Living a Healthier Lifestyle
We are into the third and final week of the Walkie Talkie challenge. Since the challenge is all about health and fitness, this week we will be discussing the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. We will also take a look at how to build and maintain such a lifestyle.

The Mindset to Exercise Regularly
Most of us have an intention to get fit and healthy but we probably learnt that getting fit and healthy is easier said than done. Anyone who has tried to lose weight, tone up or even just simply recommit to exercise knows that the battle is often more mental than physical. Like most others goals in life, starting is the most difficult. Here are a few ways that will make it easier for us to make exercise part of our routine.

Set Realistic Goals – Your normal plan of attack is likely to hit the ground running, scheduling hour-long sessions a few days a week. But setting the right kind of goal is key. One that is too lofty has the potential to have the opposite effect, leaving us discouraged and preventing us from sticking with it. which is why many health experts advise us to set goals that are specific and attainable.

If we never ran before, don’t set a goal of 5km a day. Rather set a more realistic goal of 500 meters a day. When 500 metres start to seem easy then take it up to 750 metres. Sometimes, we stop exercising altogether because our goals from the start were not realistic. This mental hack is simple. It’s easier to convince yourself to do something for five minutes rather than 30, especially if you’ve been off your workout grind for a while.

Find a Fitness Buddy – Studies show that when you work out with a fitness partner, you are more motivated to your workout routine. Whether you are simply having more fun while exercising with a friend, or you feel more competitive and push yourself to the limit to be the best, depends on your personality. Either way, having a friend right by your side proves beneficial. Having a friend or a group of people to walk or jog with in the area is also a safer option.

Forget the ‘all or nothing’ mentality — look at each day as a series of choices – The all or nothing approach does not work yet most people suffer from this mentality. They start an exercise programme and they are either exercising every day without fail or they not exercising at all.

When we look at our health in that way it really sets us up to feel like we’re failing if were not hitting every single thing. If we set a goal to walk every day and we miss out a day or two due to other commitments, don’t throw in the towel and feel as if you messed it up. Continue walking and get back on track. If we think back to the times when we threw in the towel and stopped exercising, we probably regret it now. If we could go back in time, we would have continued despite missing out a few days of exercise.