On Healthy Lifestyle Habits

I realize that you may not be here for a massive amount of weight loss. I’ve definitely been nailing that point home lately.

Sometimes people also need:

-Strategies to maintain weight loss

-Help improving some aspect about their lifestyles

-Motivation to try to keep being awesome about the work they have done so far.

So let's talk about improving all the little things.

It's an effective technique to make one good habit, then another good habit, then another, until you’re living exactly the way you want.

Let me give you a few examples.

Say you went on vacation for a couple weeks. Then you came back, and realized all your awesome habits went out the window while you were gone.

Or summer came and went, and you slacked off on your meal choices and activity during that time. You could be finding it tough to get back in the groove for fall.

Or you had a check-up with your PCP and they told you they want to see improvements on some numbers. They could be threatening you with new meds.

All these things can prompt the need for some lifestyle improvements without the need for weight loss. Yet, if weight loss is still on your radar, fixing lifestyle habits is a great way to give yourself some stepstones before grinding away at the calorie deficit.

Changing too much too fast often leads to failure. Not for all personality types, but many.

So how do we get started?

I’d say to look inward first.

“I should really” statements are great for that. These are the statements that come out when you’re chatting with friends, family and co-workers and the topic of health comes up.

“I should really…” and fill in the blank

… be more active

… get up and walk around more

… drink more water

… get more sleep

… try yoga

… take vitamins

… eat more fruits and vegetables

… eat cleaner

… stop eating so many sweets

… try self-care

… take care of myself better

This list can go on and on, but you get the idea.

These aren’t good goals though. They’re subjective statements that are explaining an observation you have with yourself. A goal works better when it’s something you can identify in a concrete way. You’ve gotten there and are satisfied with how you’re embracing that healthy habit.

“I should really…

… be active four days a week

… get up and walk around every hour

… drink a gallon of water each day

… get seven hours of sleep each day

… try yoga twice every week

… take a multivitamin each day

… eat whole fruit each day and three servings of vegetables each day

… eat at least 80% of my foods clean every day

… cut out sugar completely

… give myself at least 5 minutes of self-care everyday

… take care of myself better by doing (any of the habits or more above)

See the difference? We are establishing a way to measure what we are intending to do. AND we are giving ourselves a frequency for each week to work our way up to.

The difference between these kinds of goals and weight-loss goals is that there is no end point.

Well, there is. It’s death technically. shrugs I’m not trying to sound cynical, but it’s kinda true.

Think about it this way. When we change our habits to lose weight, you want to do so until you lose the weight. But then what?

We can’t go back to our old ways or else the weight will come right back on. We have to keep our awesome habits, minus the calorie deficit to maintain.

But here’s the best part. You then can enjoy how much healthier you feel as you keep it going.

Wait, what does that mean?

If you’ve never experienced a time in your life when your food and activity habits were almost perfect, then you may not realize how awesome you can feel. Imagine this:

-You fall right to sleep, uninterrupted and wake up feeling refreshed and energetic.

-You have constant energy all day, and you wind down exactly when you intend to.

-Your energy is unstoppable.

-You don’t have cravings at all.

-Your aches and pains start to go away (yes- even if you’re older things can improve)

-Your symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression can improve

-Your stamina and endurance for activities that tax you mentally and physically, improves

-Your focus and drive improves

-Your mood is much more positive

-You feel more confident and have a much more positive self-concept and body image

-The symptoms of previously diagnosed health conditions can actually improve.

Wait, what???

C’mon, Kay, you can’t be serious.

Actually, I am. Very serious. I know it doesn’t sound believable, but I want you to think about something for a moment. Something that people don’t talk about and REALLY need to.

But everyone wants to make a buck with their product, their fad diet, their supplements, their pharmaceuticals, their subscription memberships for things…

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a businesswoman trying to make a buck with my programs. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.

But at least I’m confident that I’m not leaving anything out that will leave you hanging and failing!!!

That part irks me. That’s why I have PAFE structured the way it is, so that I can always keep it honest and complete.

Speaking of honesty, you’re probably wondering if all those bullet points above were honest.

They are, but I want to clarify the semantics a little. You may have certain health specifics that only a doctor can diagnose, treat and cure. I’m not a doctor. I will never be a doctor. I will not diagnose, treat or cure anything myself for you.

But what I do absolutely 100% know is that improving more aspects of your lifestyle will improve how you feel. Everyday.

The more healthy habits you incorporate, the better you will feel. You are what you eat. You will lose capabilities the more you allow yourself to slow and weaken over time. The opposite happens when you gain strength and stamina. These are facts. The path on how to get there is different for everyone.

But improving your blood panels enough can get you off of meds, or out of the need for new ones. You will avoid and lessen the risk for chronic illnesses including: diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, anxiety, depression (the clinical forms), and even more serious COVID effects.

All this links back to the healthy lifestyle habits we’re talking about here. And I want to help.

So I just have one more thing for you today. Think about five lifestyle improvements you would like to make. Write them down somewhere and then think about how to make them more specific, like in the second set of bullet points.

I've done a lot with this, so many of these good things are total habits, but even I have two (really important) habits I work on daily, and I track it using that calendar in the picture. It's all about making a conscious effort to do something with it.

Everyone needs this. Everyone knows even more people that need this. And it’s never too late to start, and no one needs to give up. It’s not a sacrifice, it’s earning a better life.

We got this.

Have a wonderful day!

Cheers to you because you are amazing!