Starting your health journey

You want to be healthy and fit but don't know where or how to start this journey.

Welcome to Beyond Healthful blog posts. This is only the beginning!

Is it magic?

Everyone is different.

We all come from different upbringings where some people find it easy to be motivated to work hard at their job or on projects at home. Others it might not come as easy to go to a 40(+) hour work week and come home to more work. The same goes for our health. We are not born from the same cloth; what motivates one person to eat healthy or exercise does not motivate the next. Is it magic? No. It takes someone deciding what is important in their life and what they need to do to better themselves and their health.

Starting

I hear from many fitness and nutrition clients that they don't know where to start, they don't have time to #workout, they don't like to sweat, they need help with ideas for #snacks or dinner, they get bored with eating #healthy - they feel like they are eating the same thing day in and day out.

My best advice when you are ready to make the change to a #healthier #lifestyle - keep it simple. Start by choosing a start date. Start by making a grocery list. Start with one meal (breakfast is my favorite). Once you have consistently mastered one thing, add the next challenge.

Some people say it's all about the food, some people say it's all about the exercise. The truth is, it's both. You must eat good foods if you want to feel better, if you want to reduce the burden of chronic disease in your future, you must exercise to accomplish these things as well. Heart health is a combination of both eating well and exercising regularly. Does this mean you can't treat yourself every now and then? No. Does it mean you can't take a rest day? No. But you have to find the motivation to get started. Your health can be affected by several outside factors - what you're eating and how much you are exercising is only part of your total health. What kind of toxins are you around daily, how much sleep are you getting, what is your stress level, the list goes on and on.

Health

Find your reason...

How can you start a health journey if you don't have a definition of what health looks like for you? Get a pen and piece of paper. Jot down words that come to mind when you think of health or what that might feel like to you if you had total health. Write down who or what you would want to be at your peak of #health for. Find your reason why you want to be the healthiest version of yourself and more than likely your #motivation will follow. When you can see who or what might be affected in your life by making lifestyle changes, you will start to see the beginning point in your health journey.

Get Inspired

When it comes to health and wellness sometimes it is not always a clear picture. What works for someone to be healthy might not fit into your schedule or season in life. There's nothing wrong with that. The most important thing is finding the motivation to kick start your journey. Once you begin eating better and #exercising, learning about what is best for you will come. If you try one thing and get a red flag feeling don't let it stop you from pushing forward towards your #goals. It is your chance to show yourself that you can overcome barriers that get in your way.