Have you ever noticed that your idea of having a healthy lifestyle isn’t often the same as someone else’s? It can mean very different things to different people, and that is healthy in itself. It can also be confusing.

The most obvious description of a healthy lifestyle is eating healthy foods and being aerobically active as a way of life. But seldom will two people make the same food choices and do the same activities. Ginny, for example eats raw foods and runs most days of the week. Margaret loves pasta and grilled food, and she has found that whole wheat pasta and lean meats are a healthy way of eating her favorite things. Her activities are kayaking, hiking, Tai Chi and gardening. Robert is an avid swimmer, dancer and hiker, and he eats a lot of complex carbohydrates. All of them are living healthy lifestyles, but they aren’t at all similar. Read the rest of this entry…

Creating a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge for many of us. But challenges are worth overcoming if we know the benefits will be good for us. These benefits can include helping our bodies stay strong, warding off degenerative disease, maintaining a positive outlook and extra energy needed to follow that dream of a better job or our own business! The benefits truly are numerous.

So to help you start making positive changes in your life, here is a list some guidelines to keep in mind. Use these to help on your path to a healthy lifestyle change.

Have patience with yourself. Know that healthy lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight. Positive changes that stick will usually come slow and steady. You have to practice – and just like any endeavor, practice makes you better. Many negative aspects of our lives (such as poor and convenient food choices) have become habits. Breaking the habit and practice replacing it with a Read the rest of this entry…

One of the biggest misconceptions people have today is what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. Just because you exercise does not mean you are healthy. I hear much too often, oh, I can eat this because then I will work 30 or 40 minutes on the treadmill, jogging, walking, (fill in the blank with the exercise of choice). NO, NO, NO! Once in a while transgressions are one things, however, if you want to be healthy you need to eat healthy and exercise, the two go hand in hand.

Now, think about this, if you think this way as an adult, what are you teaching your children. Yep, that is it OK to eat junk food as long as you are active. Not only that, so many parents, say well my kids eat all this stuff but don’t gain any weight, so it is OK. NO IT IS NOT! While on the surface, you think it is, it is doing major damage to both yours and your child’s body. Think high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Read the rest of this entry…