Just a few steps to a more healthy life...

Living more healthy doesn't mean you have to completely change your life overnight and leave all of your unhealthy habits behind you. In fact, in the long run it works much better to change things one by one. You could change everything at once, but after some time your bad habits will come back. You feel bad when you realize it, but this doesn't give lots of motivation to change your life again.

By changing small things you can form new habits, and get used to a healthy lifestyle. You get to know the benefits of every single step you take. When you know about the benefits, you won't stop that easy because you know what you'll lose. If you change lots of things at the same time, you don't know what you loose if you took away one thing. You just know what you lose when you give up everything. You won't miss one thing that much...

So today, we start with one small step towards a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it's more than one step: Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

It's much more comfortable to take the elevator, I know. The first days might be hard, but after a short time you'll recognize it's getting easier every day. After some weeks you'll ask yourself why you took the elevator in the first place. No matter where you want to go, it always seems to wait for you on the wrong floor. If you take a look at your watch, you'll recognize that most of the time you're faster when you take the stairs. You don't have to wait for them. They're already there. Not only is it more healthy - it's also faster.

You really should give this a try, unless you live or work on the 42nd floor. That would definitely be a healthy thing, but I doubt you'll be faster than the elevator ;)

A walk a day

I've stopped counting how many times I tried to start running regularly. Everytime I realize I should do more for my health I start again. But it just takes a few weeks until I don't run as often as I want to, and after another week I've stopped completely. Again.

It's not that I don't like to run. I really enjoy it. During my runs, it seems like the rest of the world is standing still. There are no problems, no deadlines - just me and my iPod. Afterwards, I feel like I've got more energy than before.

So, why in the world would I stop running, if it makes me feel so good? Deep inside of me, I'm quite a lazy guy. For a while, the lazy guy in me is so amazed about my motivation in running that he has no idea what he could do about it. But after a few weeks he's coming back with all kinds of excuses...

• The weather is too bad...
  
• I don't feel very well, running is probably not that good...
• I had to work longer, I should get some rest before going to bed...
• I've been running for a while now, a day more or less won't make a difference...
• I'm so hungry, I should eat something...
• I shouldn't go running so shortly after eating something...

These seem to be the same excuses everytime, but unfortunately they work. Everytime.

Some time ago I started an experiment that seems to work very well. My goal is no longer to go running at least 3 times a week. My goal is now to make a walk for at least 30 minutes every day. It doesn't matter where I am. I could go for a walk in my neighborhood, the city, a forest, everywhere else in the world. All of the above excuses won't work against a short walk. There's no reason why I shouldn't go for a walk after eating something. 30 minutes aren't that much, but 30 minutes of walking every day are surely more healthy than some days of running followed by 3 months of couch-potato life.

I only allow myself one exception to my "A walk a day challenge": If I feel like running, I replace my walk with that. It's amazing how often I feel like running if there are no "I really should go running" thoughts in my head.

If you have similar problems with running regularly, you should give the "A walk a day challenge" a try...

Picking concrete numbers instead of vague goals

Have you ever said to yourself "I'll try to eat more healthy"? "I'll try to get organized?" Don't.

"I'll try to eat more healthy" doesn't really say anything. What does "more healthy" mean?

• "I'll only eat vegetables and fruits instead of the sugar packed junk I'm used to"?
• "Ok, I'll eat an apple if I forgot to buy the junk food I'm used to"?
• What does "I'll try" mean anyway?

If you really want to reach your goal, you have to define the very first thing you have to change or do to make your goal a reality. Your first step to eating more healthy could be "I'll eat at least 3 kinds of fruit every single day". There are no excuses like "but I drank a diet-coke" when you took the junk food instead of the healthy fruits. At the end of the day, you can review if you've reached your goal. The next day you'll think twice before you grab the junk food.


Not only is it easy to review this goal. It's also easy to plan ahead to make this goal a reality. If you're in the store with "I'll try to eat more healty" all kinds of excuses might come up. Like "Yeah, I'd really like to make this healthy dinner, but unfortunately I don't know the recipe right now, so I don't know what to buy. Maybe tomorrow."

On the other hand "3 kinds of fruit every single day" is a clear thing. You have to buy 3 kinds of fruit. Today.