5 Tips for Health as a Lifestyle
Collaboration week
This week on Fitness To A Tee, I've been loving my fitness collaboration with Kuda Jinya - freelance digital copywriter; model/commercial actor; fitness fanatic and explorer of life YASS!!
Check out our dance with weights here - what fun!
Then on Tuesday, we showed you a yummy, healthy wrap recipe you can have to smash your fitness goals.
Our workout video on Wednesday has received so much feedback and support - thank you! I hope you'll use some of the tips. Click here to see our favourite workout moves to work the full body.
Image: Stuart Creighton.
5 top tips for health as a lifestyle
At age 33 (Kuda) and 41 (moi), we are both well settled into this "fit life" and it's just part of us now.
To me not exercising is almost like not brushing my teeth. I notice when I don't do it and I can't imagine life without it. I also adjust to seasons and I accept that some seasons as I grow older, I can't do or at times - I don't feel like doing certain type of exercises. So I'll do others. Fitness as a lifestyle is something that affords you flexibility, as you get to know your body over the years.
So our top tip is…
Be open minded + adaptable
Learn to work your fitness around your life changes. OK so you've changed jobs and have different…maybe longer work hours. Sit down and work out how you can fit exercise in e.g. could you walk to/from work or part of the way there on some days?
Fit in some 20 minutes HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions if you're super short on time.
So what if you've moved house? What's in your area that you can use for movement e.g. parks, a few steep hills?
Nutrition first + stop beating yourself up over small stuff
Most of us have heard that it's 80% nutrition, 20% exercise to achieve any health goal right? Well, we'd add stop sweating the small stuff.
For example, as a trainer - I have to help clients overcome the mindset that if they've been eating healthy all week, then go to a party and have a not so healthy meal - the world is over. Ummm no boo it ain't.
It's not realistic to think you can eat healthy everyday of the year and never indulge.By thinking that way, your chances of failure or binge eating become much higher. Keep your healthy eating consistent by having 80-90% healthy food, and an allowance of 20% not so healthy - weekly.
Ditch that scale!
OK this is a sensitive topic because addiction to the weigh scale can be real out there on those streets! But for real though, relying on the scale to track your progress can really overshadow your real results. The scale can vary due to e.g. water weight, hormones, muscle gain, etc.
Instead use tape measurements; how your clothes fit; how you look in the mirror; how you feel (more energy, better sleep etc) - which are more motivating ways to track progress.
Learn to listen to your body over life seasons!
If you want to sustain your fitness as a lifestyle, learn to listen to your body through the rocky seasons. So what I mean is the big stuff e.g. grief, moving countries; relationship breakups; serious medical conditions; family drama etc.
Sometimes it suits to go HAM + hit the high intensity workouts but some life seasons need more gentle movement e.g. stretching, more mobility work etc. When I lost my mum - I went ham with weight training but 7 years later - when I had other life stuff happening - my body needed long nature walks more than heavy weight training. That way I kept moving - just differently.
Water your mental + emotional health & the physical will follow with a bang!
Whether it's reading, meditation, therapy, deep breathing exercises, prayer or anything else you use to keep your mental health in check - prioritise that over your physical health.
When your mind and spirit are feeling good, you'll be more likely to want to move and eat well. Plus your body, mind and emotions are interconnected. So the healthier your mind - the better results your body will produce. Bye bye defeatist attitude!
We have a ton more tips…ummm I could go on all day honestly…but we'll leave it there. If you have any questions or comments - feel free to contact Kuda or myself below.
Click here to get in touch with me!
Take care…until the next blog post!