Good advice can be rare, especially when it involves diet, fitness, and lifestyle advice. There is constant misinformation and overly complicated methods being thrown around on social media, by all kinds of different people sponsored by a thousand different brands. Here we look at some effective habits anyone interested in fitness and general health can implement into their life, without having to spend money or undergo a huge lifestyle change. Small changes can have big outcomes.
1. Self-talk
The way you talk to yourself, out loud, or in your mind has a huge impact on your mood and motivation. If our internal ‘monologue’ or self-talk is heavily negative for long enough, and we don’t let ourselves be grateful or appreciate the better aspects of our life, we will find it much more frequent that we focus on the bad things that happen, and we start to almost ignore the good. Studies show that those who take time regularly to appreciate what is good in life, find it easier to relate to things more positively, more often, and are less effected by negative thoughts (as they don’t give them as much time). Taking time to appreciate what you have in your life, what you care about, or what you have achieved, whether it’s by writing a list, or just regularly thinking about what you’re grateful for and enjoy, can be a great way to start with positive self-talk, and be more motivated.
2. Find Balance
For some people, training and dieting can be a very strict and regimented habit, which can be great for their specific goals. Being ‘too strict’ and being overly regimented with training or diet can cause some people to ‘rebound’ eventually and fall out of love with the process, as they may be trying to do or achieve too much at once, for themselves personally. Balance is key when trying to improve health, be it mentally or physically, as it is essential you learn to enjoy or at least appreciate the process. There is no good in training hard, achieving positive results, then beating yourself up if you decide you want to eat an indulgent meal that you enjoy. If you can fully commit to a constant strict routine and diet, you will get great results, which is fantastic if you can stay on track for a prolonged time. However, indulging yourself in moderation throughout your training, making room for things you enjoy, setting small goals to accomplish one by one, and understanding how you can commit to improving but also treat yourself occasionally, will make getting in better physical shape seem much more achievable for many people.
3. Hydration
One of the more straight forward, simple habits a person can often improve is hydration. If you have any doubt you might be drinking sufficient water, then try and drink at least 2 to 3 litres every day.
Being properly hydrated helps just about every area of human function. General performance, digestion, internal organ function, skin appearance and health, and brain health/function all improve with sufficient hydration. Cramps, headaches and other negative physical symptoms are less frequent with sufficient hydration.
Having a water bottle you aim to drink every day a set amount of times, is a simple way to monitor hydration.
4. Be wary of social media
Social media can be a great tool, with many knowledgeable people across various platforms giving very useful advice. Social media does not often show a reflection of a genuine, real life. It is extremely important to remember that everyone is different, and often some of the most prominent people on social media have many other people working alongside them who’s main job is to make an ‘influencer’ look good or to create more of an interest in something. Comparing your results, lifestyle, and achievements to someone who you don’t personally know just because they have a large following or what seems like an attractive lifestyle, is setting yourself up to fail. Any social media influencer could well have a very different life to what we see pictured on their various profiles, and we do not actually have a full understanding of their personal lives, so comparisons are often very unhelpful to most people. Always do what you can to stick with your own personal goals, and don’t be distracted by what other people are doing because it looks flashy.
5. Sleep well
Sleep is obviously essential, but the more frequently you can get around 8 hours a night (or day), the better. Good sleep is essential for optimal physical performance, as it is when much of the muscle repair and growth from weight training, etc occurs. Cognitive function, stress levels, mood, immune function and even disease risk all benefit from sufficient sleep. Bad sleep patterns, and insufficient sleep will negatively affect most areas of a person’s life, especially if frequent.
6. Learn about what you care about
Reading and learning about things you are interested in and care about can be extremely beneficial, as it doesn’t seem like a difficulty to learn about them. Actively trying to improve at something that interests you, or improve knowledge on certain subjects can open doors for you to do things you might not have initially given proper thought to, such as a new career, something to make additional money on the side, or just simply a new hobby that you enjoy doing. Reading more books and listening to more podcasts or audio books can be a great, simple way to learn about new things you might be interested in, learn new things, and gain new ideas, which can be a huge plus for motivation. LA Muscle’s KNOWLEDGE section is full of extremely helpful articles on supplements, health, nutrition and so on that can help you become more knowledgeable in many aspects of your life to improve your life directly as a result.
