Creating movement in your life can be hard and even harder to sustain.
This element of health is what gets lost or stopped first. We often feel like we make progress in the short term. Then we have a bad day where work gets in the way, or we forget something at home. When we have a bad day, we will slip back into a bad habit, a habit that we thought helped us to feel better.
Let's work on making a change. Instead of reaching for a sugary doughnut or a glass of wine, go for a walk, take a yoga class or fix yourself a healthy meal.
We believe if we don't exercise to our fullest, we don't achieve our ideal weight, but that is not always true. Reaching this goal comes with a combination of eating right and healthy movement.
Healthy movement can be as easy as parking across from the parking lot and taking a longer walk in to a store or a restaurant. It could be as hard as running your first 10K. But you have to start somewhere and start where your body is physically able to start.
If you have children or grandchildren and you just want to be able to hold them without worrying and dropping them, start with some easy wall push-ups. Begin just doing one or two, and increase it daily as your body feels comfortable. Soon you will be able to hold your little one with no fear or worry.
If you have a goal to run a 5K, start out with short walks and increase slowly. Then move to running and increase each activity a little bit every day until you reach that 5K. This doesn't all start with, "I'm going get up today and run a 5K." It starts one step at a time. You can do things in your office like standing at your desk. If you have a break, make some laps around the office or the parking lot. As your activity increases, your energy will also. Soon you will find yourself with an amazing amount of energy.
We rely on our own motivation to keep us going. When our willpower is affected by stress, emotional state, internal dialogue and even lack of sleep, we tend to fall back into our old habits and make unhealthy choices. These all affect emotions and how we keep our bodies in motion.
When we focus on our long-term health, it can help us to channel our emotions and make healthy choices.
Emily Meldrem has been a certified health coach for five years and has helped more than 450 people find better health. She is a member of the West Side Business Association and enjoys spending time with her husband and children.