Wednesday 27/04/22
We have just had Easter and ANZAC day… school holidays are finished and the regular routine is coming back in full swing.
Typical Easter means chocolate. Chocolate means bad skin, low energy and bloated bellies!
Not that long ago I wanted to get back into a regular healthy living routine.
I haven’t
I started doing yoga and different stretches everyday, a few more bike rides with the family… I usually eat fairly healthy but still indulge in snacks… but over the holidays this has just blown out.
I want to look more into healthy lifestyles and habits. What really is healthy, what is realistic, what is sustainable long term.
I have had discussions with people about different diet requirements, fitness routines and lifestyle choices… how do you know what is right for you though?
In the past, I have tried a lot of different diets myself, as well as had long stints of regular exercise. I have definitely seen improvements from different things, but I can’t say a lot of that has been sustainable.
Some of this is due to other lifestyle factors, personal priorities and motivation… or lack there of.
Past diets have generally been exclusion type diets, where you would go right back to eating a limited number of basic vegetables and meats for a few weeks before slowing re-introducing a food at a time to measure any reactions from your body. This allows the body to detox, come out of a state of inflammation and show you what foods might not sit right with your body.
This lack of diversity obviously is not an ongoing thing. Once you have reintroduced your body to a broad range of healthy, raw foods, you can continue with a healthy diet.
This isn’t too bad, once you get past the first few weeks of eating basically no variety.
I have also done the gluten free thing… I did find that gluten was linked to bloating for me. Though with disorganised days leading me to slip on this, I did find that not all gluten seemed to be an issue. Potentially this was never a gluten issue at all, perhaps a preservative or something else that is added to the majority of food in any sort of packet these days.
Then there are the more basic common sort of healthy eating diets, like cutting out processed sugar, white bread, trying to keep mostly to fruits, vegetables and meats but still allowing yourself to indulge in treats when you want.
This last form of healthy eating is my favourite. If I’m not focused on telling myself I cant have something, I don’t stress that I’m missing it or needing it. It feels a lot more balanced and prevents that extra layer of guilt when you do have those few pieces (or rows…) of chocolate, or extra serve of pasta even though you had white bread with your pumpkin soup the other day…
I have found this is ok for me. This works for me, as long as I have other things on my life balances as well. This includes my mental health, stress levels and maintaining some sort of regular movement/exercise and fresh air.
When I let stress get the better of me, my gut health suffers, my skin suffers, my sleep suffers and so does my overall quality of life. No one enjoys that!
I am also someone who genuinely enjoys physical work. Be it at the gym or doing jobs outside, I enjoy working my body.
I have always been a fairly active person, both with activities and the gym up until the last year maybe? There are plenty of articles talking about the mental and physical benefits of exercise, and I really believe that is true.
Between the increased blood flow and happy hormones that get released, how can there be a downside? Even when I am tired all the time, I have found that pushing myself to get back to the gym helps boost my mood and energy in the long run.
Getting started back into regular physical activity is that hard thing. Getting back into the routine of a healthy lifestyle, taking that first step and doing it regularly long enough to be “normal”, is the hardest part.
I really want to hear from anyone willing to share how they get back into their healthy lifestyle routines. What do you do to get yourself inspired to do creative and healthy meal plans, the meal preps, the gym sessions at awkward hours to fit in with your schedule, the at home exercise that you have been putting off, the making time for you, that you have just been too tired or distracted for?
This is where I am at after the holidays, and I really want to get back into it! I know I can, I have plenty of times before, but I would love to get some inspiration.
My plan is to do weekly meal plans that will help me to do a grocery shop that avoids those random “just in case” buys. I should be able to do even a 20 minute workout at home 3-4 times a week in the mornings, and aim for 2 times a week at a class or gym floor. As I mentioned, at work my colleague and I try to do a bit of yoga, tapping and stretching every day.
If I can back on track with this I really want to see my strength, skin, energy and whole mental space improve.
Scales don’t measure your success. But photos and measurements certainly can tell you a lot.
Please share with me meal ideas, at home exercise tricks, workout apps, yoga apps, healthy treats, routine tips… anything that you think helps make a difference for you.
Can’t wait to hear from you! send me a message on comment on this post on my social media account
Jess xx