How do you choose to live?

If someone were to ask you today whether you would classify your lifestyle as healthy or unhealthy, what would you say? For many of us, our immediate thought is probably ‘healthy.’

But what does a healthy lifestyle look like compared to an unhealthy one? One very big factor many people dismiss is stress. Stress itself can cause mental and physical imbalance, but it can also induce other negative behaviors.

An unhealthy lifestyle can typically be linked to habits and behaviors that are cyclical. A life stressor triggers a bad habit — poor nutrition, lack of sleep, overindulgence of food or alcohol — and then it’s hard to break. Sometimes the mere thought of breaking a habit or stopping a behavior that brings comfort, even if it is short-lived, can seem daunting.

There are ways to make a shift to a healthier lifestyle. Yes, it will take commitment to follow through, but it is worth it in the end. Let’s look at how to make that happen.

Common comparative factors between a healthy and unhealthy lifestyle

Here is a glimpse into some of the more common behaviors and habits that appear in a healthy lifestyle versus an unhealthy lifestyle.

Healthy Lifestyle:

• Punctual: A healthy person is allways on time and has a set schedule they follow on a daily basis.

• Regularly exercises: This habit not only increases energy output in a physical manner, but through increased cognitive efficiency and overall mood, as well.

• Reads: A healthy person understands the importance of not only training their body, but their mind too. Reading every day allows you to expand in exponential terms over the course of a year. Give this a try – you will be blown away by how much you are capable of learning and retaining in a few short weeks.

• Mindful of their diet: Diet in this sense is referring to what an individual consumes for fuel, nutrients and energy on a daily basis. Healthy people understand the difference between fuel as it relates to the functionality of their body and fuel for mental pleasures. As cliché as it is, we must learn to eat to live, not live to eat.

• Treats others with kindness: Our interactions with others is an indicator of our well-being and our mood. It also relates to our own self-worth. Never underestimate the power of being positive, especially when your positive mood is shared with others.

Unhealthy Lifestyle:

• Shows up late: An unhealthy individual has challenges with structure or plans. This allows for sporadic behaviors and outside elements to have a direct impact on their actions.

• Hates to exercise: An unhealthy person refuses to see the benefits directly associated with training their body, or can’t find sufficient motivation to break a habit that either interferes with exercise or is at odds with it. They typically associate exercise with pain and negativity.

• Watches copious amounts of television: An unhealthy person finds themselves in the same spot on their couch every evening, mindlessly staring at their TV. There is a saying, ‘successful people have tiny TVs and huge libraries; unsuccessful people have huge TVs and no books.’ Success and health absolutely play off of each other.

• Mindlessly eats anything: Completely disregarding proper nutrition can adversely affect your overall appearance and health in general. Unhealthy people have a tendency not only to over eat, but they over eat calorically dense and processed foods.

How can we combat unhealthy behaviors?

Changing unhealthy behaviors begins internally in the mind. Visualize your end goal. How will you get there? Those are your action steps. Creating a positive mental shift can be a challenge, but it will get easier with time. One positive thought breeds another and another and so on.

Once you begin to shape your thoughts differently you will inevitably begin to see things differently. Once you see things differently you will begin to ACT differently. Once the actions change, life changes.

We completely understand that making big changes in your life is easier said (or read) than done. That’s why our team at Proactive Wellness Centers takes pride in helping patients achieve optimal health one at a time.

Wellness cannot be an overnight accomplishment. Consistency over time is key. If you have any questions at all, or would like to discuss any health issues you may be experiencing, please reach out to us HERE today.