Healthy Heart Tips

Last night I was listening to a podcast and the topic strayed from a TV news recap into health and wellness habits. The host of the podcast was talking about how he wishes he were healthier and struggles with finding the time and energy to cook and head to the gym periodically – and for those reasons, he doesn’t feel it’s worth it to do anything at all. If it weren’t nighttime I would have ran to the nearest post office and overnighted a copy of “The Small Change Solution” to him! I felt so bad listening to him talk like that, and it got me thinking about all of the misconceptions that come with living a healthy lifestyle.

You can do it, even if you’re busy. Think of it this way: You have to eat, and you have to get from Point A to Point B. Regardless of how packed your schedule is. It’s about making the best decisions throughout your day. Instead of hitting the drive-thru for a breakfast sandwich, make it at home. Use a whole wheat English muffin, organic eggs, and avocado. Sounds yummy, right? It takes as much time to make as it does to drive to the fast food place, and it’s ten times healthier. Once you get used to making your own meals you can add in and swap out different healthy whole foods. Likewise, instead of driving down the street for your afternoon coffee, walk! See how easy it is to make healthy choices without adding to your schedule?

You can do it, even if you’re broke! First and foremost, a healthy lifestyle is born in the kitchen. You don’t need an expensive gym membership or fancy workout clothes. Have you heard about the “Squat Your Dog” challenge going around on social media right now? It’s genius (not to mention super cute!). Grab your pooch and do your squats! Even if you don’t have a furry friend at home, you get the idea. You don’t need special equipment to do pushups or go for a run. You can get five bananas for the price of any item on the dollar menu. Beans, grains, fruits and vegetables are less expensive than packaged, processed foods any day of the week – and they’re definitely cheaper than eating out. It’s actually more cost effect to be healthy than not!

Sometimes, you just have to power through. The toughest advice I ever had to give someone early in my days of health coaching was “you just have to”. I can give you all of the tips, tricks and recipes in my arsenal – and so can any other health coach or personal trainer – but in the end, it’s up to you to do the work. I’m here to cheer you on, but I can’t burn those calories for you! Sometimes you just have to suck it up on those days when you’re exhausted and JUST GO. Cook for yourself, hit the gym, whatever your block is, just overcome it. All I can really say is, you’ll feel so much better after it’s done.

Take it from me – I lost weight, cleared my skin, stabilized my mood swings and started living my full, happy, healthy life without making dramatic changes to my routine. You DON’T have to throw out everything in your kitchen, you DON’T have to go to the gym for an hour every day, you DON’T have to drink green juice for every meal. You CAN do this – once you stop listening to societal demands and trends, and start listening to your body.