Laugh more, love more, and spend more quality time with loved ones

STEP 1: Adopt a balanced diet

A balanced diet fits in with a balanced lifestyle consisting of healthy fats i.e. avocados, natural peanut butter and olive oil and little to no trans fats or saturated fats like butter, cakes and chocolate!  Good sources of protein from chicken, eggs, fish, turkey and the occasional steak are essential as the building blocks for strong muscles and quality carbohydrates preferably with a low glycemic index such as whole wheat bread; brown rice and sweet potatoes. 

Now when it comes to green veggies go crazy as no person has ever blew the scales because of eating too much broccoli.  Moreover this is one of the key sources of vitamins and nutrients the body needs in its raw and most abundant form coupled with fruits you should also indulge and get creative, an apple a day will keep the doctor away but gets pretty dry after a week. 

Why not try something new like blueberries, blackberries and cherries or pineapples, guava and star fruit. Variety they say is the spice of life so mix it up, now the most important element which makes all of this possible and keeps it all moving is the water you drink make sure you drink plenty of it and I mean a couple litres a day. Finally always remember you are only one meal away from a balanced diet so just keep it up and enjoy yourself.

STEP 2: Reduce the stress we burden our lives with as this only affects our health negatively

As the song goes, "don’t worry be happy".  In today’s 100mph lifestyle our lives and emotions hang on moments and situations that we have no control over so when things go wrong we get angry, frustrated, stressed and unhappy and all these things are counterproductive for our health.  Let’s focus on ourselves a little bit more, slowdown when we can and make sure we take care of ourselves and those closest to us a lot more. 

In time this will allow us to have greater control on our lives whilst being a positive impact on those around us and as this grows the situations and issues once causing us stress will now be overcome by us having enough self control to affect our circumstances and benefit our own outcomes.  Making less stressed and happy people and remember feeling great is infectious so pass it on.

STEP 3: Build lasting relationships is one of the foundations of any healthy lifestyle

This is something that we can all work lovingly and consistently to improve.  Being open and developing real qualities in listening and communication will keep your healthy lifestyle balanced for all your days.  Simply because it is one of the inbuilt human needs to love and be loved.  But this should occur on all levels in all lives; absolutely we should work on our closest relationships first with this being our spouses, partners, children, friends, work colleagues and associates.  Even the lovely guy or girl you see every day at the train station in the morning on the way to work.  Often over looked is our work colleagues, strangely enough we generally spend more time with them than anybody else so why not look at improving these experiences. 

Foster trust, respect, care and support for each other through your actions and words, this could start with holding the elevator for a colleague that works on a different floor or genuinely praising a team mate when they have excelled.  And remember you are not doing it for a thank you but for the positive impact it will have on their lives and the positivity is has already had on yours like I said feeling great is infectious pass it on.

STEP 4: Exercise regularly

I hear a massive groan as a lot of people don’t want to go to the gym but you don’t have to because we are talking about a healthy lifestyle not bodybuilding.  Regular exercise can take on many guises and ultimately its totally down to what you think is balanced and fits in with your lifestyle for life!..... Not just for Christmas or before you go on your summer holidays.  Some people like yoga, Pilates or power plates; others prefer cycling, rock climbing or boxercise.  You might not even want to leave your house and choose to use home workout videos or even your Nintendo Wii fit but as long as you get your heart rate up for 15-20 mins and break a sweat you’re on your way. 

The ultimate key or skill to all of this is consistency and that is why it has to become part of your lifestyle and something you do daily or with continual regularity!  There is no rush as long as you are on the right track so take it slow if you like but just make sure it’s part of your lifestyle so you do it consistently like any other vital part of your life such as eating or sleeping.

STEP 5: Learn what you love

Learn what you love should be the simplest step of all but is all too easily forgotten about, learn more about all the things you love most as it will fill your life with greater quality and happiness.  Learn what you love transcends everything and applies to everything from your collection of matchbox cars to your professional occupation and right back round to your spouse or children.  If you picked your children continually learn more about them in every way, what they like and dislike. Learn about their feelings, desires and emotions even what they want for their next Christmas or birthday present.  Learn about your spouse or partner their inner most fears, previous difficult times in their lives, what it is that makes them feel most happy and even the name of their imaginary friend if they had one whilst growing up! 

Making learning about all things your most passionate about will enrich you regardless of what that may be, be it Liverpool football club, your wife and your daughter or how about your degree, your girls you go out with and your car you adore!  This step will help you empower you by learning the right foods to eat and why; it will help you understand situations better to avoid stress and promote happiness.  Learning will help your relationships improve as people you interact with will see you care more making relationships more harmonious; you will learn what form of exercise is right for you, your goals and individual situations which will come full circle giving you more confidence and desire to learn as you have now developed a balanced healthy lifestyle that you love and want to thrive.

Stay Healthy
DenYen