Imagine for a moment you are 16 years old and you have just been given your own very first car. In this dream, your car will be the only vehicle you will ever own.
You can never sell it, give it away, buy a new one or trade it up.
How would you treat this car? I am assuming that you would cherish this vehicle; spending time and money on regular checkups and car washes every month.
You would splurge on premium gas and replace parts as soon as they worn out.
I would like to think that you would do everything in your power to make this car last as long as possible and looking as good as possible for your lifetime. Am I not correct?
If this is how you would treat your one and only car, is your body not worth more than a vehicle?
In the health and fitness business, the majority of people I meet are looking for a personal trainer because they haven’t taken care of their bodies and need to reverse the effects of several years or decades of abuse.
Luckily for us, the body is extremely resilient and flexible.
It doesn’t hold a grudge when it has been consistently and repeatedly damaged by high stress, lack of sleep, over eating, under eating, over caffeinating, over exercising, under exercising and the list goes on with all of the other damaging things we do to ourselves.
t will usually forgive and sometimes even forget.
But instead of trying to paint a new coat of colour on an old car, it is always better to simply maintain the freshness of the original paint instead. Prevention is much easier and less costly than repair.
The medical industry has just recently begun to preach the importance of prevention instead of intervention but it is up to us to make this happen.
It is in our best interest to maintain what we were born with instead of trying to fix problems that we have created. Even though it is tough working and living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, we can’t forget that none of this is possible if we don’t have our health.
If we are sick or injured, taking care of children, building a career and doing all of the duties required to live life become more difficult and sometimes impossible.
The things we valued as having a higher priority than our own health now become irrelevant.
Everyone’s needs and requirements for living a healthy lifestyle will be different depending on where they are starting from and the life they wish to lead, but here are a few simple habits that everyone can start with.
By adopting these habits, they will help reverse some the damage done already and may help prevent future issues.
1. Drink at least 10 glasses of water every day.
2. Sleep eight hours every night.
3. Exercise at least 30 minutes every day. This could be as simple as going for a power walk.
4. Eat five small meals a day instead of two or three large ones.
5. Limit fried, processed and empty calorie foods or beverages.
6. Find healthy ways to manage stress. Some ideas that you can start with are: yoga, meditate, exercise, walk a dog, play with kids, volunteer, read, pick up a new hobby, be creative.
Instead of making these changes all at once, try adding just one habit every two weeks. At the end of three months you will have created a healthier lifestyle for yourself without having added extra stress.
Small steps makes for big changes.
