Cultivating a healthy lifestyle

As much as diet and exercise fad products would like to argue otherwise, there is really only 1 way to be healthy. A balanced diet and an active lifestyle. These are things that I am constantly revisiting, because it is so easy for me to fall into patterns of bad foods and lethargy. So, I thought I’d share how I keep myself healthy; in part to help you, but also to keep me honest.


Diet:

You can obviously see that I love food. My interest here has been a work in progress throughout the years as I try to expand my diet. As a child I was a very picky eater, and this ran into my teens and early 20’s as well. For a while, in fact, I subsisted on a diet of mostly McDonalds. In the last so many years, however, I’ve been acclimating to a healthier diet, eating things I never would have tried before. I try to be aware of where my meal has come from and what it will do to my body. I’ve stopped eating fast food altogether because it scores horribly in both catergories.

My biggest battle at this point is balancing the preparation of my own meals and buying them. If I don’t plan out my meals for the week, I’ll most likely end up getting breakfast from Starbucks, lunch from the cafeteria, and a frozen pizza for dinner. So, each week I try to sit down and plan out a schedule of meals for the week. Some weeks are better than others. And even if I do plan, life is always throwing wrenches in our plans, and I have to be flexible. For instance, last night I ended up eating much later than I thought I would. So the chicken burrito was replaced by a frozen pizza. Not ideal, but it had to do.

Today, I was much more prepared for healthy options. I got up this morning and made some hot cereal, and brought that and a banana to work for my breakfast (I have a hard time eating right when I get up in the morning, so I eat at work instead). Additionally, I packaged up some leftover salad, made a pb & j sandwich, and grabbed some vegetable chips for lunch. A well balanced breakfast and lunch. In addition, I plan to actually make the dinner I failed to make last night, which will leave me with leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

Exercise:

Living in NYC, I tend to already have a somewhat active lifestyle. I take public transportation to and from work everyday, which includes a 10 minute uphill walk and 3 flights of stairs/escalators every day. But, this past year I noticed that I’m still out of breath when doing these things. I also found this to be true when hiking upstate last month. So, I recently joined a gym and am trying to find the right motivation strategy. At first I thought that I should not intimidate myself by scheduling a lot of time for the gym; I would start slow and work my way up. But, then I would make excuses or something would happen that would prevent me from going to the gym as much as I wanted to.

This is my new strategy. I am planning to go the gym everyday, if even for a short workout, and am taking my gym bag to work so that I can just stop on my way home. I figure with this schedule, should I miss a day or two, I will still be getting enough exercise. So far, I’ve gone to the gym the past 3 days in row. Let’s see if I can keep up that stamina. I do yoga once a week as well, which helps to keep me stretched and toned.

Mind/Mental Well-being:

I find that my mental state significantly affects both my diet and my activity level. This makes perfect sense and really is not a groundbreaking discovery in the terms of science and health. But, to truly acknowledge this and to incorporate it into your lifestyle is really the key to maintaining healthy actions.

There are a few things I do to keep myself healthy mentally:
- Having a set schedule: As I mentioned before, if I do not plan out my meals and schedule a visit to the gym, I will resort to unhealthy lifestyle choices. So, I try to schedule these things ahead of time, so that I’m not deciding what to do on a whim.
- Meditation: I practice Zen meditation on a weekly basis. Every Saturday morning I get up and sit 2- 40 minutes periods of zazen. This routine gives me a consistent point of grounding and a supportive social environment as well. The mindfulness that comes from sitting, as well as from my yoga practice, helps me to be honest with myself. Also, it helps me to really feel what’s going on throughout my body while eating or exercising. Food tastes better when mindful, because I notice more of the flavors and textures, and I feel when I am full. I am also able to increase my exercise activities when I stay present in my body and notice how the activity affects my body.
- Sleep: Getting a full night’s sleep is essential to my mental and physical functioning. If I am going to be sharp and energetic throughout the day, I need to get enough sleep. Mornings are a little rough for me, so I’ve been trying to schedule morning activities to help energize me while not taking much time away from my sleep. I recently wrote out a daily schedule of morning activities, including a few energizing yoga poses and some brief meditation time.

In reality, people have their own strategies for a healthy lifestyle. This is my strategy and so far it’s been okay. I have tweaked it and will continue to do so when I find a better way to do something. A healthy lifestyle requires constant attention. If you lose focus, it will not sustain itself. This is why so many people are unhealthy. There are lots of convenient ways to distract ourselves or forget to be healthy in our choices. I find mindfulness and planning the best ways to cultivate and maintain a healthy lifestyle. And, of course, I allow myself those times when I eat out with friends and have a few drinks. I need the balance of both to keep me healthy, both mentally and physically.