9 Tips for Achieving Healthy Living Goals & Finding Life Balance

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Almost eight months have passed since you set those new year’s resolutions. Are you closer to achieving those goals or have you made steps in the wrong direction?

My progress has been slow, but I continue to make small changes with the ultimate goal of creating healthy habits that will last a lifetime and not just a couple of weeks.

With August being Health Awareness Month, it’s a good time to take a look at your health (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) and make sure that you are finding the right life balance. It’s a balance that takes mindful planning to achieve.

These tips are some of the ways that have helped me achieve success with my healthy living goals in the past and making this list has been a good reminder for me get back on track with my goals.

 

1. Do the Prep Work

There’s a lot to say for convenience. I am notorious for making bad food choices when I’m hungry. I’ll open the fridge and say, “There’s nothing to eat…”, and proceed to stuff my mouth with whatever is convenient.

Here’s the good news—with a little preparation, even healthy foods can be convenient.

For example, cut up fruits and veggies and have them ready to eat in the fridge. Fill small plastic storage bags (or small reusable containers) with the recommended serving size of your favorite snack to prevent overeating. Cook chicken or salmon on the weekends so that it’s ready to grab for a quick and healthy lunch during the hectic work week.

 

2. Prioritize Quiet Time

We live in an over-scheduled, noisy, and violent world. It’s important to take time to be quiet and listen to nothing other than our own thoughts. If you’re not used to this practice, it may seem difficult at first—but after a while you will come to treasure those peaceful moments.

There are a variety of ways that you can make the most of your quiet time. Sit down and read that book you’ve been meaning to read. Journal your thoughts and enjoy the therapeutic benefits. Meditate or pray to benefit the soul. Even just leisurely sipping a cup of coffee and taking in the scent and taste can be centering.

 

3. Take Vitamins/Supplements

If you’re already taking a daily multivitamin, give yourself a pat on the back! There are a variety of supplements that can benefit body and mind. Taking fish oil can have numerous health benefits, including supporting heart health. If you have trouble sleeping, melatonin supplements can often help. Consult your physician to find out what’s best for you.

When shopping at Sam’s Club, I love to browse the Healthy Living section. They carry everything you could possibly need to stay happy and well. And they have the most heavenly produce section that makes it easy to eat nutritiously. I love being a Sam’s Club member!

 

4. Lend a Hand

Doing good for others is a natural mood booster. There can never be too much kindness in the world. There are a millions ways to give—donate your blood to save lives, volunteer in your community, visit the elderly, drop off a freezer meal at a tired new mom’s house, hold the door open for the person behind you, or shovel your neighbor’s sidewalk in the winter. The possibilities are endless.

 

5. Hydrate

The average human is made up of approximately 65% water. Think about that—over 1/2 of you is water! It’s pretty amazing to think about and proves how essential hydrating with H2O is to human life and health. I feel a million times better when I am well hydrated and I feel even better when I’m using a reusable water bottle—saving the environment one sip at a time!

 

6. Checkup on Your Health

Getting a regular health checkup can save your life. I’ve heard countless stories of people who, during a regular checkup, find out they are in the early stages of cancer, and the fact that it was caught early meant that they were able to effectively treat it. I’ve also heard countless stories of people who ignore the symptoms and end up finding out they have a terminal illness by the time they go to the doctor for a check up. Make yourself a priority and keep tabs on your health.

Sometimes achieving good health means having a health screening done and facing the facts so that you can set goals for improvement. Once you meet those goals, monitoring your health is important in maintaining it. On September 12th, Sam’s Club is offering an in store free health screening—the perfect opportunity to check up on your health.

 

7. Make Physical Activity Fun

I struggle to find exercise that I love to do and I know that’s the secret to being consistent with it. I love to go for bike rides and explore nature trails. I love to swim. Sometimes being active just means that I do whatever I have to do to keep moving—such as going to the mall and walking around window shopping.

I have also enjoyed running numerous 5Ks and saving my race bibs to make a fun collage, which is displayed in my workout room. I’ve earned one medal for participation, but it is a goal of mine to someday earn a medal for placing in my age group. Setting goals like this can make exercise more fun because you have something to work towards.

But the struggle is real and that’s why finding an exercise that you enjoy doing is so important. You have to love what you do!

