Feed thy body and thy soul.

Having a healthy lifestyle is all about balance. I love this mantra because it encompasses the healthiest way to live your life and has two key messages. ‘Feed thy body’ refers to feeding yourself with healthy, nourishing and wholesome food that brings good health. Feeding thy soul refers to the ‘junk food’ that we all love. Although it should be consumed in small amounts, it often brings happiness and is important for the soul. Putting heavy restrictions on your diet or beating yourself up about indulging occasionally only leads to stress, which can result in an unhealthy relationship with food. These 6 lifestyle hacks tackle the mind and body qualms of getting healthy.

1.    Stop Demonizing Certain Foods

If you want that chocolate bar, have it, but remember to eat it in small amounts. Restricting yourself to the point where the food you love is all you can think about will only result in spontaneous binges.

2.    Stress Less

Don’t place too much emphasis on a restrictive diet plan, getting to the gym every day or falling off the wagon if you give into temptation. The whole idea of eating better is to make you a healthier and happier person. Stress is not healthy and may negate your healthy eating efforts. Different days can present different situations so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t do great at times. Try your best with each day’s challenges. Click here for our post on tips to beat stress.

3.    Eat More Veg

Creating a healthy diet means eating more fruit and vegetables. Have an open mind and try to experiment with some vegetarian dishes to change the way you cook your meals. Add a portion of meat if you want: the most important thing here is to increase the fruit and veg.

4.    Forget the Fads

Don’t get caught up in the fad diets that rear their heads in January. Your body has its own detoxing system and eating colourful, healthy foods will make you feel better naturally. It is imperative to look on this as a lifestyle change rather than a short term ‘diet’.

5.    Move More

We should all allocate 30mins per day, 5 days a week to some form of exercise. Weight loss is best achieved when calorie cuts are combined with exercise. To lose 1lb per week, there needs to be a deficit of 500kcal/day. Take 250kcal from food and walk briskly for 30mins to reach that goal.

6.    Listen to Your Body

Try to eat mindfully and listen to your body while you eat. Eat slowly and leave 20 minutes before indulging in seconds, while your body tries to process whether you’re full or not. When you feed yourself with nutritious foods, your body will reward you with energy and vitality and you will reap the benefits. Compare this to how you feel after a takeaway and the difference becomes clear.

Aim to eat for life and not for tomorrow.

x Niamh