For some reason, I had a black and white perception of health. Until about a couple of years ago, to me becoming healthy was either go big or go home. This was one of my biggest mistakes with my health. It caused me to think of it as something I have to do cold turkey, causing me to put it off. And when I did get around to it, I always fell back to my old unhealthy habits from finding it too difficult.

What worked for me was making gradual changes. Doing this made it easier for me to continue to incorporate and develop healthy habits into my lifestyle.

If you’re not sure where to start, I’ve written below 5 easy steps you can do today to kickstart or get back on track!

1. Get  7-9 hours of sleep

   Getting enough sleep is crucial to being healthy. I noticed that when I didn’t have enough sleep, I tend to eat more during the day. According to a paper in the Journal of Health Psychology, people that are sleep deprived tend to be more stressed, have increased appetite and less will power – the perfect formula to cause us to reach for junk food! Not only that, sleep deprivation causes weak immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight diseases.

2. Eat more fruits and veges

   You don’t have to swap all your meals with salads and fruits. What you can do to start with is to slowly incorporate them into your meals then work towards eating the recommended amount of at least 5 servings a day. According to a study lead by Imperial College London 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day is what is going to help avoid chronic diseases.  But you don’t need to do that now if you’re starting from just a few servings a day. Just try to work towards eating 5 servings, then gradually aim for 10.

3. Enjoy the outdoors

   I think the problem with the health and fitness industry is they make people think that you have to spend hours in the gym to be healthy. We are often overwhelmed by images of skinny and muscly models and influencers that we think we need to look like them to be healthy. The thing is, those people spend so much time and effort to look that way. We all need to keep in mind that health does not have to look a certain way. Everyone is different and it comes from within – what we eat and do. Half an hour of physical activity a day is enough to make us healthy, and a great way to do this is by spending time outdoors. What I love to do is to go hiking, trail running and rock climbing. If I’m not in for something too physical, I’d stroll around the nearby reserve / park.

4. Talk to someone

   To me, being healthy means having a good overall well being. This includes its physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects. Now, a lot of us these days tend to be busy and face problems that affect our mental and emotional health. I found that by simply telling someone my thoughts and problems, I am able to feel less stressed, and better mentally and emotionally. Sometimes talking to someone even allows me to dig into my spiritual well being through social connection. So give it a try – give mum a call, have coffee with a friend, chat with a workmate.

5. Do something good

   One of the things I learned at university that I found most interesting is the topic of Eudamonia – an ancient term for happiness and living well. This to me is the point of being healthy. I may be wrong, but we all work towards being healthy to be happy and live well, right? Greek philosophy proposes that in order to achieve Eudamonia, one must live virtuously. This means, living a life of good moral qualities, such as compassion, honesty and respect, as well as good personal qualities such as being thrifty, creative and optimistic. To start small just try to do something good today. For example, practice frugality by bringing lunch to work, or sustainability by learning composting or avoiding plastic bags.

Keep in mind that being healthy does not need to be perfect. Try your best to make better choices and continue to improve them, small (or big) step at a time.

Good luck!

B