It isn’t easy to know the path to healthier existence when you’re floundering and looking around for answers from any and all directions. While it’s tempting to look for a golden bullet that’ll give your body a jolt, the truth is that there are no quick fix diets or the like that’ll make everything better. That comes from making small, incremental changes to your life, not making sweeping changes and hoping that it works out. Below, we take a look at how you can incorporate the “walk, don’t run” approach into your life to give your health a boost.
A New Habit
The reason that so many New Year’s resolutions are broken within the first month is that people are too ambitious with what they set out to achieve. If you say you’re going to become vegetarian, but you’ve never even reduced your meat intake, then you’re going to find it an uphill battle. Instead of making grand claims to yourself and anybody who will listen, plan to make a small change. In the case of vegetarianism, you should give up meat two days a week, then increase it to three, four, all the way up to a meat-free week (and life).
Healthier Ways
It’s unrealistic to treat your body as a temple. There’ll always be a vice that we know isn’t amazing for our body but we like anyway. The trick here is to make sure you’re doing the best possible version of your vice. If you like fast food, then have it only occasionally, and when you do then try to eat from the more upscale fast food joints. If you like smoking, don’t promise that the next cigarette is your last; switch to an eliquid vaporizer instead. Instead of drinking alcohol on Friday and Saturday nights, pick just one, and don’t drink too many. Life can be enjoyed to the full if you do things in moderation.
The 15-Minute Rule
Like with New Year’s resolutions, people often have misconceptions about just how much exercise they’ll be able to stomach once they decide they want to get fit. If you’ve joined the gym under the illusion of going for one hour a day, it’s time to curb your enthusiasm, because you won’t be going anywhere near that amount of time. Instead, start small: super small; 15 minutes small. You’ll gradually work your way up to an hour. If you go big too fast, you’ll only end up giving up.
Sample New Hobbies
One of the best to get exercise and stay energized is to sample new activities. Instead of buying all the fancy equipment for a sport, loan the items and try a number of them. That way, you’ll be able to figure out what activities you actually like by getting used to them slowly.
Also, don’t forget to kill the mood sappers! Sitting on Facebook and the like for too long can make us feel sad, and thus less likely to make the necessary changes in our lives.
#smallchanges #walkdontrun