The new lifestyle that we all lead today can be both a bane and boon to our health and fitness. With the technologies that we have available now, it seems that work follows us everywhere. It seems we sometimes find ourselves unable to even lift ourselves out of our computer chairs. It is becoming more and more common that people wake up and realize how sedentary and stress-filled their lives have become. This is a good thing. As I teach my health club clients, reducing stress and increasing physical activity and the most important things we can do to improve our lives and our health.What keeps us from becoming healthy?
No one can escape the fact that convenience is right at our fingertips; with cars, the computer, internet, and all these remote controls, who can blame us for becoming more and more inactive. It is true that our minds are always stimulated, but while it has become the age of the intelligent and comprehending minds, it has also become a world of physical ineptitude. Let us face it; probably the only things that get real exercise aside from our brains are our hands and fingers. Couple that lack of physical activity with the stress of never-ending deadlines, economic challenges and the constant demands of daily life and you can easily see where we’re headed.With this realization, nobody wonders why the couches of psychologists and psychiatrists are always occupied. The demand for anti-depressants has risen in unbelievable proportions. Everyone is suffering from stress, in one form or another. You get anxious because of the competitiveness of the workplace; you get stressed because of the demands in your household. With all of this pressure we tend to push our own well being into the back of our minds. In effect, we de-prioritize our own bodies. Stress levels soar and sometimes we let it go too far and we suffer from various illnesses that crop up because of it.How do we get our mental and physical fitness back to the top of the ‘To Do’ list?
Enlist the help of friends and family. Make health and fitness a group priority. Consult with a professional, like the team of fitness and nutritional experts that make up our Ontario health clubs. Being healthy and reducing stress in your life means forming healthy habits. Sometimes being part of a fitness group or joining a gym where you have space and time for yourself can be a great advantage. More and more people are realizing the importance of fitness success in the achievement of lifetime goals. After all, what good can it do you if you have a world full of opportunities when you have a body and a psyche that cannot handle it?Getting advice from professionals can be important. Visiting with trainers and nutrition counselors is very beneficial in helping us understand how slowing down and taking time to be in an appropriate diet and exercise program is advantageous in the long run. After then, we need to make ourselves willing and able to put our hearts and minds into this health routine.Stress is a crucial matter that you need to address; when stress and anxiety levels are too high, you will have a difficult time putting work down and setting aside time and space to make room for personal well-being. For instance, you feel too anxious to get the most of an exercise program when you are thinking of how much time you will have left to make dinner or beat a deadline in the office. Or. Sometimes, you cannot even enjoy a meal because all the tasks that you need to finish are running in your mind.How do you deal with this? One answer is to organize your schedule, take control of your time and look for unnecessary things that waste time. Knowing what you have to do and writing it down can help immensely in keeping your life in the right perspective. Creating a schedule that allows you to finish everything on time will allow you to see that you can make time for yourself. If your ‘To Do’ list is out of control try delegating some tasks to work subordinates, team members or family members. But, and this is important, you also have to make room for the unexpected. Acknowledge the fact that you cannot control everything that happens; the world does not revolve around you after all and it will not stop working if you spend a few hours taking care of yourself.