5 Tips and Tricks to Staying Happy, Healthy, and Well Balanced

Hi Guys! My name is Karin Adoni, I am a certified holistic nutritionist and health coach, and I am going to be a guest blogger on the Prjon blog.  I am writing today to share my 5 favorite tips and tricks to staying happy, healthy, and well balanced.

So before I get into all that, let me tell you a little bit about myself. Before I decided to pursue a career in wellness I had a quite the tumultuous relationship with food. Where it rooted from, I’m not quite sure, but what I am sure about is that it was not healthy. Fad diets were my religion, starvation and working out were my lifestyle, and the number on the scale was my only measure of self worth. Needless to say, this was not working in my favor, at all. When i looked good, i felt shitty, and when I looked shitty, I felt worse, it was a never ending vicious cycle. Now, why am I telling you all this? I am telling you this because I had to learn the hard way that this was not the right approach to health. My experience lead me to the conclusion that no matter what crazy thing I tried and now matter how much money I invested, there was no shortcut to being healthy, at least not a lasting one. That being said, I am sharing this with you so that hopefully I can help you learn the right way to to go about food and exercise, something that took me years of pain and suffering to learn. You deserve to look your absolute best without having to compromise how you feel and I am going to help you do just that.

So how am I going to help you achieve good health? Well, first we have to start by defining health. Health by definition, is the overall wellness of a person, this includes their physical, mental, and emotional well being. In other words that you might have heard in a yoga class somewhere: the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and soul. Each one of these factors relies on the other and in order to truly be happy with our outer appearance must first learn to love and appreciate our inner selves. Ok, now I know what you’re thinking, i am looking for health tips here not therapy, but be patient it’s coming and you must be aware of this in order for any of these tips to have value.

So I like to look visualize health as a triangle,  we have nutrition at the top, exercise at one base, and behavioral/emotional changes at the other end. We must succeed at all 3 if we want to see changes. They say abs are made in the kitchen, and this is true, the food we eat, and our food habits have the most effect on any physical changes in our body such as weight loss, sleep, mood, energy, and even our skin. We can exercise all day everyday, but if we are not eating a well balanced diet there is no way we are going to be feeling or looking as good as we should be. However, exercise is still an extremely important part of being healthy. Exercise also accelerates weight loss, improves sleeps, and enhances our mood. Now, exercise is often thought about as a drag, or difficult but that’s such a narrow minded view, there are SO many types of exercise to explore, and the second you are able to change your mentality from viewing exercise as a task as opposed to a hobby it becomes much easier and more enjoyable. Lastly comes behavior and emotional changes which without the the other two cannot exist. We must first have the will power, the mindset, and confidence to change in order to be successful in our eating and our exercising.  So with all that being said, here is my list of 5 tips and tricks to get you going, (congrats you’ve made it through my babble)…….

1. Start every morning off with a glass of lemon water…. and for those of you brave enough add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (it’s a little unusual at first, but you get used to it, and the effects are well worth it)

Both lemons and apple cider vinegar have an outrageous amount of health benefits which include aiding in digestion, boosting immunity, reducing inflammation and accelerating weight loss. They have many detoxifying properties and just half lemon and or a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with water is enough to give you a healthy detox boost. However, if you are drinking this concoction daily, which you should be, I do suggest drinking it out of a straw because both substances are very acidic and our teeth are sensitive to it.

2. Prepare !!!!

I always tell my clients “failing to plan is planning to fail”. Now, I know you’ve all seen those meal prep photos on instagram of every meal and snack perfectly packed in a tupperware and perfectly stored in the fridge. Well, no that’s not how meal prep has to be done, unless of course you are capable of that, then all power to you. Meal prep can simply be making a whole chicken with vegetables in the oven and leaving the leftovers in the fridge to be eaten throughout the week. Or cutting a bunch of vegetables in the beginning of the week and putting them in ziplocks to take with you as an “on the go”  snack. It can be simple. And prepping doesn’t translate to  only food it can also apply to your workouts. Sign up for your workout classes ahead of time (most studios will charge you if you don’t show up) or schedule a training or a workout with a partner so that you are more inclined to go. Putting in the work at the beginning of the race helps you finish first, it’s worth it.

3. Change up your meals

I can’t stress enough how important it is to be diverse with your meals. Just like you would get bored of watching the same movie over and over again your body gets bored of eating the same thing. Different foods are rich in different vitamins and minerals, and even by just changing the composition of food for example eating a raw vs. cooked vegetable,  the chemical composition of that vegatable changes. Your body craves that diversity and by changing up your meals you’re nourishing your body with the diverse load of vitamins and minerals it needs.

4. Get rid of your “All or nothing mentality”

So often I see people go into their diets with such a restrictive mindset “I am going to work out every day and I am not going to eat any carbs at all” and this might work for a little but IT NEVER LASTS. By going into a diet with tons of restrictions you are subconsciously establishing a negative connection to health. You are reminding yourself of all things you cannot have instead of  thinking about all the wonderful things you can have. Typically when people start really strict diets they fail just hard or harder than they succeed. So often I have clients say “ I messed up I had one cookie and then I thought well my whole diets messed up now so I just continued to eat like shit”. Dieting is not about restriction, if you are dieting and you really want one cookie, that is ok, we all should be able to have a cookie every once in while, (or else we’d like probably die) but we have to let ourselves know that it is ok to have one cookie and that does not mean we failed. We don’t need to then go and eat so many calories that our whole week of dieting then becomes useless. Have a cheat meal, I encourage it, and make it something you really really love and crave, just don’t let it turn into a cheat day or week or month. Dieting is about balance, it’s not something you only have one shot at, so you don’t have to approach it as though you do.

5. Learn to balance your social life with your healthy lifestyle you DO NOT have to choose one or the other.

I can’t tell you how many times I have “well I can’t start this week I am going out or maybe I’ll just stay in this weekend so I am not tempted”. Being healthy does not mean you need to compromise, It simply means you need to prioritize. On days you are going out at night make sure you get in a work out. When you know you have dinner plans make sure you don’t show up to the restaurant hungry, I always recommend eating an apple or a handful of nuts before, because being starving leads to being careless. If you’re going to have a drink or two make sure to opt for a red or dry white wine or if you’re choosing a cocktail stick to clear liquor with lime and soda water as your mixers.If you’re sharing a bunch of appetizers, make sure to order a green salad on the side.  Being healthy is about balance not restriction, when you accept that fact it all becomes not only manageable but enjoyable.

So those are my tips for you, I hope they can get you started on a healthy path. I will be back with some more nutrition and fitness challenges to keep you motivated and inspired.