We are more proactive about our health and wellbeing now than ever before. The problem is, there’s just so much information out there, sometimes we don’t even know where to start from.
Here are a few simple steps to help you create your wellness journey and be consistent.
- Set Your Purpose
Perhaps you have been diagnosed with a condition that requires you pay closer attention to
your lifestyle. Or you can feel your body giving you signs that things are not the same anymore and you need to do something.
Whatever your reason for wanting to start taking better care of your health, you have to identify it and why it’s important to you. This will help you properly envision what you want to be able to achieve. It is what will keep you focused and motivated and drive you to attaining your goals.
For instance, a middle aged family man could realise that paying attention to his health will increase his chances of living a longer and healthier life so he can be there for his loved ones. The decision to take care of his overall health is based on the importance of his family to him.
- Understand Where You Are Now
Understanding where you are currently in terms of your health forms the baseline on which you are now going to build on.
For instance, the purpose for which a hypertensive could be embarking on a wellness journey as an addition to medical treatment is to get their blood pressure under control. To do that, he/she needs to know what his blood pressure readings are currently, so he/she can understand how far away from their target blood pressure reading they are.
For one whose purpose is to lose belly fat, then checking your waist circumference with something as simple and handy as a tape measure, gives a good baseline to start from. With this measurement, you can now begin to understand by how much you need to lose belly fat. Talking to a medical professional to get baseline vitals and lab work done is also important, so you can have a general overview of how your body is doing.
- Read. Research.
Like we said earlier, there’s a lot of information out there now. The difference now is that there’s no need to get overwhelmed since you have zeroed in on your purpose. So stick to reading and researching topics related to your purpose. Don’t stray.
Even better, talk to a medical professional like a doctor or pharmacist, to help you better understand what options are available to you.
Note down your findings on the things you can do to achieve your purpose.
- Plan
With your purpose in mind, baseline down, and options on hand, you can now plan what you will do.
To do that, first you need to set goals. Not too many. Possibly 2 or 3 measurable goals that you can work on.
Let’s use the example of the fellow trying to lose belly fat. His purpose is to lose belly fat so he can reduce his weight. Assuming his waist circumference is currently 43 inches, and his goal is to reduce his waist circumference by 2 inches in 3 weeks. His plan to achieve this goal can now look something like this:
- No meals or drinks after 6pm daily for 2 weeks
- Eat a well balanced diet in good portions 3x daily between 8am and 6pm daily for 2weeks
- 30 minutes of moderate exercise 4 times a week for 2 weeks
- Start slow
When taking on something new, start slow. Doing too much at once could put your body off and cause setbacks.
Rather, start slow and build on gradually. You are more likely to stay consistent and achieve better results this way.
