The best tips to help you succeed with your new healthy lifestyle! Be sure to download my free printable cheat sheet so you always have these health tips nearby.
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Sticking with your new healthy lifestyle is a lot easier than you might think. It’s true! All you need are some systems in place and a few tricks to help hold you accountable.
Let me share with you the things that motivate me to stick with my healthy lifestyle. I just know they’ll work wonders for you too!
And when you get to the end of the post, you can download my free printable cheat sheet so you don’t forget any of these tips!
How to Win With Your New Healthy Lifestyle
Know Your “Why”
First, you have to know your “why.” Why did you decide to start living a healthier lifestyle? What do you hope to gain from it?
Having a compelling reason will motivate you to stick with your new healthy lifestyle even when it gets hard.
Educate Yourself
Hopefully you did a little bit of research before you dove head-first into your new healthy lifestyle. However, if you haven’t already done so, now is the time to get educated! Be aware of the benefits that come along with your new healthy lifestyle (this can also help with your “why”) and the risks that come along with NOT sticking with your new healthy lifestyle.
For example, perhaps you decided that it’s time to get serious about your exercise routine. The benefits of exercise are numerous. Regular exercise can help you
- Achieve and maintain a healthy weight
- Improve balance, mobility, and flexibility
- Build muscle mass
- Build and maintain bone mass
- Improve your mood and reduce stress
- Improve the quality of your sleep
On the other hand, the risks of NOT exercising are pretty much the opposite. Not exercising regularly can cause you to
- Struggle with your weight
- Feel stiff and inflexible
- Lose muscle mass
- Lose bone mass
- Feel stressed and moody
- Have lower quality sleep at night
Knowing the benefits of your new healthy lifestyle and the risks of NOT sticking with your new healthy lifestyle will give you a compelling reason to keep pushing forward.
Related Post: 7 Free or Cheap Ways to Exercise on a Budget
Related Post: The Best At-Home Workout Programs for Women Who Hate the Gym
This is true not just for exercise, but for other healthy lifestyle choices as well. Maybe your goal is to eat healthier or get more sleep. Whatever your new healthy lifestyle entails, educating yourself will go a long way toward holding you accountable.
Ask Your Family for Support
Let your family know about your health goals so they can support you and hold you accountable. Let them know that this new endeavor is really important to you, and that you would be grateful if they would encourage you and not tempt you to stray from your goals.
Related: Intentional Goal Setting: How to Turn Your Big Dreams into Reality
Having support from your family can be even more helpful if you can get them involved with your new healthy lifestyle. Asking them to join you prevents you from feeling like you are alone on your journey, and it also helps them to get healthy too!
Getting your family involved is great when you’re trying to be more active. You can do things together as a family such as go for walks and hikes or work out at a gym together.
Related: 9 Simple Ways to Stay Active Throughout the Day
Similarly, if you’re trying to eat healthier food, it’s much easier to stick with your new food choices when everyone in your home is on board with the idea. Trust me, if you’re eating fruit and vegetables while your family eats candy and ice cream, you’ll have a pretty hard time staying on track.
Related: How to Start a Plant-based Diet: The Ultimate Transition Guide for Beginners
Also, when you’re trying to eat healthier food, it may be wise to ask your family not to tempt you with your food weaknesses. If they know you’re trying to avoid sweets or highly processed takeout, they’ll be less likely to suggest or request these food options.
Create an Environment for Success
If you really want to be successful with your new healthy lifestyle, then it’s important that you create an environment for success. Do the hard work up front so that when you’re low on time or don’t feel all that motivated, you’ve eliminated some of your biggest excuses. In this way, you’re setting yourself up to succeed rather than fail.
Yes, it does require some planning on the front end, but the benefits are worth it.
Of course, your environment for success can look however you want it to look. The possibilities are truly limitless. But if you need some help coming up with ideas, here are a few that work wonders for me:
- Stop buying junk food. If you buy it, you WILL eat it.
