When we look at the word “health” we commonly think about the 3 foundations of our physical wellbeing: diet, exercise and sleep. Now I am sure we have all seen the fitness and well being trends where we are all encouraged to tackle every aspect of our physical health at once. We start exercising daily, eating differently, aiming for those 8 hours of sleep. I also believe it is important to consider an extra foundation where we focus on our breathing and I try to advocate for everyone to squeeze in a session of meditation each day. More often than not, after a couple of weeks we become burnt out and have collapsed in all 3 of the foundations, setting us back to the start. This process can seem overwhelming and, in some cases, hopeless. But what if I tell you there’s a secret to getting it right?
That’s where I come in. My name is Georgia Saunders and as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist at Medical High Performance, I am not only trained in chronic disease and illness, but also lifestyle modification and how to create a healthier you!
Without further ado, the secret to hitting those 3 foundations is to just focus on 1 foundation! I’ve put it to the test and found that by implementing one of these changes to your life consistently, leads to a cascade effect with the others! You start to exercise regularly so you subconsciously start eating health-conscious foods, you start sleeping better due to necessary recovery as well as focus on breathing exercises through cardiovascular exercise! See how they all tie in!
Here’s my easy 3 step recipe to hitting the foundations of physical health!
Step 1: Pick which foundation you want to start with. Either exercise, diet or sleep, and put some goals in place. For example, aim to meditate 5 minutes a day or go for a 20 minute walk each morning. Start off simple!
Step 2: Start working on that goal, remembering to be realistic! At first you may not reach your goal everyday and that’s okay! It’s all about practice, repetition and building consistency.
Step 3: Review your goals regularly. Sit down once a week or fortnight and take a moment to reflect on how you went, did you hit your goal each day? Why or why not? Adjust it as you feel necessary, progress, no matter how small it is, is still progress.
There you go! Easy as pie! Give it a go and surprise yourself, I think you’ll be shocked!
Tips and Tricks:
- Get an accountability buddy: if you’ve got someone to do it with, you’re more likely to stick to the routine!
- See an Accredited Exercise Physiologist to guide you through the process: change can be daunting and overwhelming, seek help when you need it!
- Habit tracker: on a piece of paper or on your phone note down on what days you complete your goal! This will aid in accountability and help in goal reviews!
- Be patient: habit setting can take time so be patient with yourself and let yourself be flexible!
