9 Ideas to Make Lifestyle Changes

By now if you’ve been keeping up with TeamLeeFit for a while, you know we talk a lot about “lifestyle changes” for long-term results. What do we mean by this?

If you’re looking for certain results for a goal you have - for example - “I want to learn to speak French” - you can’t just say you want to speak French, and boom, you can (although, wouldn’t that be awesome?!)
You can’t sit for one class, one day, and expect to be fluent and achieve your goal. 

In order to learn French, I will need to practice a little bit every day… let’s say 30 minutes... and eventually I’ll hit my goal. In order to practice for 30 minutes every day, I need to prioritize this, and fit this “new practice” or “new habit” into my routine. I incorporate my new habit into my “lifestyle”, hence, I’m making a lifestyle change to include my goal. 

The same goes for nutrition, working out, weight loss, muscle gain, etc. You can’t drink one protein shake, eat one salad, do one workout, and expect that the major transformation will come. It’s the habitual shifts over time that become lifestyle changes is when you see long-term results. By creating awareness around what habits don’t serve your goals and creating new ones that do, my clients see the long-term results that they do. 

We've put together some examples of lifestyle changes that you can incorporate into your every-day routines if your goal is overall health:

Nutrition:
1. Drink more water💧  - I bet you don’t even realize how little water you get in during the day! Start with trying to have a full glass of water with each meal. Then step it up and add a glass as soon as you wake up, too. Keep adding...
2. Substitute your sweets for fruit 🍓 - If you crave a piece of candy at night while you watch Netflix, try swapping it for some frozen berries
3. Take a real lunch break 🥗 - If you work during the day, sometimes it’s easy to skip over lunch, either completely not eating or you grab something out of convenience and speed over nutrition. Allow yourself to take a real break, even if it’s only 15 minutes, and sit down to enjoy your lunch.

Physical:
4. Use the stairs instead of the elevator 🚶🏽‍♀️- Get your steps in, even if you can’t go for an “official” walk or run. This will get your legs stronger over time.
5. Park farther away from your destination 🚗 - Challenge yourself to move more and walk, even if you are on a time crunch running errands. You can always fit it in.
6. Stretch 🤸🏽 - Take 5-10 minutes right when you wake up or right before you go to bed to stretch your body out. See how you feel even after a week.

Mental:
7. Journal 📝 - While you eat breakfast in the morning, journal how you are feeling and what you want this day to bring you. “I’m feeling tired but I’m okay. I want today to be productive and joyful”.
8. Meditate 🧘🏽‍♀️ - There are many apps that can help you meditate; it can be anywhere from 1 minute to an hour, whatever works for your lifestyle.
9. Turn your phone off 📱 - Pick one hour of your day that you get to turn your phone off and put it in another room. No scrolling through social media, no playing games, no texting or hoping someone will text you. Let it go and see what it could do for your mental health. 

Identifying which of your habits are preventing you from achieving your goals and creating new ones that are realistic and sustainable - this is the secret to reaching your goals, be it in fitness or anything.

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