The definition of lifestyle is "the way in which a person or group lives". And when it comes to health and fitness it is simply that. How can we make health and fitness part of the way that you live?

Getting lean and fit is one thing. But staying that way is a completely different path. Think about this for a minute and you might begin to understand why. Almost anyone can narrow their focus and dedicate themselves to reaching a goal for a short period of time. But more often than not, they neglect some of the key factors that will allow them to maintain their goals for the rest of their lives.

Making health and fitness a permanent part of your lifestyle is key to longterm success.

Below we have put together 5 of our best lifestyle tips that we use with our "FitAfter50" clients.

1. De-stress regularly

It could be said that the key to reaching your health and fitness goals in the long term is balance. Finding a balance of the right amount/intensity of fitness. The right balance of "good" foods vs. "bad" foods. But also the right balance of stress in your life.

You may or may not be aware of this already, but your stress levels play a major role in your ability to reach and maintain your health and fitness goals.

We can often handle a lot of stress (or at least we think we can), but if left unchecked it can wreak havoc on our health and our lives on several levels.

Stress can be like the straw that broke the camel's back.

Most of us tend to go, go, go and go some more. When stress levels aren't taken care of you get sick, injuries start popping up everywhere, your results stop happening (or even worse, they go in the opposite direction), and more.

It is important that we address the stress in our lives so that we can thrive and continue progressing to a healthier, stronger and fitter us.

We're not only talking about physical stress like exercise. Mental and emotional stress play a large role.

De-stressing is something you should do on a regular basis (in other words, don't wait until your year end vacation to relax). Try de-stressing for 10-15 minutes per day at least and 45-60 minutes once per week.

De-stressing ideas

Go for a hike (being in nature has a huge positive impact on our stress levels).
Have fun, laugh and play (these are some of the best ways to detach from the stresses of life and to let stress roll off your back).
Read light fiction (nothing that gets you thinking too much, you already have enough of that in your regular day).
Epsom salt baths, sauna sessions, go to the spa (Nordik Spa is a short drive from downtown Ottawa).
Get on the phone and catch up with a good friend or relative that uplifts you.
Perform a 10-20 minute mindful stretch/mobility routine.

2. Make fitness fun / try new things

I think it is safe to say that most people don't love the act of exercising itself. They usually love the feelings/benefits that are attached to the exercise.

“Getting lean and fit is one thing. But staying that way is a completely different path.”

Now if you dread going to the gym and getting on that cardio machine, chances are you won't keep it up for long. Find ways to make fitness more fun and enjoyable.

The best ways to do this are to;

Add in something you really enjoy into your weekly fitness routine. If you go to the gym and lift weights 2-3x per week and cardio 1-2x per week, try adding in a fun fitness class once per week. Some examples our clients have chosen are: badminton, soccer leagues for women over 50, surfing, belly dancing, curling, flag football, Iyengar yoga, and more.
Try new things. Often enough just the idea of trying something new brings excitement into our lives. At the very least you can try a new fitness related activity and meet new like minded people. In the best case scenario you'll surprise yourself by discovering a new passion and open up your fitness repertoire.

People who are healthy and fit find ways to make their routine enjoyable. This is an important trick to making health and fitness a part of your lifestyle.

3. Figure out your social eating situation

Whether we would like to admit it or not, the people around us affect our decision making. This is especially true when it comes to food/drink choices.

It can be the pub night out with friends, dinner parties, holidays with the family or simply going for a coffee with someone to catch up. We can all relate to these kinds of situations.

In fact, this specific area is one we focus on a lot with our clients. Although difficult, figuring out this one area alone can have a massive impact on your ability to make "good" food choices in both the short and long term.

"Normally I would get the salmon salad with water. But it was my best friend's co-workers' sister's birthday, so I had the burger and fries instead..."

Knowingly or unknowingly our loved ones can be the ones who are influencing us to make the choices we know won't help us.

Sometimes it can be as easy as informing your social circle of a renewed commitment to your health. Other times, there are more difficult discussions that need to happen.

