Finding the motivation to live a healthy lifestyle

June 24, 1:32 PMDC Healthy Living ExaminerMolly Borchers

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Practicing a healthy lifestyle isn’t easy.  Busy Washingtonians have myriad excuses as to why they're was too busy to take care of themselves properly.  Many folks in the DC area tend to be especially busy.  Chances are, many work (more than) a full time job, raise children and juggle responsibilities outside of work and home.   It can be difficult to find time to exercise, prepare a healthy meal and de-stress. 

With summer approaching, it’s a good time to banish those nasty little excuses.  No matter how busy you are – there is no excuse for eating take-out EVERY night.  And yes, there is enough time in the day to squeeze in a little exercise.  And no, you don’t need seven cups of coffee to maintain energy levels.  As hard as it can be, you CAN find the time to make healthy choices.  Believe it!  Even if you’ve been in a rut for awhile, the important thing is to recognize that it’s never too late to form healthier habits.  It should be an evolving process – taking “baby steps.”  

So here are some “baby steps” you can take toward living a healthy lifestyle and finding the motivation to maintain it. 

1. Snack smarter.  If you sit a desk for eight or more hours a day, you know it can be tough to resist the urge to snack.  Maybe co-workers bring in cookies, brownies or candy to share.   Maybe you feel the three o’clock rut and tend to reach for a candy bar or bag of chips to re-fuel.  Maybe you have a linebacker-sized appetite and can’t wait a full four hours between meals.  Either way, snacking smart is essential to good health.  Sure, the potato chips and cookies look delicious, but tweaking our snacks is the easiest way to live a healthier lifestyle.  If you’re a savory snacker, reach for nuts instead of chips.  If you have a sweet tooth, eat fruit or grab a protein bar (be sure to grab the bar with the lowest amount of saturated fat).  Other great alternatives are cereal (whole wheat varieties are best), oatmeal and 100 calorie pack snacks.  If your addiction to the bad stuff is severe, aim to gradually change your habits – eating bad snacks one day a week is much better than eating them five days a week.
2. Make time for exercise.  Ignore the mantra: “I don’t exercise because I don’t have time.”  So maybe you’re one of those rare people who really can’t devote a solid 30 or 60 minutes a day to exercise, OK.  But you can use small blocks of downtime during the day – five or ten minutes a piece.  Try closing the office door and doing chair dips and pushups for five minutes.  If you have five or ten minutes after dinner, go for a short walk.  Another strategy is to get up early and knock it out before you begin your day.  Even if you only have twenty minutes three times a week – it’s better than nothing. 
3. Buddy up.  So maybe you have the time to exercise, but just can’t seem to get the motivation.  Many of us work out steadily for a few months, then stop.  It’s a vicious cycle.  To curb this habit, it helps to find a workout partner.  You can always talk yourself out of going to the gym, but if you set an appointment to meet a friend there, you won’t break it. 
4. Slowly tweak your diet.   Many of you nosh on processed, fatty foods more than you should.  If you’re busy, you might opt for the drive through or a boxed pizza instead of taking the time to cook a healthy meal.  But with diabetes and obesity running rampant, it is critical to make healthier food choices.  Gradual changes in diet are best.  Begin by switching to whole wheat breads and pastas.  Look at the ingredients to be sure that you’re eating whole wheat flour.  Many products are marketed as whole grain or whole wheat blend to confuse consumers.  Try slowly adding vegetables and fruits into the diet.  You can eat a small salad before my dinner.  If you really don’t have time to cook, frozen foods are better than take-out and fast food.  Amy’s Kitchen has healthier (and surprisingly tasty) options.  Lean Cuisines work too. 
5. Take time for yourself.  Washingtonians are a stressed lot.  A 2007 study by the American Psychological Association (APA) reports that one-third of Americans are living with extreme stress and nearly half of Americans (48 percent) believe that their stress has increased over the past five years.  The APA study found that four in ten Americans (43 percent) say they overeat or eat unhealthy foods to manage stress.  Those who drink (39 percent) or smoke cigarettes (19 percent) were also more likely to engage in these unhealthy behaviors during periods of high stress.  Since stress severely impacts our health, it is important to take steps to manage it.  Try taking an hour or a day to yourself to do something you enjoy.  Also, meditating and doing yoga can do wonders for stress reduction.  Even five minutes to be alone with your thoughts is better than nothing.  Finally, if stress is affecting your life to the extreme, think about ways to eliminate stressful factors from your life.  Sometimes we have to take difficult measures like changing jobs or eliminating toxic relationships, but our health benefits in the long-term. 

Enjoy the journey toward a healthier lifestyle.  Your body will thank you for it! 

AP Photo/Sesame Workshop, Richard Termine