Spring is upon us. Health should always be a priority, but it’s easy to lose sight of health goals with the daily grind — especially during a time as challenging as this. Fortunately for all of us, Spring is always a great time to evaluate and refresh your lifestyle from top to bottom.
Many goals fall short because they’re too broad. For example, making a New Year’s resolution to “eat better, lose weight, and build healthier fitness habits” is well-intended, but it’s too lofty and nonspecific to make a lasting impact in your life.
Instead try starting with one overarching goal, such as improving your physical health, and taking smaller, measurable steps to make it happen. If your goal is to build the best version of yourself for this Summer, it’s not too late to get started with these 10 achievable steps — today:
1. Stay Hydrated
Hydration is the foundation of great health. Drinking water is essential to basic body functions and will help power your body throughout the day.
Lack of proper hydration can lead to fatigue, overeating, mood swings, and serious health issues. On the other hand, drinking water regularly helps with:
- Improving brain function.
- Keeping your muscles strong.
- Hydrating and preserving youthful skin.
- Boosting your metabolism.
Staying hydrated is one of the easiest healthy habits to adopt; drinking about 8 glasses a day is an achievable goal you can start today!
2. Start the Day With a Healthful Breakfast
Eating a healthy breakfast can have a positive impact on your day. A great breakfast gets your body ready for the day by:
- Kick-starting your metabolism.
- Helping you focus.
- Giving you energy.
Eating well doesn’t have to be a chore — you can whip up an easy and healthy breakfast in just a few minutes.
3. Eat Often Throughout the Day
Don’t skip meals. While it may seem counterintuitive, skipping meals throughout the day can quickly derail your efforts to establish a healthy lifestyle.
Skipping a meal can:
- Lead to a dramatic dip in blood sugar; you won’t have enough energy to get through the day, let alone have an effective workout.
- Cause you to make more unhealthy food choices; when you’re starving or your judgment is clouded by an empty stomach, you’re more likely to overeat and stuff your body with junk food.
4. Eat When You’re Hungry
Let yourself eat or snack when you’re hungry. Making healthy snack choices when midday hunger strikes can save you from overeating or bingeing later in the day.
Taking small steps towards a healthier diet is all about preparing. If you typically get hungry in the afternoon, have an apple or bag of granola ready to go.
5. Learn How to Read Food Labels
Making healthier lifestyle choices can start with learning how to read and use nutritional labels. By learning about various nutrients and becoming more aware of what you put into your body, you’ll be taking a small but crucial step towards better health.
Take this step even further by logging how certain foods make you feel. Adjust your habits to fit your fitness goals and health needs. For example, some people swear by eating carbs only in the morning, while others focus on hitting macronutrient goals.
6. Make Small Adjustments
When it comes to food, making small adjustments can really add up. Some examples to small food choices that can make all the difference include:
- Using olive oil instead of butter.
- Choosing Greek yogurt over sour cream.
- Eating fresh fruits instead of candy or ice cream for dessert.
Small but meaningful dietary adjustments can make healthy eating feel like a natural habit.
7. Take More Steps Every Day
You don’t have to hit the gym and push yourself to the limit every day to be healthy. Simply standing up and taking a few more steps throughout the day can have a major impact on your health. Getting more steps in daily on your home treadmill can help you maintain a healthy weight, manage health conditions, strengthen your body, and even boost your mood.
Keep the great choices going by taking the stairs, parking farther away from the building, or walking or biking to the grocery store instead of driving.
8. Commit to a Daily 30-minute Workout
Committing 30 minutes every day — either broken up or all at once — to exercise is a great way to build a healthier lifestyle. Whether you’re spinning, rowing, or firing up the elliptical in your living room, simply taking the time to work up a sweat for half an hour each day can have a tremendous impact on your physical and mental health. Incorporating variety into your workouts, such as alternating strength training with cardio, can help keep you engaged and on track.
9. Get More Sleep
An often-overlooked element of a healthy lifestyle is getting enough sleep. As an adult, you should be clocking about 7 or 8 hours of rest each night. Turn off the television and stop scrolling about 30 minutes before you go to bed so you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the next day.
10. Find Your Motivation
Once you commit to making small healthier choices, your larger goals will seem much more achievable. Small lifestyle changes can be building blocks for more ambitious fitness goals:
- Healthy snack choices tend to lead to healthier meal choices.
- Taking more steps every day can make it easier to work out regularly.
- Getting more sleep will give you more energy to go about your day and exercise.
To encourage yourself, it’s helpful to explore your motivations and track your feelings. What healthy choices help you feel better? What exercises feel good to you?
Building a home fitness gym around the workouts you love the most is a great way to take your healthy choices to the next level. If you’re looking for affordable, high-quality fitness equipment, the experts at G&G Fitness can help you curate the equipment you need to build the healthiest version of you this year.
