The 5 Minute Guide to Living a Healthy Lifestyle

Live well, stay sharp and conquer life

“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” ~ Buddha

Living a healthy lifestyle takes work that most would rather wish away. Who has the time to deal with living a healthy life, especially when starting a new business?

Back in 2012 I started to feel all the work I was doing draining me. Sluggish and tired, I decided it was time to start living a little more proactively with my health. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a surprise—especially with something I could influence.

What would you do if, all of a sudden, your body was attacked by a problem that could have been prevented? The goal here is simple. Live well today, proactively, so you’re not faced with a challenging situation to deal with later and so you can feel better day-to-day. You have one body and one mind. Together these are a weapon that needs to stay sharp.

Overcoming The Lazy Mindset

Until last year, I had never been motivated to live a healthy lifestyle. For most people this is a chore that they would rather not deal with, and that was true for me as well. Projects on my mind dominated my time and I had little desire to worry about this.

It’s too easy for your brain to convince you not to visit the gym or to let yourself stray toward unhealthy eating options and overly large portion sizes. Who needs vitamins? Who wants to take the time to learn about the bad ingredients that companies are putting (and sometimes hiding) in products these days?

How do you overcome your brain sending these signals? Here are a few things I’d tell myself earlier than when I jumped on this health train in 2012.

1. Make Healthy Living A Way Of Life

As natural as it is to brush your teeth before bed, accept that this is how you’re going to live.

Improving your activity and diet helps keep your mind sharp and your body primed to fight against foreign viruses. Think of the time you’re spending being active as time for your brain to relax as you step away from the pressures and decisions within a work environment.

One of the immediate benefits that I’ve noticed while living a more healthy life is the feeling I now have during my days. I feel that my mind is sharper, it’s easier to wake and I don’t feel sluggish during the day.

Tell yourself that being healthy should be a way of life.

2. Carve Out A Block Of Time To Be Active

Create a consistent routine and include an active block of time. Does it have to be the gym? No. Go for a brisk walk or bike ride in your neighborhood, city or park. Do something you can enjoy and do it for as long as you see fit.

You need to carve out a block of time otherwise you’ll be faced with an unnecessary decision to make throughout your days. If you know that everyday at 6:45a you’ll be at the gym until 8:00a then that is one less thing to think about during the day. You’re also a lot more likely to stick to your game plan if you have set aside a specific time to workout rather than telling yourself, “I’ll go sometime today.” If you do that, you will keep putting it off until you don’t have anytime left and it becomes, “I’ll go tomorrow.” That’s a bad cycle to get into because it’s hard to break, so don’t allow yourself to fall into that trap.

Personally, I prefer early morning activity the best because during the day other problems will inevitably distract me—opening up my mind to derail me. Morning workouts also becomes a kick of motivation since you will have conquered something already. Start your day on the right foot.

3. Don’t Forget To Have Fun

This is important. Please remember that nobody is barking orders at you. Don’t force yourself to do things that you absolutely hate to do. If you run and it really hurts your knees or your back, you are not going to continue doing it.

But maybe you love bike riding. By all means, ride! Maybe you love walking. Walk with a newfound purpose! How about rollerblading? There are so many options.

I like running, but I never really liked the gym. It isn’t something that I hated so I tried incorporating it into my routine and now I love it. I’ve found that the gym has an added bonus of being a fantastic place to meet new people.

4. Account For Body Deficiencies And Take Vitamins

Even with a strong workout regiment your body could certainly use some outside assistance. Start simple by taking a multi-vitamin like Solaray Spectro (what I take).

Consult your doctor and learn what else you could take to help your body function more efficiently.

5. Learn Basic Nutrition

This is a losing battle if you do not learn about the bad ingredients companies purposely put in their products. Understand that their goal is to make money, and if they have to do that by causing addiction or promoting a longer shelf life, most are going to do it. For optimum health, you want to avoid as many of these food additives as you can. You can’t do that if you don’t know how to identify them on the ingredient list.

Learn about reasonable portion sizes and don’t go overboard by indulging yourself with huge plates full of food. In fact, I challenge you to learn how many calories you should be consuming, and then pay attention to your calorie intake for a week—you’ll be blown away.

Two of the easiest ways to help you control your portions are to eat a healthy breakfast (helps curb cravings throughout the day) and to eat smaller portions more often throughout the day. If you get too hungry you’re going to eat too much when you finally sit down for a meal.

6. Find A Health Companion

Finding a partner in crime can be a huge asset. It is extremely difficult for me to imagine I would have made the progress that I’ve made, as fast as I have, without my wife. She has an intense focus on health that ripples throughout our life in a positive way.

She focuses on the food we buy and could easily help answer any question you might have (feel free to write in with a question!). She is right by my side at the gym for our warm-up laps, then we split off to do our own workout. She is also why I’m taking vitamins.

If you’re married you have a huge advantage here! Surely your significant other would at least try this out for a while. Do it so you two can live a long and, hopefully, painless life together. :)

If you’re single you can find a friend with a similar schedule and desire to make healthy improvements in their life.

Finally, if you start going to the gym you’ll likely make some new friends. I have met several people at my gym who are always there during the same time.

That’s it! Live Healthy!

Who doesn’t want to live a long and healthy life? Do it for your spouse. Do it for your children. Do it for the world you live in. Do it for yourself.

The last thing you want is to be miserable later in life from something that could have prevented by making healthier choices early on. Saying that I am too busy because I’m putting so much time and energy into a project is an avoidable excuse. You have to prioritize your life and your health should be a top priority!

This is a wake up call. You don’t need to be obsessive. Simply pay attention and live a healthy, successful life by making simple choices while keeping that body and mind sharp. It’s the only weapon you have and without it you have nothing.

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Follow me on Twitter or write me.