 

8. Be a Lifelong Learner

You literally can never stop learning. Isn’t the thought of that inspiring? There is so much more to learn and discover!

One of my favorite ways to continue learning is to listen to podcasts while I’m cleaning the house. It makes an otherwise dreadful task more bearable. I am a bit of a nerd, so I listen to a podcast about grammar, but I also listen to podcasts about finance, personal development, creative inspiration, current events, and healthy living. I know that I am better because of it.

I also love to read, whether it be literature, news stories, or light hearted essays. The Sam’s Club Healthy Living Made Simple Magazine is a great source for keeping up with healthy living topics.

 

9. Unplug and Unwind

While scrolling through social media is enticing, you can waste a lot of time reading about the lives of others while you’re completely wasting away your own. Every once in a while, completely unplug—put the phone down, turn off Netflix, and shut down your laptop.

Grab some friends and family and have some good old-fashioned fun. Go for a picnic, play a board game, toss a ball around, or even run through the sprinkler. Live life. Enjoy life. You’ll never regret it and I’m also willing to bet that you’ll be much happier with the memories of a good time spent with loved ones than you would be if you sat on the couch looking at your phone.

Making good memories will give you something to smile about later—it’s just simply good for your health!

 

These are just a few of the many ways to find life balance for physical, emotional, and spiritual healthy living. Sam’s Club has everything I need to work towards my healthy living goals.

What’s your favorite item at Sam’s Club that helps you work towards your healthy living goals?

P.S. Don’t forget to get your free Health Screening at Sam’s Club!

Weigh in Day Surprise: The Journey of Renovation in Weight Loss and Self-Love

I really messed it up this past week. I mean really badly. I was out of control with my eating.

I think it’s because I have been stressing about having a guest today. I’m feeling a lot better at the moment because I finally finished cleaning the entire house, with the exception of our bedroom—which will be my next project. I mean really and truly clean—hardly hiding any messes! You know what I mean? ha

I also have been pushing myself outside of my comfort zone in some relationships. I am a work in progress and I am seeing change in myself that I thought would never, ever happen. And it’s rewarding to me. It has brought me peace of heart in a way that I cannot explain. But it has been a little stressful for me—but as I keep going, it will get easier and more comfortable.

But anyways, I was expecting a gain this morning. I feel horrible. I look horribly bloated from the terrible food choices (sugary sweets). I don’t know how I did for points because I stopped tracking, once again.

In the midst of all of this, I am paying attention to how I am feeling, how I’m reacting, and I’m journaling it all. I just know I am going to conquer this lifelong demon that I have let control me (a part of myself without good judgment).

So get on with already, Alissa!

I lost 2.2 lbs. this week. Total loss of 9.4 lbs. I didn’t earn it in the least bit, but I’m going to take it and let it motivate me to do better.

Now that I think about it, I have made some positive changes and progress that doesn’t show on the scale but that I think will help me in the long run. I’m in the midst of transformation and renovation.

Everyone knows that a cocoon isn’t very beautiful, but the butterfly is.

When an old building is renovated, there’s a lost of dust, junk, and a lot of mess. But when an old building is renewed, it’s sometimes even more beautiful than it was in the first place.

This process is messy. It’s ugly. It even hurts sometimes.

But just like when I don’t have the energy to truly clean the house and it’s easier to just hide messes, I refuse to just hide my problems and struggles so that I don’t have to acknowledge them.

Not this time.

Not ever again.

I’m under construction right now, but after a lot of hard work and dedication (not just on the scale) I will be transformed into something more beautiful than ever before.

The walls I’ve built up will come down. The junk will be emptied out of the drawers (and my trunk - ha). I will be renewed and ready to face down those demons once and for all.

But for now, I am still a work in progress.

The Price of Peace

I woke up with the massive headache I’d had for over 24 hours. My one year old daughter, Sienna, had woken and was standing in her crib yelling for “Dada” (daddy) as loud as should could. I chuckled at her lack of patience as I climbed out of bed.

Opening her door, I greeted her with an enthusiastic “good morning” and was given a glare and a little smile.

“Dada?”

“Daddy’s at work, sweetheart. He’ll be home later.” She thought for a moment and then reached her arms up for me to pick her up. She fussed as I changed her diaper.

