There are a few blogs I read all the entries on and over the past year or so, Leah’s has been one of them.
She has now created “Naturally Leah” and rather than create a link, I thought I would ask her if she would like to write a post that ties in quite nicely to the new lifestyle I am trying to create for myself and that introduces her new site.

SIMPLE STEPS TO A HEALTHIER LIFE

Hi guys! I’m Leah and I blog over at Naturally, Leah – a health, fitness and wellbeing blog that’s all about living your best life, naturally!

The lovely Tara has asked me to share with you a few tips for living a healthier life – something I know we all aspire too, but can seem just so overwhelming. Where to start?!

Whether it’s tidying up your nutrition, getting back into exercising, or a bit of both – the most common things I see is people setting themselves up for failure by trying to do too much, too soon.
The right intentions are always there – salad, salad, salad, and 5 workouts a week at the gym…sounds great right? Sounds unsustainable to me! What happens when you slip up on the salads or the gym workout…and the guilt sets in? Then the frustration…and you think, to hell with it. I may as well give up.

I believe that living a healthy life is all about taking small steps towards a big goal.
Being healthy is a BIG GOAL – it’s not something that you can snap your fingers and master in a week (although I am sure all of us WISH we could!). Nope, it’s a long hard road – but it’s also completely achievable and something ANYONE can do.

Firstly, I would recommend focusing on ONE small thing each week.
Maybe it’s upping your water intake, or getting out for a 30min walk each day, or not eating that muffin at morning tea time. Just pick something, one thing, and focus on it. You will probably find that ONE little thing will be enough to focus on that week, but – you will succeed! Because?
It’s only one small change.

The following week – up your game.
Choose two things to focus on. It could be adding in a gym workout 3 days a week, or tracking your meals on an online tracker like My Fitness Pal or Calorie King. Again – focus on these things (while still continuing on with what you started in week one).
Creating these small habits is what will lead you to success. It will take time, effort and focus, but soon enough you will find it becoming part of your routine.

Secondly, and this is so so important – get a buddy!
Find someone who can hold you accountable, whether it’s by joining a group on My Fitness Pal, or by meeting a friend for a walk once a week. Likeminded people will help encourage you and celebrate your successes with you, and hopefully help you to get back on the wagon when the slip ups happen (and they will happen).

Thirdly – when those slip ups happen, release the guilt.
Acknowledge the slip up, “ok so maybe I shouldn’t have ordered the burger and fries and THEN the cheesecake for dessert”…accept it, “ok, that happened”…. learn from it, “next time I will decide it’s one or the other, and then I will add in an extra workout at the gym to make up for it”….and then MOVE ON. I for one am guilty of beating myself up over and over again for the slip ups. All it does is lead to a downward spiral of guilt, frustration….and giving up. Acknowledge, accept, learn, MOVE ON. Every day is a new day.

So there you go, three small tips from me on how to tackle the living healthy beast!

Good luck, and feel free to stop on by Naturally, Leah, connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, and say hi!