3 Mistakes Stopping You From Having A Healthy Lifestyle

What is considered a healthy lifestyle? According to the World Health Organization, a healthy lifestyle is a way of living that lowers the risk of being seriously ill or dying early. This can be achieved by performing a number of actions, from eating nutrient-rich foods to exercising daily. If you are looking forward to optimizing your health, these are 3 mistakes stopping you from having a healthy lifestyle: 

1. Bad days

Maintaining a healthy life does require consistency. This doesn't mean that if you miss one day you will not accomplish your goals. There are a few different fitness enthusiasts who emphasize that cheat meals or missing one day of exercise (recovery day) is a good thing. These are some suggested lifestyle rules: 

• Do not miss more than 2 days of exercise - It may take time to build a habit but it is a lot faster to fall back into old habits. 
• The 80/20 rule - you are allowed to indulge from time to time, but as long as the good nutrient-rich food outweigh the bad ones, then you will be more likely to succeed. 

The important thing to remember is that everyone is unique. Find the process that works best for you, and keep at it. But find ways to keep yourself motivated and on track with your goal(s).  

2. The wrong encouragement 

Feedback is great, but can it be counterproductive? A 2011 study identifies that there are comments that are better than others. There is a type of encouragement that works best, and that is the kind that keeps you motivated and focused on doing better. This is called person praise instead of process praise. 

Person praise is related to your ability and identity, while process praise is related to your efforts. So which is better? The best comments, based on the study, are process praise. Process praise is: "Awesome, you worked really hard and got it done " instead of, person praise that is: "You are incredible." Find people that will be honest with you throughout your journey, and that will motivate you in positive ways. It is also important to find ways to analyze your progress, be real with yourself, and modify your actions to get where you want to be. 

3. Trying too many things at once 

Developing a new habit requires focus, so it is important for you to know how much time you will dedicate. If you take on too many new activities you might be more likely to fall behind. To avoid this, it is best to start off with one or two new goals. Develop those activities as much as possible, usually, actions can become habits around 2 months of practicing it. Once you feel like you have established an action as second nature, then you are best equipped to start building a new habit.