Pause and think for a minute, what does it look like to you?

For the majority of us I’m sure you envisioned images of ‘heathy food’, ‘toned body’, ‘sweaty workouts’ and a ‘job you enjoy’… Now piece it together and consider the other important factors we often forget to associate with the term ‘healthy lifestyle’.

What do healthy finances, relationships, joy, creativity, social life, home environment, education, career and spirituality look like to you?

Committing to transform your lifestyle for optimal health and happiness is like taking on a life long project; full of learning experiences, self-reflection, dedication and sacrifice.

To help you find your healthy lifestyle consider ditching these healthy lifestyle myths and invest the time to finding out for yourself – what it is for you to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

There is no one way fits all approach, and there is no one element of your life that is going to make you happier or healthier – you have to consider the whole, this is wellbeing.

5 Healthy Lifestyle Myths

Myth 1. You can have it all.

Let’s be honest we have all pictured waking up in the morning after an 8-hour sleep, the bedroom looks like you have just checked into a 5* hotel, clean tidy, perfect. You have breakfast prepared in the fridge and your cool bag of lunches and snacks ready to go. You take your pre-ironed and pressed clothes off the hanger and off you go to get your daily fix of exercise in. After showering and getting dressed you have a leisurely drive to your perfect, well paid, stress free job where you are fully supported and have lots of likeminded friends who share your common interests……sounds good right? Well I’m sorry, but if you find that person – latch onto them…I want to know their secret. Truth is…nobody is perfect. We cut corners, we get tired, we skip meals at times, we miss workouts, work late and leave the dishes. The good news is, it’s not a big deal, we are all human and are allowed to relax at times – we will all have our good days and bad days but the secret to remaining healthy and happy is to make sure the good outweigh the bad.

Myth 2. The magic formula to success.

We can often refer back to a time when we had the ‘perfect’ diet, or refer to a friend who seems to have figured out a ‘magic formula’ and put ourselves down when it doesn’t work for us. There are so many great tips out there to help you get started to lead a healthy lifestyle, but ultimately these will only work in the short term. For long-term success each tip or formula you start with will require you to adapt and tweak in order to fit your daily needs.

Remember, you are constantly changing, the more you can focus on each day and what you can do to make it a success, you will be able to work your own magic formulas for leading a healthy lifestyle.

Myth 3. Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. 

It is easy to blame our surroundings for how we feel – especially when we are not feeling our best selves. “If only I was doing…life would be different” scenario. Yes, changing career can be part of the bigger picture to achieving a healthier lifestyle however, to get to a stage to be doing something you love day in and day will out, will for the majority of us, require a lot of hard work – not only to get the job but to also keep the job.

To be successful at anything in your life, the ‘hard’ work will need to be put in. Success will always require dedication, flexibility, sacrifice, hard choices and long-hours. The difference is, when you love your job the hard work empowers and energises you to do it over and over again.

Myth 4. Follow your passion.

A healthy lifestyle requires more than one element of your life to be in balance – if following your passion means neglecting the other elements of wellness, sooner or later you will feel the negative effects.

Following your passion relates to your life goals. For example; if your passion is running and you set a goal to run a 50 miler ultra marathon, following this passion and achieving this goal will require sacrifice, hard work and dedication to the sport.

Following your passion and maintaining a well rounded healthy lifestyle, for most of us, is not a realistic expectation.

Being clear on your goals is key to successfully following your passion however do not think this is the same a healthy lifestyle. 

Myth 5. Eat less and exercise more.

How many times have you heard this?

The most important step to creating a healthy lifestyle is to focus on your own bio-individual needs. Being given this advice out of context can potentially cause more harm than good. Take the time to reflect on your daily actions in regards to your whole wellbeing and ask yourself “the most important step I need to take today to improve my health is….?” Each one of us will have a different answer.

To support you in your healthy lifestyle journey, find people who will support you and hold you accountable for your actions. It’s essential to see it as a life-long project, not just a 12 week plan, each part will have it’s own learning curves.

It’s takes time, believe in the process.

A lot of people fail to lose weight because they only focus on one part of the healthy lifestyle ‘wheel’. For example; focusing only on the food you eat may help you lose weight in the short term, however without addressing what else is going on in your life, you will only ever see short term results.

Use the 12 elements of wellness listed below to help you identify the areas in your life that need addressing and start taking steps today to healthy lifestyle that works for you.

• Health
• Physical Movement
• Home Cooking
• Education
• Career
• Joy
• Spirituality
• Social life
• Relationships
• Creativity
• Finances
• Home environment

A health coach supports you in identifying and overcoming the obstacles that are holding you back to living your healthiest and happiest lifestyle. If you would like to know more about the health coaching program or in need of an accountability partner, get in touch by emailing heidi@heidijonescoaching.com