The average person who is concerned about their health and fitness will start or re-start a new exercise or diet plan several times throughout the year. The struggle to stay on track is real! Even with the best knowledge around us, it can be tough to avoid letting life get in the way. Most often when I see my personal training clients struggle to gain momentum with a healthy lifestyle, it is because they let these small life struggles become an overwhelming pressure that sabotages their efforts to keep plugging away at their exercise and nutrition plan. They either don’t realize we all start somewhere and place too much pressure on themselves to be fit and healthy right away or they fail to realize that one is greater than zero and that every bit of exercise or decision to eat healthily is better than not doing anything at all. To highlight the process I encourage my clients to follow, you can check out a recent interview I did about a Laramie Personal Training Success Story: Holly Steinkraus.

I hear coaches and personal trainers who use personal trainer business software talk about the need for people to be truly committed to their goals to be successful at creating a life focused on healthy living. As true as that may be, it doesn’t usually happen overnight. It takes time to become a fitness success story with lots of learning and adjustments along the way. Fortunately, there have been many people who have come down this road before and their success leaves clues that can guide us to the healthy lifestyle we are searching for.

Let’s look at 5 tips that are proven to help build healthy habits.

1. Exercise consistently to cut fat and get healthy.

Exercising regularly is key to building well-rounded health. According to the popular WebMD, focusing on intentional exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 days per week can help lower your risk of hypertension, osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes, just to name a few key benefits. Try to build momentum by getting in small amounts throughout the day until you can consistently get to that 30-minute mark and beyond.

2. Eat clean whole foods instead of fast and processed food-like substances.

This recommendation can be found all over the place, so why do personal trainers and coaches keep bringing up this common-sense advice? Because the vast majority of people still fail to plan on having clean, whole foods around and instead choose to rely on highly processed food-like choices out of convenience. When you truly decide to make healthy living a priority, you will eliminate the processed food from your home and start learning the most convenient ways to eat clean and nutritious meals.

3. Drink more water, more often to immediately improve your health.

Since the human body is more than 60% water, with many organs holding even more than that, it stands to reason that even a slight amount of dehydration can have a negative impact on the way we feel and how our body functions. Yet it is estimated that a staggering 80% of people walk around in a chronic or constant state of dehydration. Replace your high sugar or other non-water beverages with more water, and shoot to drink at least .8 ounces of water per pound of body weight in a day and increase this amount the more you exercise.

4. Get more rest to enjoy a higher quality of life.

Numerous studies show a direct correlation between getting enough sleep and healthy living. The magic number appears to be that getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night will directly and immediately improve your body’s ability to perform and function optimally.

5. The quickest way to improve your health is to invest in yourself.

It’s a fast-paced world with many pressures pushing and pulling us in different directions. The only way to truly live the life of abundance you deserve and to be the best YOU that you can be for those around you is to make sure you are placing a priority on your health through consistent daily exercise and clean eating. But equally important is the mental health needed for vitality, so be sure you also include time for doing the things that help you relieve stress and that truly make YOU happy.