FEEL GOOD LIFESTYLE

Is it time to invest in yourself and get that healthy life you always wanted? 

This is our quick introduction to a healthy lifestyle and feeling good but a healthy lifestyle starts with a healthy mindset and a plan.

Everything starts for a reason and a healthy lifestyle is no exception. The good news is that most of the obstacles are often mental which means you can actually put a plan of action in place that will remove all the everything standing between you and your perfect lifestyle.

EASY DOES IT

For us a healthy life should be a natural day to day way of living and not about bouncing from one diet to another. The first step for most is to get your mindset around how you can change your habits, and then how you feel and look will change on their own. 

Being honest with yourself, starting with little steps and making small changes in your diet and exercise habits are so important. If one day your diet is high sugar and high fat and mainly fast food and the next you are on a quinoa, raw foods and salad cleanse then you are going to be in for a rough ride. So take things slow and phase your way into better eating patterns.

Start by eating better, switching out a few of the nasties and adding a few core excesses into your daily routine (We love squats as an easy go to exercise) or pick up a 30-day challenge. It is important that you stick to the small things first, before you demand anything more radical from yourself. The harder you push from the start the harder it’ll be to stay on track. 

GET MOVING

In order to get moving you don’t need loads of equipment or expensive memberships but you do need to find what will work for you. You have to enjoy your “fitness” time so that you commit to it, keep at it and so that you can fit it into your daily routine without it being a burden.

There are so many different fitness trends, gym classes and home workouts but if you push yourself into something you absolutely hate doing, your commitment however strong to begin with, will very soon wear off. 

FUELING THE MACHINE

All you need is a guide, something you can easily follow without checking on a list of forbidden food and special instructions each time you want to have a meal. Calorie counting will only stress you out and make you feel miserable every time you bite into anything edible. What you want is something you can maintain your whole life, not just for a month or two. Eating reasonably and mindfully will very soon become the norm if the terms are minimal. Think of it this way, high value foods have to be earned  - candy, baked goods, sodas. Just because you want to lead a healthy lifestyle it doesn’t mean you can never touch any of it ever again, it only means that they can no longer be on your daily menu. Real food is usually the way to go, cooked food with the fewest ingredients possible. We love whole foods, ideally homemade and fresh is what you want. 

PREPARATION IS KEY

It sounds harder than it is, all of these things just need a little organisation and forethought. Its well known that around 80% of your body goals can be achieved by consuming the right foods but these same foods help to contribute to your overall health and recovery. What you eat is just as important as what you do exercise wise. Most of us know how easy it is to fall off track when you get hungry or if you are unprepared especially after a workout and you think.

To avoid those moment of weakness and the snap food related decisions you always regret, make sure you know what you eat in advance and have a clear plan for your every meal. More than that, buy all of the ingredients beforehand and make sure you cook and sit down for every dish. Cooking your own meals will work out cheaper and it'll be a lot better for you than a takeout. Optimise the cooking and eating processes and it'll be half the battle already won. We love to batch cook your meals for the week it makes such a difference.

THE TIME TRADE 

One thing we can really relate to is the time trade off. It does not matter who you are or your starting point the results always take longer than you expect. Fast results may be very tempting, but every shortcut comes at a price. The slower you go the further you’ll get in your journey.

The faster your body changes, whether it is weight loss or muscle gain, the more of a shock it is to your system. It is so exciting to see positive changes but we believe the key to a healthy life is living a lifestyle that will help you live a long and healthy life without any side effects or illness.

Through consistency the results will come and although you may like what you see short term, in the long run your body will try and get back to what it knows, the comfortable weight and shape it had and it will do it in the blink of an eye the moment you get back to the lifestyle you used to have, when the program is finished and when the diet is over. With fitness, there is no end date, you make it part of who you are, the kind of thing you do as consistently as brushing your teeth. So slow and steady is the best kind of speed when it comes to body and lifestyle transformation. 

GRATTITUDE

It’s important that you make time to be grateful and enjoy the process if you want to stick with it, after 30 days you will feel better, look better inside and out.

It takes those 30 days to build your new routines into a habit. If you can stick to something for as long as that the chances are you’ll get into a routine of making better choices naturally and without thinking about it later on. Don’t think about it as something you have to do for four weeks and just take it one day at a time. It’ll help if you keep a log and cross days out on the calendar to keep yourself accountable. 

Keep on reminding yourself why you are doing this and keep on reminding yourself to get to it and do something today, tomorrow and the day after and when you look back you’ll realise what an amazing journey you have just walked, one day at a time, and how far you’ve come. 

There will be more to follow with handy hints and tips along the way but when everyone is behind you it is a huge help in staying committed to your process. Share your journey along the way tag us at #dishonorlondon and lets help everyone on the journey of a lifetime.