Failing to acknowledge the importance of maintaining your physical health is a probably the biggest mistake you'll ever make in your life. Unfortunately it's a risk without an upside.
Maintaining a healthy, youthful and vibrant body makes every other aspect of life more fulfilling and enjoyable. Age is only a number. You can be healthy and active at any age (or unhealthy and inactive as the case may be!) so it's never to late to get into shape.
Here are eight major principles that can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle. If followed, they'll give you a great chance of creating and maintaining vibrant and abundant health for years to come.
1) Maintain Your Ideal Weight
This is a basic principle of health and fitness. Establish the weight and body fat % you would like to achieve. Create a plan for getting to your goal weight then stick to the plan, be consistent and never give up until you achieve your goal. Worrying about your weight and feeling self-conscious all the time takes up too much time and energy.
2) Fuel Yourself Properly
The food you eat is the energy that will fuel your body. Make sure it is of the highest quality. It's important to invest time learning about food. That's not to say you must become a gourmet chef, you just need to be sure that you are fuelling yourself for optimal performance. Practice a 90/10 principle. 90% of the time you'll be able to completely control the food you eat, making sure your food is always nutritious. 10% of the time you can relax a little; treating yourself for social engagements, travel or just because you want to. A good way to think about food is to compare your body to a brand new Ferrari... would you put crappy cheap oil in your new Ferrari? or would you fuel it on the best oil available to you? Remember, you can always buy another Ferrari, you'll only ever have one body.
3) Exercise
The benefits of exercise are endless. Not only does it release endorphins, raising your confidence and making you look and feel great; it also helps your body to avoid major health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer; and can even improve bone and joint strength. Consider engaging in a mixture of resistance training and cardio workouts. When you begin to see physical changes as a result of exercise you will notice a huge rise in your self-esteem.
4) Push Your Limits
This is in relation to exercise. Once in a while it's a great idea to find and push your physical limit. Where exercise is concerned it's pretty easy to fall into a comfort zone. Every 30 days or so push yourself... devise a new routine, aim for a new personal best time or just try to lift a heavier weight than you ever have before. Achieving more and pushing harder physically will keep you feeling young and vibrant as you open up your sphere of what you believe is possible. (Note: Make sure you have the proper guidance when pushing yourself to avoid injury.)
5) Avoid Obvious Health Risks
Why smoke cigarettes, drink too much alcohol or consume vast amounts of salt and sugar? Little needs to be said here other than these actions only serve to deteriorate your health. It makes no sense, don't do it!
6) Don't Accept Illness As Normality
Have you ever noticed how people who frequently talk about ailments and illness are often ill themselves? There is a subconscious level of acceptance to developing minor illnesses like cold and flu, do not accept them as an inevitability. Should you come in contact someone who is ill, don't let the thought of catching their illness enter your mind. Refuse illness psychologically, and you will repel it physically.
7) Monitor Your Emotions
Over time, negative emotions and a pessimistic outlook on life will take their toll, not only on your mental wellbeing, but also on your physical body. Monitor your emotions and adopt an internal locus of control. This will allow you to keep your body a positive place, free of negative energy and emotions that act as a magnet to illness and disease.
8) Take Adequate Rest
The drive to be successful in life often means a lot of hard work. Combined with the physical toll of pushing your body to perform, adequate rest is absolutely essential. Take time to unwind, take regular and complete breaks from work and ensure that you make time for regular holidays. Taking time off and allowing for a full recharge often vastly improves your performance and creativity. Make no mistake, if you neglect this necessity for too long, your body will force you to take a rest and it won't be pleasant.
Remember... nothing is more important than your health. Treat your body with respect, investing time to ensure that you are at your best, both physically and mentally. If you do this, you'll not only look and feel great but your body will be best prepared to cope with any events, illnesses or challenges life throws at it.
For more information, visit http://www.scottlaidler.com