treats, play a game or dance to some funky music.
These five steps will help you create a healthier you in no time. The keys to making lasting change are repetition and time to adjust. Visualize and celebrate your short- and long-term successes, make better choices, and be confident and happy that you’re already becoming a healthier, happier you.
Cheers!
Dr Mell
