5 steps towards leading a healthy, positive lifestyle

Today, I want to share 5 habits that I have adapted in my daily life that have helped me stay healthy, positive, and motivated.

1. Exercise

This has been one of the primary reasons behind my self-confidence. Before I started exercising, I kept to myself most of the time. I sought approval from others to determine how my day was going to be. With consistent training and proper nutrition, I started noticing changes quickly. The endorphins floating around in my body not only made me feel good physically but I started seeing changes in my mood as well. I was happier. My self-esteem rose. The more I started lifting and eating right, the more I started noticing gainz 😉 which made me work harder at the gym and eat healthier in the kitchen. The cycle never stopped.

2. Practice expressing gratitude

I can’t stress this enough. Even for the tiniest things in life, show that you are thankful. This is one of the key ways to train your mind into thinking that you are joyful. The universe has an interesting way of giving us more if you show that you appreciate what you’re getting. This might be anything from having a comfortable bed to sleep on to being able to support your family. You can say it out loud to yourself or jot it down in your journal (more on this in tip #5!)

3. Surround yourself with positive people

It's very important to surround yourself with people that complain less and DO more. Don’t get stuck with people that complain about trivial things in life. There’s already stress in your own life so hearing more negativity will only affect your mood, your thoughts, and ultimately your everyday life. Having positive people around you will lead to you hearing encouraging words, thinking positively, and ultimately saying positive things. Instead of hearing your friend talk about their horrible day at work every single day, you get to hear about something small but interesting that happened. Instead of telling your friends how you woke up with a migraine and you already knew the day was ruined, you start telling people how when you went to get coffee, you had the most cheerful barista greet you which just made your day!

4. Eat right

This is soooooo important. There’s plenty of research behind how the right nutrient affects your mood. Eating a healthy nutritious breakfast is bound to fuel you up the right way to start you day. Instead of having something that causes insulin spikes in your blood, instead eat food rich in protein and good fat to avoid that “crashing” feeling. Instead of drinking soda, drink coffee (in moderation) or some tea to keep you alert.

5. Write down your thoughts, goals, and problems

This could be in your journal, on your blog, or on your vision board. Writing down your problems, in a way, frees up space in your head for other more important things. Writing down your goals and actually seeing them makes your subconscious mind aware of what it is that you want to achieve. Instead of just thinking, you will be seeing your goals and what all you can do to achieve them. Writing down your thoughts helps you keep track of all the random ideas you come up with. It’s also fun to go back and see what all you thought of later on. 😉

So there you go, these are top 5 techniques that have worked for me personally to live a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle. Please comment your thoughts and also add some of the ways that have helped YOU grow!

Here are some good articles that discuss in detail, some of the things I mentioned above:
Positive thoughts and people:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/20-beautiful-women/complaining-less-will-transform-your-life_b_8924174.html
https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/20/work-friendship-negativity-forbes-woman-leadership-success.html#246778e94e5a

Proper Nutrition:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohydrates-and-blood-sugar/

Writing things down:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/marymorrissey/the-power-of-writing-down_b_12002348.html

Robin Sharma has some excellent videos about self-discipline, steps towards reaching your goal, building confidence, and many more!