Healthy habits: where to start
I’m going to take better care of myself, eat healthier, exercise, rest more, etc. Sound familiar? All of these seem like worthwhile goals, but upon closer examination, they’re not realistic because they need to be clearly defined and measurable. Without measurement, the outcome of these goals might also sound familiar to you. They end up fading over time and getting lost in the daily routine. And in the end, the result isn’t what you hoped for, but rather disappointment, discouragement, and demoralization. So you end up quietly reproaching yourself with a big sense of shame: once again, I set out to improve my habits and once again, I fail…
To prevent that from happening again, we want to give you some suggestions and advice to help you achieve healthy habits, enjoying the journey while nurturing your health and well-being and becoming the best version of yourself. Are you ready to keep reading?
How will you achieve new habits?
The first step is to set specific goals rather than general and abstract ones. For example, replace “I’m going to eat better” with “I will replace white bread with whole wheat bread” or “I’m going to exercise” with “I will go cycling twice a week,” or “I’m going to rest more” with “I won’t stay up past midnight.”
Goals should also be measurable. To do this, use a system that is comfortable and easy for you. You can track progress in a notebook or journal, use an Excel spreadsheet or Word document, keep a diary, etc. or use the Wellat app where you can automatically track your daily steps, hours of sleep, healthy meals consumed, daily exercise time, or meditation time. This allows you to see what you’re achieving and what you still need to accomplish without relying on memory or fantasy. Additionally, this information will serve as a basis for making corrections and modifications to your plans to adapt to new situations as they arise.
Furthermore, it’s important and effective to seek social support to achieve these changes. Choose a coworker, family member, or friend who shares these interests and with whom you can discuss your achievements and the obstacles you encounter. Someone who can congratulate you when you’re doing well and encourage and motivate you when you’re feeling down.
What should your goal be?
If you aspire for effectiveness and sustainability, changing habits should be done gradually, reasonably, and thoughtfully. Trying to change them all at once, from 0 to 100, will almost certainly lead to failure and feelings of discouragement and disappointment, as we discussed at the beginning of the article. Instead, by introducing modifications gradually into your daily life, you’ll find that they become part of you before you even realize it, and the effort will have been manageable and worthwhile.
For example, let’s talk about nutrition. We suggest that you never go on a diet again. Yes, you read that correctly. Instead of following a diet for a period of time, our proposal is for you to adopt and maintain healthy habits for life. And if you join us, we’ll show you that this doesn’t mean boring meals, starving yourself, enduring annoying and difficult dietary restrictions, etc., which are often what come to mind for many “repeat offenders” when they think about “I need to lose those extra pounds, I need to go on a diet, the good times are over,” etc.
When do we start?
Sooner rather than later. Delaying the start is an unconscious trap to continue with the same old habits, which are very comfortable because we know them well, even though their consequences may be harmful.
Where do we start??
We suggest starting the change in three key areas for our health and well-being: nutrition, physical exercise, and rest. And in each of them, we’ll give you the first hint to take the first step towards this lifestyle change.
How do we start eating healthily??
The first thing you should do is redecorate your pantry and fridge using only healthy and essential foods.
To do this, get rid of anything that’s expired or harmful to you and keep only those foods that are necessary for their nutritional and healthy contribution. This is a good time to look at the ingredients of those products, what they nutritionally provide you, and decide whether to keep them or not.
Then, when you do your next grocery shopping, don’t do it on the fly. Instead, we recommend that you plan your weekly menu. With the Wellat app, you have the most accurate meal planner on the market. Spending time planning will not only guarantee that you eat healthily but will also surprise you with time and money savings.
Make a list of the ingredients you’ll need to prepare the menu and do your shopping with a well-defined shopping list. The goal is to avoid stocking up on unnecessary foods and treats that you surely don’t need and that won’t help you maintain your weight and health.
We suggest you introduce 5 basic changes in your diet:
Forget about ultra-processed products (industrial pastries, cold cuts, light products, pre-cooked foods, and so on).
Prioritize vegetables and fruits. They should be the basis of your diet. It’s better if they are seasonal and local. This ensures that nutrients are not lost during transportation and storage and that they have probably been produced with fewer chemicals. Additionally, they often have a lower price than exotic products that come from afar or are not in season.
Limit flours and cereals. Increase the consumption of legumes; they are an excellent source of proteins and carbohydrates. You can include them in salads, hummus, stews, etc. It’s a very healthy and economical option.
Include quality proteins and fats of animal origin: fish, eggs, and meat.
Include prebiotics and probiotics to improve your microbiota. Include fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, etc.) and fiber (whole fruits and vegetables, foods with resistant starch).
Remember that the best option for drinking is and will always be: water, water, and more water. It’s the healthiest drink par excellence and necessary for our body.
How do we start exercising healthily?
With the confinement measures we’ve had, many people have become more sedentary, which, along with poor eating habits, has increased the risk of some non-communicable chronic diseases (type II diabetes, hypertension, overweight, obesity, some types of cancer, etc.)
“Movement is life.” Physical activity is intrinsic to our species; it prevents childhood obesity and premature mortality from any cause, reduces the incidence of ischemic heart disease, decreases the risk of high blood pressure, reduces the incidence of colon, breast, and prostate cancers, that of type 2 diabetes, reduces the prevalence of osteoporosis and its fractures, reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression, and is a great help in geriatrics. Is there any drug on the market that performs better?”
But not only that, exercising also helps you burn excess calories, strengthens your muscles and bones, contributes to stress relief, and helps you sleep better.
Now that you know how important it is, you should decide which exercise is most appropriate for you. So, you don’t have to go running if you haven’t done it before, or practice the sport that is fashionable just because it’s cooler, or exhaust yourself trying to keep up with other more experienced athletes.
Instead of all that, the best thing you can do is find a physical activity that you like, one that you won’t be lazy to practice and motivates you.
What if you’re not attracted to any? In that case, start by walking more often, get off one stop earlier from the bus, take the stairs, etc. All these small gestures will keep you active and improve your health if you maintain them over time. Don’t forget what we call the exercise wildcard: stretching. These don’t require any special clothing or equipment and can be done when you wake up in the morning or at any time during the day.
How do we start resting healthily?
“Resting repairs.” The other leg of the tripod of healthy habits in which we recommend that you introduce changes is sleep. This is because during the hours of sleep, our body recovers from the day’s activity. The body takes advantage of this slow-down time to regenerate, which translates into improved performance, concentration, and energy.
To work on this aspect, it’s advisable to choose fixed hours to go to bed and wake up and to stick to them even on weekends and holidays. Although without forcing it and allowing for the inevitable occasional exceptions that we can afford for leisure or obligation.
It’s also important that as bedtime approaches, you avoid mulling over worries and problems that literally keep us awake. To do this, it’s convenient to meditate, do breathing exercises, or simply engage in a quiet activity that doesn’t stimulate or activate us.
Likewise, you should lower the ambient light intensity as bedtime approaches, especially avoiding blue light from technology, which has a stressful potential.
Now you know where to start to eat, exercise, and rest healthily. Let’s get started!