As a personal trainer with over 18 years’ experience and having worked with a broad range of people of all ages, genders, body types and issues, I now, more than ever, believe that to live your best life you have to put 3 key ingredients together to truly feel fit, strong, happy and healthy: it is all about eating well, moving more and living mindfully.

Let me break it down for you!

Up front I am going to say that I do not believe in supplements for weight loss, meal replacements or any type of pill. I do not believe that cutting out whole food groups permanently is necessary or sustainable. I do not believe that eating well and moving more are the only two ingredients to being fit and healthy.

Living mindfully is also critical.

These three elements are intrinsically linked for you to live your best life and be your best you.

Eat Well
Eating well is about understanding that food is fuel for your body as well as being enjoyable. You don’t put a bottle of coke in your car if you want it to run well! Similarly, your mind and body can’t operate at optimum level if you’re trying to fuel it with junk – trans fats and sugar are not your friends for fuel!

Eating well is about understanding HOW MUCH you should eat based on your own circumstances – do you need to lose weight or gain weight? Are you doing a lot of exercise or a little? You also need to understand WHAT to eat. Do you have energy peaks and troughs? Do you have mental sluggishness midafternoon? Do you crave a heap of junk food that feels good while you eat it and then makes you feel bad? And you need to know WHEN to eat, to truly maximize your potential. Some people operate better if they kick their day off with a decent breakfast. Others work better if they eat later in the day. Eating well is a personal thing for you, based on your own goals, but is underscored by some key principles.

Science and research prove that two key things – intermittent fasting (calorie restrictions) and time restricted eating (eating in one 10 hour window each day for example) are both excellent strategies for assisting with weight loss, improving mental clarity and helping you feel better.

Being conscious and knowledgeable about what you put in your body is also important. Understanding which foods fuel you and which are just empty calories designed to keep you coming back for more, is fundamental to eating well. Learning moderation is also key. You don’t need to live a life without cake. You just need to learn what are ‘everyday foods’ and what are ‘sometimes foods’. Cake is a sometimes food. Putting this all together is the basis for success in eating well….

Move More
With today’s technology age we have become much more passive and spend more time in front of screens and sitting down than ever before. Because of the ‘rush’ of every day life, we also take the most convenient and quickest way to accomplish something. Generally – we park as close as we can to the place we are visiting, we drive there because it’s quicker than walking, we phone, text or message someone instead of walking over to their desk. As a society we are fatter and more unfit than previous generations (and it’s the food and the passive lifestyle we have combined that’s causing this!).

Exercise is a critical element to living your best life. You do not have to go to the gym – you can play sport, undertake activities you like such as biking, hiking and swimming, or you can attend exercise classes that you enjoy. As you get older it is also important to undertake activities that build bone and muscle strength as well as activities that promote cardiovascular health. Eating well alone will not ensure you are fit, healthy and strong. Exercise has an important role to play. Recent research has also drawn a direct line between aging people who exercise being at less risk of developing dementia.

Engaging in some sort of low impact exercise daily is a good habit to form. A 20min walk or 30min bike ride is a great place to start. As you feel better, add in regular exercise classes that increase the heart rate and build strength, to really maximize your potential to be fit, healthy and strong. Swim, bike, hike, attend exercise classes – these days we are spoilt for choice and everyone can find something affordable that is right for them!

Live Mindfully
While I am an absolute advocate for eating well and moving more, especially with regards to weight loss and overall quality of life, I am also passionate about the third critical piece to the puzzle. Living mindfully means making sure you are focusing on things that are really important to your own health and well-being. Two that should matter to everyone are drinking lots of water and getting proper sleep every day. The health benefits of these two alone are astonishing!

But more than that, you must make sure that you do things that make you happy. For some people that is connecting with their friends every week. For others, it is date night with their significant other. For others, it is a long soak in a bubble bath with champagne, and for me, it’s a combo of all of those, along with listening to music that makes me happy. When you spend your life focused on things that you have to do, instead of making time for the things that you WANT to do and that have a positive impact on your wellbeing (heart and soul impacts!), you are not living mindfully. And I know that in these days of everyone being so busy, it’s hard to make time for yourself in the ‘to-do’ list. But guess what! No-one else is going to do it for you. So, if you really want to live your best life, you must understand what things are important to you, and you have to make sure that you make them priorities!

So, to live your best life and be the best version of you – one that feels fit, strong, happy and healthy – there are three key target areas for you to focus on. Eat well. Move more. Live mindfully. Get started today – because why waste a minute?

If you would like support with how to eat well and move more in particular, reach out to me at cath@inhousestudiofitness.com.au or on 0418 566 624. My next Eat, Move, Live Challenge starts March 1st.