Smart Living Rule 10 – Make Healthy Living a Priority
How can you fully enjoy life if you don’t feel good?
It is imperative that we make small sacrifices along the way to protect our health. I do not want poor decisions now to rob me of the full life I’ve worked so hard to earn. However, I think this is happening to millions of people today.
Good health is essential to living life to its fullest. Fortunately, it really doesn’t take that much effort to stay healthy. Healthy living is an investment that has a hundred-fold return and is certainly a part of smart living!
Our healthy living choices: The facts are NOT good
As a nation, we in the United States are not making good health choices. To illustrate this, I have collected some facts that are fairly disturbing.
- 64% of adults are overweight or obese. Doctors have found that being overweight increases your chances for heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. These are some of the leading causes of death in America.
- Less than 50% of us meet the exercise guidelines for healthy adults. However, just 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise can significantly improve your mental well-being, lower your stress and reduce the risk for many diseases.
- 20% or about 45 million adult Americans still smoke cigarettes. One in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age. In addition, 38,000 people in the U.S. die each year from secondhand smoke.
This paints a fairly grim picture of what our future holds if we continue our bad habits.
I for one do not want to end up being one of these statistics. I do not want poor health to rob me of all the great living I have left to do!
Why don’t we make healthy living more of a priority?
I wish I could say that I do everything in my power to live a healthy lifestyle, but I do not. My biggest weakness is in what I eat. My diet contains too much saturated fat and not enough fresh fruits and vegetables.
I’m not overweight, but my cholesterol has been borderline for several years now. High cholesterol is a contributor to coronary heart disease.
Also, I wish I could claim credit for controlling my weight, but I think I’m just genetically lucky in that regard. My dad and his family are all pretty thin and I believe I inherited this trait.
Why don’t we make healthy living more of a priority?
Well, I’m not sure that I can speak for everyone, but in my experience there are three factors that generally work against me. Here they are:
- It takes effort – It takes effort to change habits. For many of us, our habits are poor and we know it, but we fail to exert the effort to correct our path. Changing a habit is like changing the direction of a river. It isn’t easy.
- It takes time – We all feel pressed for time. Often since poor health choices aren’t urgent, in that they don’t have an immediate impact, we ignore them. We don’t take the time to learn and execute better choices.
- It takes sacrifice – You’ve got to give up some things in order to start living healthier. It might be the pleasure you derive from eating or smoking. Or it might be you have to give up time in front of the T.V. to exercise. Whatever the situation, you have to choose against one thing to move on to something better.
I’ve written before about how long-term thinking is our greatest tool for success. We really have to embrace this in the area of healthier living.
In my mind eating right, exercising and stopping other bad health habits is like investing for retirement. The little things you do now will add up to big wins later!
Assignment: Start making healthy living a priority
As I said earlier, we are fortunate because healthy living is not all that hard. Here are some steps to help you get started:
- Educate yourself on healthier living – Forget about fad diets and high-dollar exercise equipment! These rarely produce the desired results. Learn some simple strategies to make incremental improvements in your health. Here’s some great info to get you started:
Eat Healthier: The Eight Best Foods To Eat Everyday
4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit
How to Quit Smoking Cigarettes & Stop Smoking For GoodI don’t want to overwhelm you so I’ll stop with just these three focused articles. However, for more info try my Super-Charged blog search to locate more great articles on the topic of your interest.
- Find a partner – I wholeheartedly embrace the idea of finding an accountability partner to help you achieve success with any goal. Why do you think most gyms encourage people to have a workout partner? We are much more likely to follow through when we know someone else is counting on us. Identify someone that will help you stay committed to your new healthy living priorities!
- Start, but start small – Don’t over commit yourself in the beginning. Set a small goal and achieve that. Often, when it comes to trying to be healthier, we bite off more than we can chew. This quickly leads to discouragement and disillusionment which leads to quitting. Remember, this is a long-term lifestyle change. Work yourself into it slowly, but persistently. Do a little better every week. Before you know it, people will be asking you how you did it so fast!
Healthy living is smart living!
Hopefully, I can take my own advice here and start eating healthier! Again, I don’t want to end up in a position later in life where I can’t enjoy things like my retirement savings, my grown children and my grandchildren!
Small changes today could mean a big difference tomorrow in how much I get to enjoy all my smart living!
Follow this link to discover all the rules for Smart Living.
Photo by 1Happysnapper
Interesting article on healthy living. I just wanted to let you know that Dole Foods has started a Facebook page and Twitter feed where we share a lot of easy, healthy recipes. If you’re interested you should join! There is also an awesome contest going on where you can win a trip to the Four Seasons in California!
To check it out: http://bit.ly/35ebFi
or
Twitter: http://bit.ly/15XFaJ
Hope you like it!
Hey there. Thanks for this.
I agree with your tips.
America is getting worse and worse when it comes to proper health. We need to educate ourselves on healthy living before media and marketing of junk foods take over the nation and puts us into further danger.
Tristan Lee´s last blog ..Important Reasons Why You Should Cut Your Time
I appreciate this article because healthy living is something that my family has to start doing effectively. My daughter has cystic fibrosis, which requires a different way of life for my daughter. But the reality is, I need to get on board with a new healthy lifestyle so that I can be there for her at all stages of her life. I’m significantly overweight and I don’t eat right. That’s not how to do things. Thank you for your times, and we’ll see if this works!
Dan´s last blog ..A War to Wage
The work out partner is a great idea ONLY after you have committed to doing it for you and it doing alone and your potential partner believes the same. If your partner pulls a calf muscle or gets shin splints. Your program must continue. It is very easy to stay in bed or go straight home if your partner can’t make it. Your commitment to your plan must always come first.
Thank you for a great article. I agree 100% with your assessment. I ended up motivating myself to get back to a healthier lifestyle when I wrote a blog post to tell others how fitness contributes to a “healthier” marriage. It is a constant struggle to stick with the exercise routine, even though I know in my head how important it is!
Dustin | EngagedMarriage.com´s last blog ..Weekly Round-Up of Interesting Reads #4
This is one of the most comprehensive article on healthy living. Thanks for your valuable efforts.