7 Changes to Live a Healthier Lifestyle

What is wellness?

What exactly is wellness? Many people have a different definition, but overall it’s adopting a healthy lifestyle.  Wellness is the absence of disease and feeling and enjoying your life. There are many components: your Spiritual, Physical, Mental, and emotional well-being.

What affects a healthy lifestyle?

Your health affects everything in your life. It changes how you feel, think, move, and engage with others. Could you imagine having a common cold every day? Or worse, in my thoughts being in pain every moment of every day? That is what some people go through daily. Some things even worse. When you are sick, you realize that your health affects everything.

I genuinely believe that the enemy is attacking our bodies which is affecting our lives. What people call poor choices I am calling bad habits because despite what we know, we still choose the things that are bad for us merely out of comfort and enjoyment.  So many diseases are rising and not subsiding or going away.

Why is wellness essential?

Heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, and mental health-related illnesses are all rising.  There are many studies on the correlation between our overall lifestyle and physical health, including the psychological stresses of a fast-paced, busy life, poor food quality and choices, lack of exercise, and no social AND spiritual connection.  

Three years ago, I was a part of these statistics on the mental health of depression and high anxiety, and obesity. I have to say every piece of my Wellness Puzzle (Spiritual, Physical, Mental, Rest, Relationships, and Emotional) was off, and it wasn’t until I submitted spiritually did I begin to see a physical result in my life and health.  

Seven changes I made to live a Healthier Life

1. Pray-

If you haven’t been following me, that is a given.  There are studies of the connection between physical and spiritual health. 

“The healthier the spirit and the greater its influence over the physical body — the greater its ability to correct or overcome physical shortcomings.” (From a letter of the Rebbe, dated the 2nd day of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, 5715)

Prayer is a way to talk to God and have a relationship. That’s how I began my fitness journey through daily prayer and how I helped others start theirs through my online program. I use it to this day during before, after, and during workouts and have a much stronger prayer life.  I genuinely believe it helped me have an inner power more significant than my own. Through prayer, I have changed my poor habits into ones that I can live with every day and truly love. It’s an excellent foundation for my healthy lifestyle change.

2. Change bad habits to good-

Something that I have discovered along this journey. When I was overindulgent, stressed, poorly nourished, sedentary, sleep deprived, and with no self-accountability. It was acceptable. It was okay when I started going to bed early, rising early, eating well, exercising regularly, and boldly professing my faith. That’s when I got backlash. “Why are you working out so much?” “You should have cheat days more!”   It’s as if poor choices and bad habits are condoned because “everyone” else is doing it, taking the easy way out. I am creating this reactive culture that we live. Our society is fixated on reacting to poor choices, Whether it’s through pharmaceutical medicines or surgeries. Living a healthy lifestyle meant replacing my bad habits with old ones. Trying to be preventative through education, self-awareness, and prevention.  

3. Getting Emotions Checks

How we feel emotionally can affect our body; it will react with inflammation, pain, disease, and illnesses.  Negative feelings and emotions can directly be correlated to poor health. Addressing your feelings can help you on your path to healing your body and living a healthy lifestyle.  There are many programs, Doctors, and specialist that you can find in your area to address your emotional wellness. Making sure I was emotionally healthy through counsel, spiritual devotion and prayer released me from self-imposed barriers affecting my health.  It’s a necessary change to make to live a healthier lifestyle.

4. Educate Yourself on Alternative Ideas

Many ideas are contradictory to how our culture’s beliefs.  Sometimes you have to walk a different path than the masses. There are so much research and successful studies on homeopathic therapies and remedies.  Many have existed since Biblical days but never gained popularity over the years. My family has been transitioning to living and healing from what God has given us. Whether it be homeopathic pain relief like Arnica, which you know I love, essential oils I recently have been educating myself about, or natural plant-based detox. God gave us all we need to live and heal. Our bodies are amazingly able to recover naturally.  Changing how you use synthetic medicines can help with a healthy lifestyle.

5. Change How you Spend your time

We are so busy being busy! Our social connection and personal time to relax and restore are often affected. Television has mostly been eliminated from my schedule. I typically watch T.V. when I am folding lots of laundry or doing long bouts of cardio which is not often.  Replacing the hour television show, I used to watch it for an hour at the gym. It’s helped me be well and care for my body physically. Finding time for essential things to my health was a change I needed to make for a healthy lifestyle.

I also believe you need to take time to connect with friends and family daily.  Life is not meant to be a blur, and people aren’t expected to be extras on your tv show.  Like you, they enjoy connecting with others, and those you love can help your health.  People who are alone and isolated live shorter lives than those who are engaged with others. We were meant for a community, but in our viral culture, we are beginning to find our community on online sources, isolating and keeping us from real-world connections.  Unplug, touch, hug, and engage with people in real life.

As an adult, it is hard to make friends, but easy to find those with a common interest.  Do the things you love, and you will find others in a community or just the people right next to you in your own house on the phone.  Life is too short and too meaningful to be stuck behind a screen.

6. Eat Right

Another, “Duh De,” but for real! Cut out the Carbonated, Refined Sugar, Artificial Colors and Flavors, and Processed (C.R.A.P.) stuff that resembles food in your life and start to eat Fruits and Vegetables, Organic or Natural Meat, Omega 3 and good fats; drink more water (F.O.O.D.).

No diet is required to live a healthy lifestyle. The things that you put in your mouth almost instantly affect your health. There is no doubt and question in my mind. Is it easy not to eat C.R.A.P.?

NO!

But once you make it a new habit, it’s just that second nature. It only takes consistent effort and exploring different things to find what you love.  Your perspective can determine, and the energy you put into changing your life will reveal your results. What you put in your will get out two-fold. Eating right is a necessary change to a healthy lifestyle.

7. Move More

Everyone wants to try a diet and stay still, but that will not cut it to change your life. I put this last because it’s not the most important, but essential. We were made to move. That is how God created us, and we are sitting our way into an early grave. Should you be driving every day?

YES!

The C.D.C. only recommends 150 minutes per week, but honestly, the more you move, the longer you live and the healthier you live. So, I recommend 150 minutes per week, but I encourage you to find something you love to do and do it every day for as long as you like. It might add up to over 150 minutes without you even knowing it!  

Get Educated

There are other tools that I would recommend for a healthier lifestyle: massage therapy, self-care, and positive self-talk.

Ultimately, it begins with education, which my Great Grandfather instilled in me to always try to learn something new every day. I want to give you tools to take with you into the New Year! Join me for “Table Talk”  Mon-Thursday at 12:15p E.T. on Facebook & YouTube LIVE. Each day I will share tips to help you stop living on a diet and live well. Grab your lunch or breakfast if you’re on the West Coast, and join me.

Did you find any changes helpful? Do you think you’re ready to change? What steps are you taking to achieve wellness?