The Ups and Downs of a Healthy Lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle can be a roller coaster
First of all, what IS healthy living? What is a healthy lifestyle?
From the World Health Organization: Healthy living : what is a healthy lifestyle?
A healthy lifestyle is a way of living that lowers the risk of being seriously ill or dying early. Not all diseases are preventable, but a large proportion of deaths, particularly those from coronary heart disease and lung cancer, can be avoided. Scientific studies have identified certain types of behaviour that contribute to the development of noncommunicable diseases and early death. Health is not only just about avoiding disease. It is also about physical, mental and social well-being. When a healthy lifestyle is adopted, a more positive role model is provided to other people in the family, particularly children.
Simply put, a healthy lifestyle is overall health and wellness. It applies to our whole person, not just our physical body.
I think that many people get confused and believe a healthy lifestyle is about becoming physically fit, so they put all their efforts into doing better at eating and exercising.
Those are key components but it also includes mental health, relationships, and I’m going to add, our spiritual health as well.
And when you put all of those things together, living a healthy lifestyle is about being on the ride of life.
Some areas click at some times and others at another time.
A healthy lifestyle is found when we choose to live our best life each and every day. And our best on some days is better than our best on other days.
We can’t get it all right every single day.
Some days we may miss a workout or eat until we’re stuffed.
Other days we’ll struggle in a relationship or rush through our quiet time just to say we had one.
Still there are days when we have a great workout and we eat fresh food all day long. Maybe we have date night with the husband, and God reveals a truth to us that we’ve never seen before.
There are so many moving parts to a healthy living. We have to understand and appreciate this so that we can manage the ups and downs.
In my opinion, a healthy life must be built on a foundation of faith. That is the firm foundation that will help us adjust to the ups and downs of life.
In fact, the only constant in our lives is our faith. We can count on the love of Jesus and His presence in our lives everyday. Beyond that, life happens.
We have good days and bad days.
Circumstances change around us, but He never changes.
A healthy lifestyle consists of ups and downs and that's okay. #healthyliving #faithandfitness Click To Tweet
Let me simplify the ups and downs of healthy living…..
Ups
Those days you have a great workout.
The meals that are made up of lean meats and veggies.
Mornings when you jump out of bed without hitting snooze and maintain that energy all day.
The nights you get to bed on time and sleep peacefully for 7-8 hours.
Downs
The day I let my snacking get the best of me and I devour half a bag of trail mix.
When I look to sugar to fuel me instead of fresh fruits and veggies because it’s just easier to grab the chocolate.
The mornings that we hit snooze one too many times and now we not only miss the workout, we’re running late for work.
The days that everything and everybody is more important than my quiet time with Jesus.
But the ups also include a nice dinner out with a special person, dessert and all, followed by an evening stroll.
Because healthy living isn’t just about eating “right” and exercising “right”.
On the flip side, exercising everyday and only eating chicken and salad can be a down if we get so consumed with what we think is healthy living.
This happens when we let social media dictate how we eat and exercise so we look good in the sight of others. It also happens as we begin to compare or try to live the “healthy life” she is living. Then our healthy living isn’t so much on the up and up.
You see, a healthy lifestyle is an ever-changing lifestyle.
It’s called living. And eating and exercising is just one part of the overall healthy life.
Just like there is no “good” or “bad” when it comes to food nor a “right” or “wrong” way to exercise, so really what is an up or a down?
Healthy living is committing to live your best life each and every day. Each day comes with it’s own set of circumstances. When we learn to adjust and adapt and stand steady on our firm foundation of faith, then we are living a healthy life.
#healthyliving isn't about eating right and exercising right. It's about living life and honoring your current situation Click To TweetIf you’d like help managing the ups and downs of healthy living, check out my free resources.
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