Happy September everyone! This month’s newsletter is organized around the 3 crucial elements of all healthy lifestyles: fun, fitness, and food!!! And, just to be even more fun, I have added a 4th “F” at the bottom of this newsletter that stands for ‘FREE’!!! Check out the first of my FREE screen wallpapers featuring motivational quotes from my books Finding Your Fit and Your Fittest Future Self.

Now, notice how “fun” is listed BEFORE fitness and food! This is VERY purposeful!! Contrary to popular mythology, one is not either “restrictive, unhappy, yet healthy” OR “enjoying life and having fun.” “Fun” (my catch-all for joy/pleasure/social activities/etc.) is not the opposite of “being fit” — this false dichotomy simply sets you up for health failure. If adopting a healthier lifestyle feels like prison, you will just do your darndest to break free!!

The trick to long-term health success is creating a multifaceted healthy life that you don’t need a “cheat day” from. Find active activities that you enjoy and foods that you find yummy, do something daily that gives you purpose and hope, grow and learn, and be okay with mindfully indulging in moderate portions of foods you love (preferably as part of meaningful encounters with friends and/or family)!!

 

If you REALLY can’t find ways to be active and healthy food that you enjoy, try “marrying” healthy activities with non-fitness related experiences that give you pleasure: meet a friend for a fitness class, listen to a podcast as you walk, play catch with your child. These “marriages” make healthy choices palatable, which allows you to slowly re-wire your brain — over time your food and activity “taste buds” will gradually change.