Making Fitness a Lifestyle
The most often stated reason why people don’t lead healthier lifestyles is time and convenience. I know we live in a fast-paced, immediate gratification society. However, there are some things that never change. Healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle will never go out of style! Making the investment in healthier habits now for a lifetime is worth every minute you will spend doing it.
Healthy habits are passed down from parents to children. Where do you think our kids learn to ask for McDonald’s French fries? How do you think they learn to want ice cream? They aren’t born with an appetite for these types of foods. Parents, often in a hurry to get to soccer practice or swim lessons just “swing through the drive through” and grab something for the kids to eat on the run. This moment forms a memory in a child of how to eat before physical activity and that it is ok to fuel the amazing machine you live in with low cost, low quality, fast food.
Research has shown over and over that healthy eating habits lead to better study habits in children. Better study habits lead to better grades and better work ethic/habits as an adult. I often tell my clients, if you can’t do it for yourself, can’t you at least do it for your children? You are the one person who has the opportunity to positively impact their lives and create healthy habits from the first moment they are on earth.
Exercise is another habit that can be incorporated into every day life. The easiest way to do this is to think of it as an investment in you. Think of it as an investment in your future. Most of us have some sort of retirement savings to which we make regular contributions. Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to invest in the vehicle that is going to take you to (and through) your retirement years? After all, if you don’t make the investment now and you are plagued with injury and illness, how much will you really be enjoying your retirement investments?
And just like with your retirement savings, healthy habits don’t require you to invest everything at once. Invest what you can, start small, and work up to larger investments as you are able. Make the changes you are able to make now. Don’t wait to “invest” just because you can’t make a lump sum donation and change all of your habits at once. Eat healthier lunches 4 out of 5 days. Eat breakfast 4 out of 7 days. Workout at least 3 days a week for 30 minutes and work up to 5 days. Your healthy habits should be manageable, just like your investment portfolio. You are the portfolio manager and it is up to you to make wise investments.
Think about how you will invest your time today and what habits you will work to establish. After all, whatever you decide to do with today should be worthwhile since you are exchanging a day of your life for it!