Today, I thought I'd talk about possibly one of the most difficult things anyone can do: getting healthy. Now I am no health professional, but I have went through the process of getting healthy. With a lot of trial and error, I picked up many tips and tricks that contribute enormously to getting fit. I'll start with a list of Do's and Don'ts. DO: Drink water all day everyday. Water is obviously very good for your body. It's vital for almost all functions. But a less commonly known plus from drinking water is that it keeps your hunger at bay. I actually stumbled upon this trick by accident. I was starting to try and get the "optimum" amount of water a day in, and after awhile, I realized I had begun to eat less.
DON'T: Drink any type of soda. Soda has numerous health effects that can inhibit getting in shape. Whether it is diet or regular is not important. Regular soda has an unreal amount of empty calories and diet soda has been shown to have negative neurological effects.
DO: Replace sugar with Stevia or Splenda. There are 18 calories in 1 tablespoon one sugar, while there are 0 in a tablespoon of Stevia. Why waste the calories? Now, if you are completely against sugar substitutes, you can replace sugar with honey when possible.
DON'T: Be too hard on yourself. This is what I struggled with more than anything. It's very difficult not to punish yourself when you falter, but don't. Punishing yourself will only make you less motivated and more self-loathing. If you mess up, just acknowledge the mistake and move on. Do not let one mistake throw off your whole process.
DO: Surround yourself with people that will support you. This can be hard, but it is extremely important. If you are anything like me, one unsupportive friend can cause you to question yourself. If one of your close friends starts to get discouraging, tell them that you need positive friends to be successful. If they are a true friend, they will completely understand.
DON'T: Be consumed by it. Too much focus on health can lead to dangerous eating conditions. Many people cause their-selves to become seriously sick due to too many calorie intake cuts.
By this point, I think it's important that you hear my story about getting healthy. I think many of you can relate, and maybe it will help. I have always been the chunky kid. Not necessarily huge but always larger than "normal." One of the factors that worked against me was I didn't have anyone to teach me about getting healthy (keep in mind this all happened at the beginning of High School). I always wanted to lose weight and be healthy, but how can you do that when you have no idea of how to do it? Well, one day my aunt, a huge health nut, was visiting, and she started talking about health. Calories, grams of sugar, fat... I was shocked by the complexity of it all. Actually, the complexity almost turned me away from healthy eating completely, as it does many people. But I committed and soaked in as much information as I could. I cut soda from my diet, started eating less junk food... the works. For my birthday, I got an exercise bike which helped me exponentially. Slowly, I began to see results. I was so motivated by the results that I went into hyper-drive. Daily, I exercised at least an hour and a half. This focus on health was great... until it morphed into something dark and consuming. Healthy eating turned into not eating. I was so fixated on unreachable goals that I didn't realize how much I was depriving myself. Luckily, this dark phase got under control before I got seriously ill, and I got truly healthy. Although, I still struggle to keep it under control to this day.
So I'm sure you weren't expecting this post to take such a serious/personal turn, but I feel like it was very important. Heath is more than being skinny or having a six pack. It's about making your body work better. That's all. If you want to be healthy and fit, follow the Do's and Don'ts I gave above, eat natural, unprocessed foods, and exercise regularly(by regularly, I mean around 30 minutes of cardio a day with weight training mixed in). It is truly that simple. You WILL see results if you follow those steps, and, best of all, you'll be getting the results the right way!
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