You asked: "Many people talk to me about losing weight for a healthy life. But I don't really believe it. How do you define that?" The Harper twins have the answer.
Food regimen mentality! There’s no single answer, but in general, a healthy lifestyle is about enjoyment, flexibility, moderation, moving your body, and eating smart. We outline “wholesome consuming” as making the healthiest alternatives eighty percent of the time, after which relaxing 20 percent of the time.
80 percent is about making food choices that boost your immune system, boost your metabolism, maximize energy, fight disease, and slow aging. But that doesn’t mean giving up other foods you love—it just means finding a way to include them in the 20 percent. No deprivation, and no guilt.
If you’re trying to become more conscious about adopting a healthy lifestyle, ask yourself these four important questions:
- What does a healthy lifestyle mean to me?
- What do nutrition and physical activity look like for me daily?
- How much stress or attention do I pay to what, when, and how much do I eat?
- What importance do I place on preventive health?
It’s also important to remember these truths: The story you tell yourself is the story you believe. You are responsible for how you handle your emotions (you always have a choice). Small changes in your daily choices add up to creating a healthy lifestyle.
Two matters, extra than others, are key to thinking about first whilst organizing a healthy lifestyle:
Mindful eating
One of our biggest goals as dietitians is to help people develop and achieve a respectful, enjoyable, balanced, healthy, and happy relationship with food and eating. Use all your senses to eat foods that are nourishing and nutritious for your body while also satisfying and guilt-free! Allowing yourself to eat whatever you want, without restriction, helps your body guide your choices by experiencing how you feel when you eat different foods. Do, and learn how to make healthy and balanced choices. This way you can learn to navigate your body’s signals for hunger and satiety, which will influence your choices. Food culture has influenced many of us throughout our lives. It’s time to learn how to heal our bodies, and our relationship with food by listening to what our bodies are telling us.
Learning about set points
Your “set point” is the weight that your body naturally goes to when you’re eating healthy and being physically active daily, where you feel and look you’re very best. It is unique to you. A lot of people (especially women) get caught up in the number on the scale, but it’s not a true reflection of your overall health.
So what does it matter? How healthy your heart is, the state of your immune system and microbiome (your ability to fight disease), how much energy you have, and your narrative. This is how you take this important step towards a healthy life.
