How to change your lifestyle to be healthy

When it comes to weight loss, the usual buzzwords you might hear often include the words 'lifestyle' and 'change'...as in, you need to make one to be successful at losing weight. It may seem like losing weight is a simple goal—do some exercise, go on a diet, and voila! But, if it were that simple, I'd be out of a job and you'd be too busy working out to read this.

While magazines and infomercials make it seem effortless, losing weight takes hard work and that often means changing different aspects of your life like, how you spend your time, how you schedule your day, and how/what you eat. If the way you live doesn't allow for these changes, how far will you get?

The reason lifestyle is so important is because how you live determines your choices and these choices decide how healthy you are and whether you're on the road to weight loss.

Where do you fall on the healthy lifestyle continuum?

The typical components of a healthy lifestyle include not smoking, eating healthy foods, exercising and keeping the body at a healthy weight.

• Sitting at a desk?
• Sitting in a car?
• Sitting in front of a TV?
• Sitting in front of a computer?
• Eating out at restaurants?
• Drinking alcohol?
• Eating fast food or junk foods?
• Staying up late/not getting enough sleep?

If you spend more time doing the things in the first list than the second, it's time to reevaluate your priorities and decide what you really want for yourself. Living healthy means spending time and energy on your body—moving it around and paying attention to what you put into it. Staying in an unhealthy lifestyle means you can avoid expending energy, time and effort...but at what cost?

As humans, we like habits and routines, so much that we often keep doing the same things even when we know they aren't good for us.

Changing bad habits takes time and effort, but it can be worth it. Practicing healthy habits can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, live a more satisfying and active life, and reduce your risk for disease.

• What time you get up each morning
• What time you go to bed each night
• How you spend your free time
• How you spend your money
• How you shop, cook and eat
• How much TV you watch
• What you do with your family and friends

The rewards for making these changes are endless, but it's beginning that's so difficult. 

Try keeping an activity journal and jot down how much time you spend sitting as opposed to moving around. Then see if you can reduce that number—take more walks, stand up and stretch, just move around more.

Next, take a look at your diet and just pick one thing you could do better. Maybe you could eat more fruits and vegetables, or maybe you eat out a little too often. Work on that one thing until you've made progress and then you can pick another thing.

Working on one change at a time is slow, yes, but when you change too much at once, you're much more likely to go back to old behaviors. Taking your time leads to lasting changes and, in the end, a healthier lifestyle.

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What are your concerns?

You’re once again feeling motivated to eat better, exercise more, drink less caffeine or make any number of the positive lifestyle changes you've been telling yourself you want to make. You've tried before—probably declaring another attempt as a New Year’s resolution—but without feeling much success.

Making a lifestyle change is challenging, especially when you want to transform many things at once. This time, think of it not as a resolution but as an evolution.

Lifestyle changes are a process that take time and require support. Once you’re ready to make a change, the difficult part is committing and following through. So do your research and make a plan that will prepare you for success. Careful planning means setting small goals and taking things one step at a time.

Here are five tips from APA to help you make lasting, positive lifestyle and behavior changes:

Make a plan that will stick. Your plan is a map that will guide you on this journey of change. You can even think of it as an adventure. When making your plan, be specific. Want to exercise more? Detail the time of day when you can take walks and how long you’ll walk. Write everything down, and ask yourself if you’re confident that these activities and goals are realistic for you. If not, start with smaller steps. Post your plan where you’ll most often see it as a reminder.

Start small. After you've identified realistic short-term and long-term goals, break down your goals into small, manageable steps that are specifically defined and can be measured. Is your long-term goal to lose 20 pounds within the next five months? A good weekly goal would be to lose one pound a week. If you would like to eat healthier, consider as a goal for the week replacing dessert with a healthier option, like fruit or yogurt. At the end of the week, you’ll feel successful knowing you met your goal.

Change one behavior at a time. Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time, so replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Many people run into problems when they try to change too much too fast. To improve your success, focus on one goal or change at a time. As new healthy behaviors become a habit, try to add another goal that works toward the overall change you’re striving for.

Involve a buddy. Whether it be a friend, coworker or family member, someone else on your journey will keep you motivated and accountable. Perhaps it can be someone who will go to the gym with you or someone who is also trying to stop smoking. Talk about what you are doing. Consider joining a support group. Having someone with whom to share your struggles and successes makes the work easier and the mission less intimidating.

Ask for support. Accepting help from those who care about you and will listen strengthens your resilience and commitment. If you feel overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, consider seeking help from a psychologist. Psychologists are uniquely trained to understand the connection between the mind and body, as well as the factors that promote behavior change. Asking for help doesn’t mean a lifetime of therapy; even just a few sessions can help you examine and set attainable goals or address the emotional issues that may be getting in your way.

Making the changes that you want takes time and commitment, but you can do it. Just remember that no one is perfect. You will have occasional lapses. Be kind to yourself. When you eat a brownie or skip the gym, don’t give up. Minor missteps on the road to your goals are normal and okay. Resolve to recover and get back on track.

