Being “healthy” can mean many things for different people, but ultimately, being healthy means investing in yourself1. Once you’ve taken a step back and reflected on what parts of your life you want to change, there are usually three main areas that you will want to focus on for your healthy lifestyle: diet, self-care, and exercise.
Healthy eating and maintaining diets:
Having a balanced diet is one of the most basic elements of a healthy lifestyle. When you’re setting the goals that you want to achieve with regards to healthy eating, you need to spend some time planning. This means assessing your current diet, and setting flexible and achievable goals that won’t leave you feeling burnt out or lacking the energy to tackle everyday tasks. Research suggests that to have a balanced meal, about half of your plate should consist of vegetables, one quarter of your plate should be whole grains such as rice, quinoa, or whole wheat pasta, and the last quarter should be proteins such as fish, chicken, or beans. Other ways you can improve your diet is by cutting your sugar intake by limiting the number of sugary foods or drinks that you consume.
It’s very easy to think that having a ‘balanced’ diet means ‘strict’ diet, but the truth is, the best lifestyles are those that focus on moderation rather than restriction!
Self-care isn’t selfish:
In our current landscape of work, it can be difficult to step back and carve out time for yourself. But taking time out of your day for self-care is necessary for creating a healthy lifestyle. It gives you time to alleviate your stress by doing things that bring you contentment.
Self-care looks different for every individual. For some, it will be spending an hour out of the day to take a walk or read a chapter of your favourite book before bed. For others it can be treating yourself after a long week; this can be by indulging on new grooming kits, electric shavers, cologne, whatever you like.
In fact, research shows that men are now spending more time on grooming as a form of self-care1. There is a growing interest in maintaining good skincare, and part of this is done by investing in grooming products, such as skin care itemslike moisturises or high-quality electric shavers and shaving foam/gel.
But regardless, whatever your preferred form of self-care is, giving it a priority in your life is important for a healthy lifestyle.
Finding the right workout for you:
Not everyone enjoys going to the gym or going on a run, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on exercise altogether. Instead, you need to take some time to find out what form of exercise works best for you. This can be anything from going on a thirty-minute walk every day to swimming in the mornings. And if you’re finding it hard to incorporate exercise into your existing routine, you could swap some or all of your transport commute to cycling or walking, or actively choose to take the stairs instead of the elevator. As long as you’re increasing your mobility, you’re exercising!
For those of you who are already working out, either at home or at the gym, but aren’t seeing the results you wanted, there are a range of factors that could be influencing your routine. Things like a bad sleep schedule or avoiding meals for the sake a ‘strict’ diet.2 Identifying where you’re going wrong in your exercise routine will help you make the changes you need to get back on track.
Now, as you’ve probably learned from the points above, a healthy lifestyle should be flexible, and will be different for every single one of you. But to start off, focus on these three areas and see how your life changes!
Images by
Anastase Maragos
Edgar Chaparro
Gordon Cowie
Austin Wilcox
Alora Griffiths
