Stepping Out Challenge - Day 13 - Healthy Lifestyle part 1

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Today I am going to be talking about a series on my called 31 Days to a Healthier Lifestyle

Welcome to today's session. We all want to lead a healthier lifestyle and be eating food that is not only nutritious but taste delicious as well.  We want to be able to slot a routine into our hectic day to day without any inconvenience without breaking a sweat  It doesn’t come on its own without any effort, it comes with a price and that is Time.

I was generally fed up having aches and pains and just feeling sluggish and lethargic all the time - well most of the time, and I knew that my fitness routine (or lack of it) and eating foods that didn't nourish my body on a consistent basis wasn't doing me any good.

The thing about a healthier lifestyle is that it needs to be a way of life and not something that you insert now and again. If you value the work that your mind and body can potentially do for you then you have to be giving it the right fuel to have enough energy to perform. For those car owners you take your car for a regular check-up you put petrol in the car so why not see how you can get the maximum benefit from putting good quality nutritious food into your body, exercising and looking after you emotional health. 

What I realized I needed was a kick start.  They say it takes 21 days to form a habit and so I knew that if I created small actions around a healthier lifestyle then it would be something that I would stick to.

As I was committing myself to a healthier lifestyle I needed to look at the whole package and here are some of the other things that I focused on: 

Exercise - minimum half an hour 

Drinking Water - Minimum 1 Litre 

Having a Smoothie - Once a day 

Pampering session - for encouragement - once a week 

Cut down on sugar 

Eat more fruit and vegetables 

Not eating after 8pm 

One of the biggest things for me was around food and not eating enough fruits and vegetables. I had wanted to make sure I was eating a lot more and drinking enough water but I wasn’t being consistent I would start for a few days and then get distracted only to try something else next time.  Making it into a challenge for me somehow helps me focus on consistency, setting a plan and schedule and think about the lifestyle and way of live rather than a forced activity.

Before I started the challenge I had heard about the Nutri bullet and wanted to use it to make my own smoothies.  I love smoothies and this was an extra special treat for my body having a different smoothie every day.  It got me thinking about the ingredients and combinations that you could achieve. Where possible when making the smoothies - make it organic make sure you aim for quality all round, this is best for your body and you deserve it. I am now fortunate to be able to grow most of my own fruits and vegetables so I know exactly what is going into my food. With that in mind I knew I had to get the best possible that I could afford, when I wasn’t ‘growing my own’ I just had to make sure that I washed the fruits and vegetables carefully – you do what you can with what you have got at the time. 

As with most challenges you need to have discipline.  Sometimes you don't feel like doing it, or you become overwhelmed especially when deciding to share.  As long as you are showing up every day for yourself don't worry about whether you share on time or not, that is not what the  challenge is about, and you need to also focus on enjoying the challenge.  

You are making a difference and incorporating new ways of behavior into your day to day routine, so make it fun for you! Tomorrow we will look at some of the combinations of smoothies.

Tomorrow I will share the second part from my 30 Days to a Healthier Lifestyle.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some of the supplies/books at a discounted price, click one of the links below:

Adorn it - bit.ly/AdorAT18 

Dollar Tree - bit.ly/DolAT18 

Blick - bit.ly/Blick18 

Book Outlet - bit.ly/BOOKAT18 

Stampington - bit.ly/STAAT18 

C&T Publishing - bit.ly/CNTPAT18 

Dover - bit.ly/DOVPAT18 

Craftsy Kits - bit.ly/CrafAT18 

Amazon Store - 

www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Sprouted seeds - Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is a must to ensure that your body gets the right nutrients, I am often reminded how much we take our own health for granted and thought I would share one of the many great ideas there are for getting your body in tip top form....

Armed with my glass germinator I have started to sprout seeds, and add them to dishes especially salads and stir fry.

With the weather getting warmer I am hoping to try a whole range of delicious salads.

I made all these sprouts from just a handful of seeds!

Why don't you give it a try, it only takes around 3 - 5 days to sprout the seeds, and they last for a couple of days in the fridge!