How to Keep Fit and Healthy: How Do They Do It?

I know that’s the burning question on everyone’s minds, how to keep fit and healthy. Lately, I have been thinking I should get back to basics and think like a beginner starting a new healthy lifestyle. Go back to where I first began my journey all those years ago.

I have personally been feeling overwhelmed with things lately, especially the weight creeping back on me not to mention other ailments. I want to fall back in love with fitness and working out even if I have to change things up and do things differently and I think to do that, I need to start with some simple tips.

There are specific and very simple habits I think we should follow on how to keep fit and healthy. Here are my top 5.

5 Habits of Fit and Healthy People

If you look at people in awe and wonder how to keep fit and healthy like they do, their secret comes down to this, pure and simple: a healthy lifestyle. Everything they do centers around living this way. If you want to be more like them, here are five things I think you need to start doing:

1. Eat breakfast

Listen to your mother when she tells you breakfast is the most important meal of the day because she is right. After fasting all night, get your body going by having a good healthy and nutritious breakfast. This will give your metabolism a kick in the butt that can last for hours, making sure that you are burning the maximum number of calories possible each day.

2. Always be on the move

If you are sitting still, you are burning fewer calories than if you were up and moving. That’s a given. Fit and healthy people are always on the go. They park at the far end of the parking lot, or they get off a stop or two away from where they work, and then walk in the rest of the way. They take the stairs instead of the elevator. They ride their stationary bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill at night while watching TV, instead of just sitting on the couch. In doing so, they burn much more calories than people who do not.

3. Start your day with exercise

Exercising first thing in the morning not only wakes up your body and muscles, but also your mind. People who exercise early in the day tend to have a better mood and more positive outlook on life, which leads to the choices they make, like choosing what they eat and how they burn calories throughout the day. Exercising also helps the brain and you’ll be more successful in the work that you do.

4. Cook and eat at home

As strange as it may sound, fit and healthy people only eat when their body tells them it is hungry. And when they do eat, it is generally at home (for breakfast and dinner) and a light healthy lunch. If they do have to eat out, they make smart choices as far as portions and type of food – like fresh vegetables and berries/fruit.

This is where I struggle…

Along with making smart eating choices, the drink of choice is almost always water. They know that not only does it hydrate them better than any other drink, but water contains no calories, which in many other drinks comes from added sugar.

5. Don’t obsess over your body

If you are a daily scale watcher, you can learn a lot from fit and healthy people. They don’t look at a scale often because they know their healthy lifestyle and habits will keep them right where they want to be. They typically consume and burn off around the same number of calories each day, thus keeping them at the same weight … within a few pounds. Most healthy and fit people monitor their fitness level by how tight (or loose) their clothes feel. They keep track of their fitness and eating habits and NOT the scale. That’s the best way to not obsess over your body.

Doing these five things consistently will put US in the healthy and fit category. Once we choose to make it a priority to live a healthy lifestyle, we will never have to think about the idea of dieting again.

Here are some other good habits of healthy people. I have been trying to focus more on reading food labels like it suggests.

Do you have any simple tips on how to keep fit and healthy?

Don’t forget to join the monthly fitness challenge. You can read more about the current challenge here. Planning the November challenge now. If you have any ideas or want to sponsor and run the November challenge, let me know!