Leveling Up Your Healthy Lifestyle
Being the type of person who takes an all or nothing approach to things has its benefits. When they make a decision, they typically have a higher resolve. The downside to this type of person is when they are not all in, they typically do absolutely nothing, or the opposite of the productive choice. This can make breaking bad habits harder. It would be nice to know we need to make healthier choices, and with a snap of a finger we clear out the processed and junk foods in the pantry and fridge. We start working out 6 days a week. We take our vitamins and drink the recommended amount of water every day. We cook all our meals at home. Replace all our personal care products with natural options. Then we jump into bed long before we are exhausted and get our 8-10 hours of sleep.
This would be a great daily routine. However, when we are ready to start making the healthier choice, we want to look at it as a lifetime commitment. The reason we don’t want to jump hard core into every category immediately, is it’s not sustainable. Whether you are at the beginning of this journey and you’ve never cared to look at a food or product label, or you’re on the other end of the spectrum and you make everything from scratch, there is always a next step to take. Once you figure out the most pressing change you need to make in your life, you can break it into different levels.
For example, let’s use “Eating Healthier.”
Level 1- Reduce eating out to 2 meals a week and create a menu to follow for the remaining at home meals.
Level 2- Eat all your meals at home with 50% of them being from scratch.
Level 3- Eat 100% of the meals at home all made from scratch.
Level 4- Start reducing canned/processed items (cooking up your own beans and rice, using frozen or fresh veggies, etc.)
Level 5- Stop using foods with sugar, food coloring, corn syrup, preservatives, ingredients you can’t pronounce, and lab made ingredients.
Level 6- Use only organic and non-GMO ingredients.
Level 7- Bake your own breads, make your own jams, dressings, condiments, broths, etc.
This process of creating levels can be done with anything new you want to start in life. Because we are all at different places in life, one person’s level 2 is going to be very different from another person’s. The idea is to start small and create wins at every level. We are creating a new normal. Slow and steady is worth the pace because we are creating new healthy choices and habits for a lifetime.
In our example of healthy eating we may be at a level 3, and then start a separate level series for another health category. This kind of system allows us to see where we were, and where we are going, in clear written out steps. Take some time to jot down some of your health categories, then separate them into levels. Now you have a map to success that is attainable and sustainable. Nothing of true value is going to be easy, but it is always worth it. Worth the effort, the consistency, and the sacrifice. You are worth the investment in yourself. We get one life and one body. Lets create the best version we can.