Have you ever read a book that made a lasting impression on you?
One book that had that effect is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.
The basic lesson in this book is that it is the little, seemingly insignificant things, done consistently over time, that can have a big impact. This is powerful. If you think about it, it can be applied to anything. A simple “I love you” said to your spouse or child every day, lets them know that they can always count on that love. Putting aside 5 dollars a week for your dream vacation, may take some time, but if you keep doing this, you will be able to take that dream vacation.
This concept can also be applied to your health. Take something like osteoporosis for example. Taking a calcium supplement every day, over time, helps to maintain your bone health. Or, eating an apple every afternoon for snack instead of reaching for a candy bar saves you hundreds of empty calories, not to mention the affect on your waistline.
To make a healthy lifestyle, you need to decide that this is what you want to do. Then you need to find little things that you can commit to doing (or not doing) every day, so that over time there will be a big impact. So where do you start? There is no right or perfect place to start, but I would suggest that you make it something easy. Something that you could easily do and not even notice.
Here are a few suggestions:
1.) Get 30 more minutes of sleep each night. This may mean having to give up a television show, but think about it… will you really miss that TV show? Which would you rather do: watch TV or have a healthier life? There is plenty of evidence out there to prove that we are all sleep deprived, which leads to stress, which leads to hormonal imbalances, which leads to eating more, which leads to weight gain. Not a good snowball effect. So turn off the TV (or computer) and go to bed.
2.) Decrease the number of sodas or juices you drink each day. If you are a big diet soda drinker, try to replace just 1 can a day with water… or seltzer if you like the fizz. So often, we forget to count the calories that we drink. I know I’m guilty of this. I’m not a big soda drinker, but I love my coffee and tea… with sugar (or honey). When I find myself gaining some inches, one of the first things I’ll do is look at how much sugar I’m drinking.
3.) Decrease the number of times you eat out and start cooking at home. You will not only save money but you will most likely be eating much healthier meals. Often times, when we eat out, we choose something that we think is a good, healthy option. Unfortunately, as I’ve found out, this usually isn’t the case. I used to love going to Panera Bread and eating their paninis…. it’s just a sandwich like the ones I make at home right? Wrong! Their Frontega Chicken Panini has 800 calories!!! and 39 grams of fat!!!! Yikes!
So as you go about your day today, think about 1 small, seemingly insignificant thing that you can do consistently over time that will make a big difference in your life.