- Have some ready-to-go snacks such as a bowl of fruit on your table, already-cut veggies and hummus in your fridge, and travel-friendly trail mix in your pantry. For those days when you’re pressed for time, you shouldn’t have any shortage of healthy snacks!
- Take healthy snacks with you to work so you don’t have to visit the vending machine when you get hungry.
- Pack healthy food/snacks and some water when you go out (running errands, taking a day trip, etc.) so you don’t have to stop for fast food.
- Set aside some time each week to plan your meals so you don’t default to takeout when you’re tired after a long day. Fill your meal plan with meals that align with your health goals and are quick to make. 6:00pm on a weeknight is not the time to make a meal that requires 2 hours to prepare!
Related: Meal Planning Made Simple (plus a free printable!)
Related: 15 Plant-based Recipes You Need to Try
- Meal prep on the weekend if you don’t have much time to cook during the week. Even if you don’t cook full meals, simply preparing the ingredients that take the longest to cook (brown rice, baked potatoes, etc.) will save a ton of time during the week.
- Set out your exercise clothes before you go to bed so you can get right to your exercise routine first thing in the morning. (I’ve also heard of people sleeping in their workout clothes. Do whatever works best for you!)
- If you exercise after work, pack your gym bag and take it to work with you. Packing your gym bag the night before saves time in the morning and may prevent you from forgetting something.
- Schedule your workouts on your calendar and then treat them like you would any other appointment.
Do you see what I mean? There are countless things you can do ahead of time to set yourself up for success. When you’re proactive, you are far more likely to succeed with your new healthy lifestyle. So, do whatever needs to be done so you have zero excuses when it’s time to perform, whether that be in the kitchen or in the gym.
Look to Others for Inspiration
Find inspiration from other people who are where you want to be. You can find people who inspire you on Instagram, blogs, or in real life.
Personally, I follow several plant-based people on Instagram so I can see all of the beautiful plant-based food they eat. This gives me ideas for my own meal plans and lets me know that I’m not the only one out there eating this way.
Related: Why We Transitioned to a Plant-based Lifestyle
Avoid Tempting Situations/People
Know your triggers! If certain people encourage you to eat unhealthy food, then don’t spend as much time with them. At the very least, associate with them outside of mealtimes so you aren’t tempted to eat like they do.
Likewise, if you know you’re likely to fall back into old patterns on the weekends or in the evenings, structure your time in a way that sets you up for success. That may mean having your meals already prepared ahead of time, staying busy so you don’t eat out of boredom, or scheduling in some physical activity.
Reward Yourself When You Succeed
Don’t let your little successes go unnoticed. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on the things we did wrong than the things we did right, so make sure to celebrate those little wins. If you stick with your new healthy lifestyle for a week, reward yourself for your accomplishment! Just make sure that your reward aligns with your healthy lifestyle.
Free Printable Cheat Sheet and Worksheet
I hope you found these tips helpful. But more than that, I hope you take action and implement them in your life. I just know you can succeed with your new healthy lifestyle now that you have these tips in your arsenal!
I don’t want you to forget these tips, and I also don’t want you to have to refer back to this blog post over and over when you need a refresher.
The solution? A free printable cheat sheet and worksheet!
Wrapping It Up
So there you have it! Those are my best tips to help you succeed with your new healthy lifestyle. All it takes is adopting some new systems and implementing a few tricks to keep you on track.
And if you’d like a handy cheat sheet to keep nearby so you always remember these tips, don’t forget to download my free printable!
Other Posts You May Enjoy
- 12 Healthy Habits You Can Start Today
- 3 Simple Ways to Live a Healthy Lifestyle
- How Being Healthy Saves You Money: A Personal Case Study
- Cheap Healthy Food: Affordable Options for the Savvy Budgeter
- How to Afford a Healthy Lifestyle on a Budget
What about you? What tips do you use to stay on track with your healthy lifestyle?
Also, if you found this post helpful, feel free to share it or pin it for later!
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