Miryah's 10 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle
Eat
Set up for success - It is always best to be ready for any kind of situation so plan your diet and prepare your meals ahead of time. Take one or two nights a week to cook and portion your meals so that they are easy to grab when you are on the go. Don't be afraid to be the person that carries your meals with you. Protein shakes are a quick and portable snack that helps give you the nutrition you need. Try pairing a protein shake with a piece of fruit or some nuts and you've got a meal that will tide you over for hours.
Stay hydrated - It is very important to keep your body hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, but keep in mind that all liquids are not created equal. For example, soda and coffee do not count towards your water intake. Add variety to your water by adding lemon juice, tea bags, or flavor packs such as Crystal Light. Try to make it a habit to carry a water bottle with you. A lot of the time we think that we are hungry when we are actually thirsty so staying hydrated can actually help you say on track with your diet.
Portion and balance of your meals– Meals should consist of clean protein, carbohydrates and fats in the proper proportions. Some good choices are egg whites, chicken, fish, oatmeal, rice, quinoa, nuts, avocado, and omega oils. Portions vary from person to person and are also dependant on goals and activity levels. It's not always easy to get the proper nutrition your body needs through food alone so supplementation of daily vitamins and protein shakes are easy ways to manage portion control and balance your meals.
Timing, timing, timing - There are three key points to timing your meals. First off you should be eating breakfast every morning even if you don't feel hungry. Breakfast helps to get your metabolism going and avoids putting your body into starvation mode, therefore preventing fat storage. Second you should be eating small meals every 2-3 hours. This keeps your energy up and your metabolism moving and also makes it easier to stay on track with your diet. By shortening the period between meals you stay satiated which will help you make healthy food choices throughout the day as opposed to being depleted and reaching for the first available (and likely unhealthy) thing you can get your hands on. The third important point for timing is that the last meal of the day should not be the biggest meal of the day (breakfast should). Your carbohydrates and heavier food items should taper off throughout the day causing you to finish off with a light dinner. Think of food as fuel and if you are simply going to be going to bed you do not require a full tank to keep you going.
Play
Keep Variety in your Exercises – This helps for two reasons, it keeps your body guessing and continues to challenge it in new ways. It also helps prevent boredom with your exercise regime. This can be as simple as taking a new exercise class, changing the cardio machine you use, varying the repetitions or sets of exercises performed, joining a workout friend, adding a new playlist to your iPod or changing the location of your workout. The point is to keep your workouts fun so you keep coming back for more!
Balanced approach of weights and cardio - A program should never be only weights or cardio. The best approach is a balanced one that incorporates building shapely muscles with resistance training and fighting away fat with cardio conditioning. Balance is also taken by performing both upper and lower body exercises so your physique is well proportioned and symmetrical. Cardio alone will make you smaller but scrawny and only working out your chest and arms will give you chicken legs. A balanced approach will give you a defined shapely body and proportioned physique.
Intensity in your workouts – It's not about how much time you spend in the gym but the amount of effort you exert while you are there. You can spend two hours walking on the treadmill and talking to friends between sets or you can hammer out 30 minutes of intervals and heavy weights with minimal rest periods to get the most out of your workouts. Think quality over quantity.
Sleep – Giving your body the proper rest to recover is just as important as providing it with proper nutrition and exercise. Listen to your body and try to get eight hours of sleep a night. An over worked (and over stressed) body will shut down. Allow your body to repair and you will reap the rewards of your hard work.
Its more than just your body - This is about why you make healthy lifestyle choices and the state of mind you are in when making these choices. Long lasting change and growth starts from the inside. You cannot strengthen the body without first strengthening your mind. Ask yourself why you want a healthy lifestyle and when you have the answer the changes you make will be long lasting. When you are in a positive or negative state of mind your body will react accordingly. Try things that make you happy and sooth your soul such as meditation, reading, playing with children or pets, singing, dancing, or anything that puts you in a positive state of mind.
Enjoy the journey - It's not only about reaching the end goal it is about the things you learn along the way. Our goals are never completed they are simply turned into milestones on a life long journey. So take the time to celebrate your successes because this is a continuous path of self-improvement and the unveiling of a new you!