What does being ‘healthy’ mean to you? Does it mean being the right weight? Does it mean never being sick? Or, does it mean being able to go for a run without feeling like you’re going to die shortly afterwards?
Health comes in many shapes and forms, and for most of us, the word ‘health’ has a dozen different connotations.
Here at Her.ie we firmly believe that being in good health means that you look after your body, your mind and your soul. We believe in a holistic, or ‘whole body,’ kind of health.
When you’re ‘whole body’ healthy, a few things happen:
1. Your body is in great condition because you look after yourself and feed yourself nutritious foods.
2. Your mind is in great condition because you think positive thoughts and respect yourself.
3. Your spirit is in great condition because you’re happy with your life and feel like you’re a part of something much bigger.
But how do you get ‘whole body’ healthy? Here are a few easy tips to get you started…
Whole body health means taking care of your body, mind and soul.
Feel Good About Yourself: First and foremost, it’s important that you learn how to feel good about yourself. Have you ever heard the old saying ‘if you don’t love yourself, who will?’ This rings true on so many levels. If you practice feeling good about yourself, you’ll start doing whatever it takes to show yourself respect. You’ll eat better. You’ll stand up to people who try to walk all over you. You’ll develop increased self-confidence and above all else, you’ll be happier within yourself.
All too often we make ourselves feel worthless by thinking negatively about ourselves. The next time you have a bad thought such as ‘I’m so fat!’ replace it with something positive. Focus on the aspects of yourself that you love and continually remind yourself of all your good qualities.
At the end of the day, all we really have is ourselves therefore it is so important for us to love and respect ourselves.
Learn How to Eat: Educate yourself about food. Read about the different food groups. Remember that your body is sort of like a machine and it needs good fuel in order to keep working. Eat a well-balanced diet and respect yourself by choosing to feed your body good, nutritious foods.
Remember, if you do anything enough times it eventually becomes a habit, so even if you hate fruit try to eat a little bit every day for the sake of your body. Eventually you’ll be downing it with no trouble.
The exact same can be said for exercise. Go for that run. It’ll be tough for the first week or two, then it will become such a part of your routine that you’ll be wondering how you ever lived without it.
Take Baby Steps: We’ll let you in on a little secret – trying to lead a healthier lifestyle isn’t an all or nothing kind of deal. You can take baby steps. Start small and make simple changes every single day. These will eventually add up over time and give you a massive health boost.
Why not add two more servings of vegetables to your dinner every day? Why not drink two more glasses of water each day? Why not add ten minutes of walking to your usual exercise routine?
Anything is achievable if we break it down. Just keep taking those small steps and eventually you’ll see (and feel) the difference in your body.
Let Go of the Past: Every second is a chance to start over in this life, so forget about what has happened in your past. Forget about your bad break-up, or that fight you had with a loved one. Forget about the times you’ve failed in the past. None of that stuff matters. All that matters is how you act right now.
We are all human and we all make mistakes. Give yourself a break and remember: the past is done and you can’t change it, so you may as well let it go.
Get Happy: Every single day, take ten minutes (or longer if you have it) to do something that makes you smile. Whether it’s watching hilarious videos on YouTube, ringing your best friend for a chat, having a smooch-fest with your other half or Skyping your mammy, just do it. Happiness is super-important when it comes to living a healthy live. Allow yourself the luxury of a few minutes every day.
Being happy reduces your stress levels, gives you a lovely glow and actually strengthens your immune system so get smiling!
Keep Your Eye on the Target: We all have dreams and aspirations – what are some of yours? If you want to be a professional writer or backpack around Asia, write down your dreams and read back over them regularly. It’s so important for us to have dreams of our own. Assess your dreams. See if they are things that you could actually achieve and start planning how you can turn them into a reality.
For example, if your dream is to become a photographer, get yourself a camera, get some books about photography, maybe enrol in a class. Learn about it. Start taking pictures. Start posting your pictures online or approach a newspaper with a few of your snaps.
Again the key is to take baby steps. Continue to take one small step at a time until you arrive at your goal.
Find a Mode of Exercise That You Love: Make exercise fun. Try yoga or hula hooping or circus classes. If you love the type of exercise that you do, you’ll start looking forward to doing it.
Give Yourself Credit: We all need a cheering squad and when you’re embarking on big life changes, you need to support yourself. Become your own biggest cheerleader. Even if others don’t agree with what you’re doing, as long as you believe in yourself, you’ll be okay.