But at the end of the day, you are in control of how you feel and the decisions you make. You can't control how others think, act, or what they say. If committing to your health and fitness goals is important to you, you will need to acknowledge the impact your social circle has on you and find a way to not let it deter you.

And if this is the kind of conversation you've been avoiding, don't sweat it. You would be surprised to find out how your friend/family member would react when you have a kind but serious conversation with them. Often enough they haven't even realized that they were influencing you in this way. Before you know it, you'll have a new person joining you on this journey to health and fitness success!

4. Find a leader or be one yourself

Most people wouldn't think of this next tip. When we start the journey to finally getting a handle on our health and fitness, we focus on ourself. Which is the whole point after all. But one of the best ways to improve success and the sustainability of these habits is to find leadership and/or mentor others.

Find Leadership - This can take many forms. One of the best ways is to hire a professional to guide you through every step of the way. If you are not ready to get professional help, you can ask someone you know. You would be surprised how your fit co-worker/relative/friend would be more than happy to help you out. By doing this you will not only accelerate your learning curve, but will have an objective feedback system for all of the things that you might have overlooked yourself.
Mentor Others - This is one of the best ways to not only soak up and retain information you've learned, but it will surprisingly enough, hold you accountable. When you have someone else who is looking up to you to guide them through their own journey, you now have a reputation to uphold. You are more likely to make better food choices, work out more often and practice what you preach when you know others are looking at you as an example.

Just be careful when taking someone under your wing. Make sure that the person genuinely wants the help. Health and fitness is a touchy subject for most people. To take initiative and tell someone who isn't ready to make changes that you are going to help lead them on their journey, can come off the wrong way.

5. Make better commitments

One of the best commitments we can make is a commitment to ourselves. Unfortunately more often than not when we make a commitment to ourselves, life gets in the way. We put our work, family, children, etc. before us.

Taking care of the other things in life can seem more important. And these things may be more important to you. But to best be able to address the other areas of your life, you first have to take care of yourself. It helps to look at prioritizing your health and fitness like the airplane emergency scenario.

Before you can help someone else, you have to put your own oxygen mask on first.

photo courtesy joylangenburgdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/oxygen-mask.jpg

When you take care of your own health and fitness first, you will notice that you have more time, energy, passion and joy in helping out in the other areas of your life.

To do this you have to make a FIRM commitment. New year's resolutions rarely work for a reason. We often give ourselves an out.

If you want to turn taking care of your health and fitness after 50 into a lifestyle, the commitment will have to be firm enough and long enough to make habits stick. Otherwise you might likely find yourself repeating the same cycle of frustration and disappointment.

Change doesn't happen over night. And the further away you are from your goals, the longer it will take for you to safely and sustainably reach them.

Make a longer timeline than you normally would. Make your commitment a firm one.

Trainer's note: The programs we offer come in 6 and 12 month options. We often recommend 12 months because we know how long it takes to truly make the changes that our clients want to not only happen, but to have stick in the long run (and in most cases, it takes even longer than this).

Tips for making better commitments

Join a fitness class, join a team sport that you've always wanted to try, try something where others are involved.
Look for commitments that will require you to show up regularly and for 6-12 months to start.
Avoid drop-ins if you know you need more accountability. Drop-ins will give you too much room to "drop-out" when life gets in the way.
Convincing ourselves that signing up for a gym membership or buying a treadmill will work is often a mistake that we can avoid. Be honest with yourself. Knowing what will hold you accountable is a huge step in the right direction.

Wrap-up

Making a lifetime commitment to your health and fitness might seem like a lot to take on. But it's not as tough as you might think. By looking at the big picture and making small changes to your lifestyle over time you can really start to make some profound change.

The tips above aren't anything shiny or new. There is no real secret to them either. They are simply examples of what people who are successful in health and fitness do.

If you would like help getting started on your path to longterm health and fitness success, you can email us at info@evertrainlifestyles.com or simply fill out our contact form here.

Yours in health,

The Evertrain Team