Healthy Holidays, Healthy For Life: 16 Healthy Habits to Incorporate Into Your Lifestyle

Incorporate Healthy Habits Into Your Lifestyle That You Can Maintain With Consistency.

The holidays are upon us, and before we know it, we’ll be in a New Year! I do not advocate for temporary diets or New Year’s Resolutions that either never get started or fizzle out before Valentine’s Day. Instead, incorporate healthy habits into your lifestyle that you can maintain with daily consistent action. Here are a few of my favorites that are part of my healthy lifestyle.

Top 10 Healthy Habits

Water – Drinking eight – 8 ounces of water daily is often recommended. If you are an athlete or are trying to release excess pounds and toxins, you should take your total body weight, divide it in two, and drink that many ounces daily. Our bodies depend on water.
Take a break – from bread, alcohol, coffee, candy, gluten, dairy or sugar for 3 weeks. Pick one or more to eliminate temporarily and see how GOOD your body feels without it.
Snack! One of the keys to speeding up your metabolism is to eat smaller meals more frequently. Aim for 5 meals daily, eating every 2-3 hours.
Protein is the building block of our muscles and can assist with releasing weight. Spread protein intake throughout the day, and be sure to eat it at every meal.
Stop eating 4 hours before bed. When we eat, we give our body immediate fuel to be used as energy. The last time we need this is at bedtime. Any food not used for normal body processes is left to be digested by the body and is eventually stored – in our fat cells.
A.M. Fasted Cardio can help to accelerate fat loss and it’s a great way to start your day. Releasing fat requires an energy (or calorie) deficit which means the goal is to burn more energy than you eat.
Evening Cardio can be a great way to release stress and tension from the day and add to the energy (calorie) deficit you are striving for.
Strength Training can help you burn fat, reduce your risk of diabetes, prevent back pain and even help you fight depression. It can improve your body composition and give you a toned appearance. A higher percentage of lean muscle will speed up your metabolism long after you’ve stopped working out.
Phone a Friend. Accountability and friendship can make a huge difference in whether you get a workout in, make healthier food choices, or simply enjoy life. Whether you are swapping recipes, going for a walk, taking a class, invite a friend along!
Eat Breakfast. Start your metabolism and your day properly fueled! My first meal of the day is a nutritionally dense meal replacement protein shake.

5 More Healthy Tips

Cleanse regularly. Nutritional cleansing & replenishment can be a foundation for weight control, appetite regulation, improved insulin sensitivity, brain health, cell and tissue maintenance, and detoxification.
Sleep! So many good things happen when we get good quality and quantity sleep: memory consolidation, cellular repair, brain development, increased calcium retention, muscle mass, and protein synthesis and strengthening of the immune system. As an athlete, it is a critical aspect of recovery!
Portion Size. This can often make a huge difference toward a healthier lifestyle. Visualize a deck of cards for the size of your protein, a baseball for one serving of vegetables and a hockey puck as the right size for your starch. Be especially careful at the buffet table!
Plan ahead. Know what you are going to eat for your meals and snacks the day before and even pack them ahead of time.
Prayer/meditation. Start your day with 10-15 minutes of quiet time. Find a meditation on YouTube, open your Bible or devotional, or simply close your eyes and express your gratitude.
Pay yourself. Building savings can be a rewarding and healthy habit to create. Whether you start with 10% of your paycheck or $5 a week, the important thing is simply to start and create the habit. Increase when you can.

Overall, be patient with yourself. Healthy habits take time to build and maintain. A wellness lifestyle does not happen overnight or come by luck or wishful thinking. It comes from discipline and consistency, along with a dose of self-love. I wish for you an incredible life of love, laughter, health, abundance, and prosperity!

Healthy Habits for Life

Additional Resources:

From my blog:

Buy Now:

Here are TWO of my books that are PERFECT for this time of year.

Wheels to Wellbeing is all about learning YOUR BEST options for self-care. It will help you examine the spokes on YOUR wellness wheel. It’s Life Lessons from a Highly Sensitive Introvert.

Transform is all about the MINDSET to transform your life! Get a jump start on your new year’s promises and learn tools for what’s required to change your body and/or your LIFE! These are the life lessons I learned from the 16-week challenge (I’m about to complete my 27th 16-week challenge!!!).

Thank you for reading, thank you for your support!

With love, gratitude, and kindness,

Lori