Downstairs, she walked over to the front window and indicated that she wanted me to open the shades. When I did, I noticed that an animal had gotten into our garbage and shreds of trash were strewn across our lawn, into the street, and in the neighbor’s yard.

Groan.

It always annoyed me that my husband put the garbage out by the road in trash bags instead of placing the trash bags in our garbage can. I texted him to tell him what had happened, partly out of annoyance.

“Make sure to pick it up right away so we don’t get in trouble,” he responded.

How can I manage picking up garbage right next to the street with a one year old along? And then the solution popped into my head—I would put her in her red Radio Flyer wagon and pull her along with me while I pushed the garbage can with my other hand, this way she couldn’t run into the street.

My hair was messy, having just woken up, and the little one was still in her purple elephant pattern pajamas. We trekked out to the street and I knelt down to begin picking up the remains of food, paper towels, and who knows what else, which was already being consumed by bugs.

This is so disgusting. Yuck! It had just rained and everything was soggy, smelly, and full of flies and ants.

The neighbor’s white garage door began to rumble open as Sienna chattered happily in the wagon.

Each morning our elderly neighbors left their home in town to go to their farmhouse. But this was two hours earlier than normal.

Oh no…

Mr. Neighbor had just recently either decided to be friendly with us again (after being mad at us for a few years over the fact that our walnut tree “got walnut juice” on his siding) or he had forgotten due to old age, probably the latter.

Clutching his brown cane, wearing brand new overalls, a white undershirt, worn brown work boots, and a tired green seed corn hat, he limped down his driveway with purpose.

“I saw the dog that did that,” he said as if he had been anticipating this conversation for a lifetime.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep,” he said pointing to another neighbor’s house, “They never keep that dog tied up.”

“Oh I see,” I said with a smile, thinking of the other neighbor’s brand new puppy.

“You should really call the police about this,” he said angrily.

I glanced up at him from where I was picking up trash to see if he was serious. His piercing blue eyes told me he was dead serious.

“Well, we should really put our trash into a can so that animals can’t get to it. It’s really our fault,” I said, trying to smooth it over as I continued picking up a rotten onion.

“I can’t believe you’re going to stand for this. It’s a law to keep your dog tied up and they’re breaking the law. I just can’t believe you’re not going to call the police,” he growled.

I was taken aback and frantically tried to think of how to respond. A million thoughts ran through my head.

It’s not worth creating conflict with the other neighbors over their puppy getting into our trash one time.

I can’t believe he’s serious about this.

How can I make him go away?

How can I calm him down and help him to understand that this isn’t a big deal?

“It’s ok,” I said with a smile, we’ll make sure to put our trash in a can from now on.

Anger rushed across his face as he turned to walk back to his house but then turned back around.

“This is going to happen again, you know. Do you want the dog to keep getting into your trash? You need to call the police and do something about this,” he tried to persuade me.

Sienna was silent, just staring and watching this all unfold.

I’m trying my best. Can’t he see that?

Just breathe. My anxiety was rising because conflict bothers me to the very core.

I continued to pull the wagon with me as I picked up the trash and stuffed it into a new sack. He pointed out everywhere that the trash had been scattered by the wind.

“There’s trash over there, and there, and way over there too,” he growled.

“Yeah, I’ll pick it all up,” I assured him.

He limped across the street to where an empty Mountain Dew bottle rested against the curb. He kicked the bottle across the street to me as if it were a soccer ball.

“Thanks,” I said as I placed all of the trash into the can.

He began walking back to his house with no word.

“Have a good day,” I said, trying to cheer him up.

“Well, how can I have a good day after this? You’re just going to let them get away with this. This is ridiculous!”

“Try not to let it ruin your day. I’ll tell my husband about it,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Ok,” he said with relief.

I pulled the wagon into the garage and stood for a moment with my hand over my eyes and took a deep breath.

It’s ok. It’s ok.

How can someone be so unhappy like that?

How is something like this worth the cost of his peace?

I looked down at Sienna and realized she had seen and heard it all. She may not have understood what was happening, but her silence indicated that she definitely knew there was conflict.

“I love you,” I said wearily as I gave her a kiss on the forehead.