5 Steps to a Healthier and Happier Life

As most people know, I was a personal trainer for 2 years and an avid fitness activist for probably 10 years. After going through a transition in my life, I have been able to take a lot that I learned from personal training and apply it to my current lifestyle. Even after my hip surgery 6 months ago, I still work out about 3 times a week. I try my very best to eat as healthy as I can on a regular basis, but if I want I eat something that's not as healthy, I go for it. I’ve realized throughout my short 23, almost 24 years that life is way too short, changes happen even if you don’t want them to. It’s so important to do your best every damn day and make the most of each moment. I wanted to write a blog that helps remind all of us of a few things that really are important and that a few simple changes may have an impact on your life.  Enjoy :)

1. Drink lots of water. EVERY SINGLE DAY. I used to be one of those meat heads who would carry around a gallon of water everywhere I went and drank almost a gallon every single day. Now, I am so glad I'm no longer a meat head, but I definitely wouldn't mind having that gallon with me nowadays. It is so important to drink lots of water every single day, no matter if you're at work, at school or even on the weekends. I notice that during the week I am really great at drinking water, but on the weekends I tend to slack off so I myself have been making sure that I'm drinking more water on the weekends. Here are 5 reasons why you should drink more water!!

It maintains regularity in your body. Your body is made of a ton of water so replenishing the water that you may lose on an hourly basis is crucial!

It boosts your immune system and flushes out toxins. Water is so good for flushing out yucky stuff from your system which will definitely help in keeping you healthy. This is why they tell you to drink lots of fluids when you’re sick.

It improves the look and feel of your skin. Water moisturizes your skin (duh!) and keeps it soft, glowing and smooth! Sounds like a win win win to me :)

It helps you stay awake. Dehydration is one of the huge reasons why we feel tired. Why do you think you feel super sleepy after drinking certain types of alcohol? Alcohol is a diuretic and flushes your body free of water! 

It can help with weight loss. When you drink water, it often times can help you feel fuller longer which will help you avoid eating crap. Before you eat a big meal, chug a glass of water and you'll notice you'll cut your portion size down. 

2. Make more time for yourself. I know a lot of people that are very busy with work, school and taking care of others. I see it in my own parents, especially my mom; she is always seeing what everyone else needs and rarely puts herself first. I notice she works later, she cleans the house, gets dinner ready, takes the animals for a walk and feeds them. She always seems to have a lot going on. Then I see her enjoy days when she'll go outside and swim for hours or just sit in a comfy chair and read a magazine or a book. It's really important to take time for yourself outside of your job and things you do for other people in your personal life. Even if it's going for a walk by yourself listening to your favorite music or audiobook, having a day to pamper yourself, guys this goes for you too! It's okay to be selfish sometimes, this was something I had to tell my clients when I was a personal trainer, take time for you so that you can take better care of those around you! Find what you enjoy doing and go do it!!

3. Take care of your environment. Thanks to my mom, I am quite a clean freak. I have always been one to have a clean car, a clean bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. I've noticed there are times when my room is a mess or the environment that I'm spending a lot of my time in feels unclean to me and it really brings down my whole mood. I've noticed with myself that when I clean my house I feel renewed, it may also be a control thing, because cleaning is something I know I can control. There are so many things in life that are so out of our control that sometimes it's good to worry about things you can control and take care of them. This step is so important, especially if you live with other people, my boyfriend lived with 3 other guys and let me just tell you.. they were disgusting. There have been many times that I just wanted to take all the mess they left in the kitchen and throw it onto their beds. Respect the people you're around and clean up after yourself, I know they'll appreciate it if you do. 

4. Treat people like you'd like to be treated. This is pretty self explanatory, but so much easier said than done. I've noticed that I've been put into pretty crappy positions lately with job opportunities and I haven't been appreciating how I've been treating others. When you're frustrated and run down sometimes it's hard to treat people well, because they are the source of your frustration, but when you're faced with this situation it's good to take a step back and realize that treating them like crap won't make you feel any better. I always say it, but rarely practice it, sometimes you just have to kill people with kindness. That usually gets more of a response than being awful to people. Take life one day at a time and just remember that nothing lasts forever, the only consistent thing in life is change. Be nice to those around you and maybe that will motivate them to be nicer too!

5. Smile at someone every single day. When I was thinking of what things to put in this blog I asked my dad what he thought was important in life to make someone happy; he told me that one day he smiled at someone as they were walking towards him as he was going to work and they smiled back at him and it gave him such a sense of happiness. It's such a simple thing, but that may be the one thing that turns that person's day around. This also goes along with doing something nice for someone. I was at the gym one afternoon and there was an older gentleman trying to get onto each piece of cardio equipment. He was having a really hard time so I decided to stop my workout and help him. I learned that his doctor wanted him to start doing 10 minutes of exercise each day to keep his knees moving and his heart happy. I helped him with each bicycle and realized he'd be better off on a seated elliptical. I took him and his wife over to the machine and showed them how it worked and they were so grateful. They asked me if I worked there and I told them no, that I used to be a personal trainer and have some knowledge about the equipment. It seriously brightened my day, it was so nice to be able to help someone, because I realized he may have just gone home and decided there wasn't any equipment he could use so he may have just given up. There may not be opportunities like that every day, but when there are, definitely jump at them! We always expect someone else to jump at an opportunity and take care of something, like stopping on the side of the road and helping someone, but the reality is that everyone thinks that someone else will handle it and no one ever does. Be that someone.