There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the fitness industry and what it means to be “healthy” overall. This niche has become flooded with the latest fitspo and diet trends. I’ve been involved in sports and living an active lifestyle for the last 24 years. And my advice to you is to break the construct of “healthy” into three categories: Mind, Body and Fuel.
Mind
First and foremost, this is the ultimate foundation to anything we do in life. If we don’t have a healthy mindset and aren’t taking care of ourselves emotionally; I promise you it will come out sideways in different areas of your life – anxiety, depression, your body will rage against you if you don’t have a healthy balance between mind and body. Your day-to-day function comes from fuelling your brain. It’s just as important as fuelling your body. Consuming the necessary nutrients daily and staying hydrated is equally important to your mind as it is your body.
Body
The purpose of being active and exercising daily is to help our bodies stay strong and to keep our levels stable and healthy. I’m not an athlete anymore, for me exercising is now about functionality. This means that my daily functions are easier, and I look good yea that’s cool, but most importantly I feel good. If you aren’t fuelling your body appropriately you certainly won’t be able to operate at full capacity and your energy will be low. Your muscles won’t grow, your hair doesn’t look good and won’t grow, your skin will look bad. When it comes to fuelling your body, you need to make sure you are taking in the proper balance of carbs, proteins, and fats. Without this, your body won’t be able to reach its potential inside or outside the gym. It won’t even be able to operate the way it is meant to on the reg. It will be in overdrive trying to compensate.
Fuel
Erase “diet” from your brain. Don’t over complicate food. I’ve seen so many people become obsessive over this particular area in their life, and it spins out of control. Your daily intake should include protein, fats, and carbs. Without the balance between these collective three nutrient groups your body and how you feel overall will fluctuate and most likely you will feel fatigue, and just not operate the way we are meant to. Ideal Nutrition meal preps make fuelling your body a no-brainer. It’s convenient, proportioned and affordable.
My advice is to get back to the basics. Stay away from the trends, relying on supplements, performance enhancers and enjoy living a healthy lifestyle that fits your needs. Those are band-aids and quick fixes – they don’t last. Health is about consistency. Life is busy, we work 9-5s, have families and it’s hard to find time to make sure we are taking care of ourselves the best we can be. Having proportioned meals that are prepped clean and are delicious takes away the burden of having to figure out your “fuel”. When it comes to being active, you don’t have to live at the gym or even have a membership to a fitness club, just move your body – walk, take the stairs, just move and make sure you are utilizing your body the way it was meant to. I promise you when you adopt Mind, Body and Fuel into your daily routine, your life starts to change, and you realize how much better you feel both mentally and physically. Enjoy it!
