At the beginning of the year I made a pact to bring more purpose and intention to the blog. Living a healthy lifestyle is important to me, but not easy.
Camel Duster | Leopard Booties | Gucci T-Shirt (for size XS/S and fitted) | Gucci T-Shirt | Black Denim | Fringe Bag- Jennifer Haley
Let me preface this post by saying I don’t always live a perfectly healthy lifestyle. I fall off the wagon and struggle. However, recently I’ve been more successful with it and it’s all about a mindset change. It’s important to me to implement this healthy lifestyle to our children so that they don’t develop bad habits. Also, I’ve noticed my productivity, mood, energy, and overall demeanor is just better off when I’m ON the wagon.
With that being said… here are 5 tips to Star living your best life. NOW!
1. Start Now, Start Small
Start today. Don’t wait until the New Year. Don’t wait until the weekend is over. Don’t wait until after a trip. Just pick a small change you want to make, and start NOW. You could start with something as simple as cutting out soda completely, taking a multivitamin everyday, going for a daily walk or jog. Whatever it is, once you implement a healthy habit into your life you see the effects that is has on you. Once you see those effects, you want to incorporate more!
2. Practice Makes Perfect
It is unrealistic to think that you will be great at any given change right away. “Diets” are fads. They don’t work. If you want to truly change your lifestyle that involves forming habits. On average, it takes a little over two months before a behavior becomes automatic. Be kind to yourself and allow room for mistakes and growth. Nothing worth having is easy. It is not easy the change to living a healthy lifestyle. Practice those habits until they become second nature.
3. Find Your Balance
It is unrealistic to think that you will stay on the straight and narrow all the time. Balance is the key. (As is life…right?!) Everything in moderation, including moderation. I’ve chosen a couple things that are pretty much hard “no’s.” Soda, for example. Then there are things that I really enjoy and do not want to deprive myself of, pasta for instance. On Sunday’s we like to cook a “feel good, comfort meal.” Finding whatever balance works for you. Decide on some things that you will essentially complete cut out, what you will limit, and what you can’t give up.
4. Enlist the Help of a Partner/Motivator
Everything is more fun with a friend. Self control is not an easier thing, but it sure is easier when the people closest to you are there for moral support. For me, it’s next to impossible to eat healthy and exercise when my husband is on the junk food wagon. Right now we have committed to living this healthy lifestyle together and it’s made it a million times easier for me. If you have that friend that you can text to talk you off the chocolate ledge, reach out. Enlist their help to motivate and keep you on track. It also helps for you to be that person for someone else. Simply hearing yourself speak to them is also reinforcing those thoughts to yourself. You are what you think. Your thoughts become your actions. When you tell yourself you can do it, you’ve won the battle.
5. Plan Ahead
When I sat down and really evaluated why I was struggling with eating unhealthy and not sticking with a exercise routine it all boiled down to planning. With two babies under two, my days are hectic. Most of the time I just didn’t have the time to go to the grocery store so I would get the easiest delivery at the final hour when I was so hungry my stomach felt like it was eating itself. With just the littlest bit of time management and planning life has been SO much easier. Sundays are a great day for me to sit down and find some recipes to try and plan out what I need to get from the grocery store. If you can meal prep for days that you know will be hectic, even better. Making planning out your week a priority keeps you going down that healthy lifestyle path!
And of course.. outfit details. Tip: if you wear a size XS/Small you can get a boys size 10 or 12 and save TONS on designer finds. ThisGucci T-Shirt has quickly become a closet staple for me and I was able to save several hundred compared to the women’s version. (It’s the size 10 for reference, it’s snug and fits as a fitted shirt would.) I LIVE in this Duster. It runs a bit oversized so I sized down. It truly feels as if I’m wearing a robe, and makes the simplest outfit a little more chic. These leopard booties are my new favorites! You can totally treat leopard as a neutral. The block heel makes them super comfortable which is key for me these days….
P.S. Read more on saving on key designer pieces HERE.
P.P.S. Iced coffee with some almond milk or coconut milk is a great healthy alternative!