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Attempting to live a healthier lifestyle is certainly not without its challenges.
Many of us struggle to find the time to exercise, are overwhelmed by all the different diet information that seems to circulate within the media, and generally, find it hard to make significant physical changes (even if we might want to). But what a lot of people forget is that being healthy is just as much linked to your mind as it is to your body. Willpower, motivation, determination – these are all emotions that are started in the mind and with a little bit of nurturing, they can become our best friends in the battle against ill health. When your mind is feeling healthy and thinking positive thoughts, you will immediately experience a knock-on effect to your physical health too. Here are some of the ways you can teach your mind to guide you along the journey to a new, fit and healthy you.
Meditate
In order to commit to a regime of healthy eating and exercise, we have to make sure that we are focused. A lack of concentration is what causes most of us to drop off the wagon, and end up right back where we started. When the mind is wandering or is susceptible to wandering, we can find ourselves getting distracted. This can be from an advert we see in the street for fast food, or when we decide to binge-watch yet another season on Netflix instead of going to the gym. Much of this behavior lies in fundamental human nature – we want instant gratification with minimal effort. But being more focused with your mind can help to put things into perspective, and can help you achieve long-term goals. Taking up meditation is one way to help you to do this, as it has been proven to help focus the mind and quieten any unnecessary ‘traffic’ (thoughts).
Open your mind
If you are a naturally a close-minded person, this may already be one of the reasons why you are not currently where you want to be regarding fitness. You may have been taught that certain things are good/bad for you for years at the word of someone else, but it is critical that you find these things out for yourself. For example, if you are a smoker, you may have just accepted that it is an unhealthy habit and there is nothing you can do about it. But, if you look at vaping 101, you could open yourself up to a new, healthier lifestyle choice.
Don’t beat yourself up
It is always helpful to have a little bit of an incentive to get fit and healthy. Maybe you had a health scare, or maybe you got snapped in a photo looking more overweight than you thought you were. It is useful to keep these thoughts in the back of your mind as motivation if you will, but don’t beat yourself up about anything! Instead, praise yourself when you make conscious efforts to change your ways, and if you do have a bad day, remind yourself that you are only human. Having a positive self-narrative in your mind will make your fitness goals much easier to accomplish.