If your life is anything like mine then there are two big things that often feel like a barrier between you and a healthy lifestyle; time and food environment. It’s hard to fit in everything you have to do let alone things you would like to do, and when you do try and eat healthy you are challenged by a society of abundance, dare I say gluttony, and convenient options that do us more harm than good, but there is hope. I recently watched an interesting TED Talk, where the speaker presented a study of a handful of groups around the world who consistently live to over 100 years old, having had healthy, full, lives. From the study, he and his team of researchers found lifestyle habits/factors that were common to all the groups; and it’s not hard to achieve. The common factors included:
- Moving naturally.
- Having downtime.
- Having a sense of purpose.
- A mostly plant based diet.
- Not overeating.
- Social connectedness.
And there was something else they all had in common; seclusion from modern society. So how do we apply these things to our fast paced, ‘modern’ world if we aren’t interested in living ‘off the grid’, per say? Here are some easy tips to help you:
Moving naturally.
Going to the gym is great for you and an excellent past time, if you enjoy it that is. But what this study showed is that it’s not about sitting at a desk all day and tv at night and going for an hour of intense exercise, its’s about walking instead of driving, yard work, house maintenance…basically moving around naturally throughout the day.
TIP: Stand at your desk, take the stairs, don’t email someone at work when you can just go talk to them. On your lunch, walk, use an app and do 15 min yoga or go shopping. Just move naturally. If you watch 3 hours of TV a night, get it down to 2 hours and get that laundry done and tidy up around the house.
Having downtime.
This was the hardest part of going back to work after my maternity leave in 2014. I was able to get up in the morning, do some yoga, drink a coffee, play with my son and go out to do some mid-morning errands at a nice pace. Now I rush out the door, rush around to get things done on my lunch break, rush to get my son from daycare, rush to make dinner…in the end I am lucky to have an hour of time to myself. But the point is I get the time to myself, and I need it, and so do you. And I am focusing on freeing up more time, and so should you.
TIP: We all have obligations, but there a few things we can do to help with everything we ‘have’ to do, like getting your groceries delivered or hiring a house cleaner, and don’t over commit yourself. Have a hard look at what is serving you for your highest and greatest good and cut the rest. Lastly, use aromatherapy to help slow your mind and relax to stay present; meditate using my favorite, Om diffuser blend from Saje, or roll on Yoga perfume and get whiffs of the grounding blend all day long.
Having a sense of purpose.
Steven Covey, a leader and motivational speaker, did a presentation on a study done about what motivates us called ‘7 habits of highly effective people’, and our motivation comes down to three things; Mastery (being experts), autonomy (having freedom) and purpose. We all have this innate drive to do something that means something, and according to the research done on living the healthiest lifestyle we can, we need to follow that instinct.
TIP: Don’t kill yourself over this one. Let your purpose grow and manifest itself. Meditate and ask the universe for guidance and be patience and listen. Don’t over analyze it, just trust it, stay present and don’t let fear get in your way of taking action. Above all, if it feels good, trust it.
A plant based diet.
Don’t panic, this doesn’t mean no meat, it just means less meat. Meat takes a lot of resources to digest and animal fats have long term effects on our bodies.
TIP: Start with a minimum of two vegetarian meals and one fish per week.
Not overeating.
Our body chemistry can be easily altered by the large amounts of sugars in our diet and the chemicals in our food. The result is that we get cravings. Pair that we our current food environment that values cheap and easy over quality and it can be challenging to say the least. I recently watched another TED Talk where a neuro scientist presented her work on our bodies’ set point. She indicated that our bodies have a point, or a weight, that it naturally wants to stay at, and as a result there is little we can do to fight it long term (note, a set point can go up if you stay heavy for too long, but it doesn’t go down). Her suggestion was to eat mindfully and stop fighting your bodies’ set point; just be healthy.
TIP: Convince yourself to break the sugar/junk/processed/fast food habit. Talk to yourself about it constantly. Really listen to your body and how full you feel, and eat slowly. After two weeks I promise it will just get easier, and the overabundance will no longer appeal to you and it will stop being your focus (okay, except for maybe at Christmas).
Social connectedness.
This one is all about the right tribe for you. The study showed that trust was essential to healthy social connections of these societies. This and many other studies have shown that we also tend to share healthy (or not), habits with those who are part of our tribe.
TIP: Talk to your friends and family about your desire to change and see if they are willing to do it with you. Otherwise, join a group who are like minded. In the New Year I am joining a women’s meditation group for this exact reason and I couldn’t be happier to have found it. I also go to spiritual meet ups to learn with others with the same interests and it truly makes me feel connected. Above all, if it’s not based on love and trust, leave the relationship and take with you the lessons.
Once again good luck on your journey, I am right there with you. Remember, “Magic is nature unimpeded.” (Jane Roberts).