10 Habits of Healthy People

By: Laura Peill – (Check out her blog Chronicles of Passion & Facebook)   

Being healthy isn't just luck, you have to work hard for it. If you want to get healthy, lose weight, or just feel better, you should consider adopting the habits of fit people. If it works for them, chances are it will work for you as well. 

Here are 10 Habits of Fit People:

1. Make exercise a priority 

Schedule your exercise as you would any other appointment and make it non-negotiable. It’s not something you can change or cancel, move until later, or forget about. It’s important and as such it is a priority and deserves that type of attention.

2. A quick or bad workout is better than nothing

Don’t be discouraged by having to cut your exercise short some days, or by having a workout that wasn’t as good as you hoped: something is better than nothing. And if you got off the couch and worked out for even only 20-30 minutes, that’s 30 minutes more than you probably would and that’s something to be happy about!

3. Workout in the morning (even if you're not a morning person!)

Don’t wait until later in the day to do your exercise. No matter how good your intentions, something may come up at work, you may feel sick later, or you may have a friend call last minute and invite you out to dinner. Not doing exercise in the morning is setting yourself up for maybe not doing it later, and if you want to get fit, you should do the opposite and set yourself up for complete exercise success! Check out these tips on becoming a morning exerciser.

4. Find an exercise you enjoy

People who are fit and exercise consistently do it because they like it and have found an exercise that they enjoy. It is not a task. They look forward to that time every day. Don't be afraid to try a bunch of different exercises until you find one that you like, and more importantly, when you stop liking it or it becomes a task, switch it up or take a break from it.

5. Seek out motivation (Don't do it alone!)

Whether it's the weight you want to lose, the dress you want to wear, new workout clothes or just the satisfaction of a really great sweat, find things that consistently motivate you to exercise and then draw on them every time to help you out. This includes both motivation to get you going and motivation to keep you going. Look into mantras, find a good playlist, buy a new workout outfit. Whatever it takes to get you on track and keep you on track!

6. Know how to fuel up (Food & Drink = Fuel)

One of the reasons you may be struggling to find energy and motivation to workout is because you aren't fuelling your body properly and you don’t have any energy to burn. Consuming adequate food - that is the right kind - is key to getting the most from your workout and being able to maintain consistency. What you eat is the fuel that you are burning, so don't consume bad fuel or you'll have bad workouts (or none at all!). Check out this article on 18 Healthy Food Ideas and these delicious Runner’s Snacks!

7. TAKE FULL OWNERSHIP!!!! 

You are in charge of your own success and you are in charge of making yourself accountable to do your exercise and to stay on track with your fitness. Don’t use the excuse of the gym being too far away, or not open at convenient times, or that your friend couldn’t run with you. Find ways to exercise that avoid all excuses and then stop making them and start working out. Need some help going solo? Read this!

8. Always get enough sleep zzzzzzz

There’s nothing that sabotages an early morning run like a late night. Do yourself a favour and get adequate sleep so you can get up on time to fit in your workouts. Working out after work? Late nights will catch up with you in the afternoon and affect your workout then as well, so don’t let low energy hamper your afternoon. Instead, go to bed on time and your fitness will thank you!

9. Never, ever, ever skip a workout

Consistency is key. It is inevitable that you will miss a workout now and then, whether it is because you are sick, traveling or there's unforeseen circumstances that arise. But make those the only ones. Other excuses don't cut it. Because one missed workout leads to two, leads to three and then suddenly you have fallen off track altogether and it's way harder to get back on.

10. Challenge yourself (You're tough, you can handle it)

Fit people don't fall into the trap of doing the same thing over and over again. Not only does it hinder your ability to increase your fitness, but it also leads to boredom, which leads to lack of motivation and you not wanting to work out. Your body needs to be challenged and outside its comfort level in order for it to develop better fitness. Find a new type of exercise, do something different for your current exercise (i.e. Do tempo runs and hills instead if just running) do a thirty day challenge (i.e. 30 day squat challenge or 30 days to a push up). All of these will push your body, improving your fitness, and at the same time, give you something to look forward to!