Making the decision to invest in healthy lifestyle changes is more than just flipping a switch. Making sustainable lifestyle changes is a process that takes time, dedication, and patience. Psychologists have found that it takes an average of 66 days for a new habit to become automatic, but the truth is that building and maintaining lifestyle changes is highly dependent on each individual. For this reason, it is important to set up your lifestyle changes to work with your life and to give yourself grace as you find the rhythm that works for you. However, there are some easy strategies that can help you develop a lifestyle change plan that works for you.

1. Focus on the whole picture

Lifestyle changes are like a puzzle. There are many pieces that must add up to the whole picture. Building habits in only one area of the puzzle will leave your overall picture lacking dimension. Your physical, mental, and emotional health all work together to make and break lifestyle changes, so it is important to understand how they all interact when setting up your lifestyle change plan.

• Sleep – The average adult should try to sleep 7-9 hours each night. During restful sleep, your body has time to regenerate and recharge. This time is integral to the success of making a lifestyle change; Lack of sleep can result in irritability, cravings, and fatigue, all of which can derail a successful lifestyle change.
• Water – Hydration is the key to most of your bodily functions. Without staying hydrated, neither your body nor your mind will be working with the lifestyle change process. So, grab a big water bottle and hydrate!
• Stress – By taking care of your body, you are naturally signaling to your brain that your overall stress levels can decrease. A new habit can reinforce your stress management system and will ultimately lead to overall stress management success. Focus on finding manageable habits you can integrate into your daily routine. You can build on those strong core routines as you continue to reach for your long-term goals.
• Consumption – Nutrition is an important element of the puzzle. When we charge our body with healthy ingredients, we can focus on building and maintaining healthy habits. When we fuel with junk food, we will inevitably crash and fall off the lifestyle change wagon. Focus on finding healthy replacements for junk food that you can actually sustain.
• Exercise – Staying active affects your physical and mental health. By finding fun ways to stay active, you provide additional endorphins that help your brain and body function at peak performance!

2. Set realistic and achievable goals

The goals you set for yourself are integral to your overall success in changing your lifestyle. Focus on setting goals that are realistic. Instead of expecting to run a marathon in six months, shoot for running a 5K and work up to the marathon. Setting realistic goals that you can achieve and then building on them will help you maintain momentum and stay motivated.

3. Create daily structured activities related to the goals

Building activities into your day helps you stay on track with your goals. Instead of assuming you will figure it out in the moment, plan fun activities you can look forward to throughout the day that pertain to your goal!

4. Make habits that you can keep

For most people, it is unrealistic to assume that you will always be at peak motivation. So, think about how you can build habits that are sustainable in your life, even when you aren’t on the health kick. Learning to swap out junk food for healthier options is one habit that you can likely maintain even when you aren’t constantly in the mood to go to the gym. Here are few fun alternatives you can try to get started:

• Swap out sandwiches for open faced sandwiches- cutting out half the carbs in your sandwich makes a huge difference in your nutritional balance
• Swap seltzer for soda- you can save over 20 grams of sugar by making the switch
• Swap Greek yogurt for sour cream- not only do you save calories, but you also add healthy probiotics to the recipe!
• Swap an apple for your bagel- having a morning apple and peanut butter instead of a peanut butter bagel saves calories, carbs, and adds nutrients to a balanced diet

5. Adopt new habits slowly and build on success

Building habits takes time. Be patient with yourself and understand that the fastest way forward isn’t always the smartest way forward. The goal in creating lifestyle changes isn’t to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. The goal is to build habits that are sustainable in your everyday life. So, give yourself time to start small and build on success so that the end result is rock solid.

6. Find a lifestyle buddy

One of the easiest ways to make lifestyle changes is to do it with a partner! Find a buddy that is committed to the process and can keep you accountable. This will help you think of new habits to build, keep you motivated, and give you someone to talk to about the journey.

7. Track progress

An easy way to fail to change is by not tracking progress. Tracking progress is crucial to continued success, as it shows you how far you’ve come and where you want to go. Track your progress so you can learn from setbacks, see common trends, and have a pathway to success.

8. Change one behavior at a time

You don’t have to do it all at once! In fact, it’s nearly impossible to make lifestyle changes that last if you are doing them all at the same time. Making lifestyle changes requires patience and dedication. Your brain is learning a new skill and needs time and focus to build those neuropathways. So, focus on building one behavior at a time.

9. Learn about balanced nutrition and find the balance that works for you

Every person’s body responds to food differently, and not all metabolisms work the same. Cutting calories isn’t the only way to get healthy, and in fact many diets that cut out entire food groups are unhealthy. Your body needs a healthy balance of nutrients, including healthy fats and carbs. Finding a nutritional balance that works for you will help you stay motivated and build sustainable change into your life.

10. Find your why

Finding your why is the single greatest thing you can do if you want to make your lifestyle change easy. By discovering what your deepest goal is, you can stay motivated and positive during the process. When setting goals, it is helpful to focus on overall health and lifestyle. Whether your stay motivated with numerical indicators such as weight management or how much you can bench, or with hobbies and daily activities like being able to run with your friends or play with your grandkids, finding your deepest why will help you build habits that last.