the beList

The health compass is a set of principles that guide your health related decision-making. It is an uncompromising foundation that enables you to confidently and easily make decisions consistent with a healthy lifestyle. You eat what makes you feel good and you have learned to listen to your body. You are in tune with your natural cues to let you know what you need. You always head in the healthy direction. No matter where you are, what others are doing, you always have health in mind, regardless of the circumstance.

Sometimes, you make little sacrifices for vacation, or a special occasion, but your compass always brings you back to your healthy foods and activities.  Your body and health is of the utmost importance and that believe guides your daily choices.Setting your compass is establishing a new normal.

Creating new habits to replace old routines, and cleaning house to make your environment as healthy as possible.  This includes replacing less nutritious food habits with better choices.  Instead of a regular 5pm cocktail hour, make 5pm your regular gym schedule, and save the drinks for only once per week or on a weekend day, in moderation of course.  If you hit the bakery or Dunkin Doughnuts on the way to work everyday functioning on a breakfast of high calorie, poor nutrient junk food, make it a new habit to eat at home or bring a healthier breakfast choice to work.  Ditch soda for homemade tea, freshly squeezed vegetable or fruit juice, and drink water most of the time. You might be surprised that you look forward to the healthier foods and drinks just as much, and you will feel better physically, mentally, and notice a change in your body. Developing new habits are an important way to increase your physical activity. If you ride the elevator to the third or even seventh floor everyday, start taking the stairs. Part of the reason for the challenge of maintaining healthy weight, is that we have removed the natural activity out of life.  You must get it back. Even small steps like taking the stairs once a week at first can jumpstart a new healthy habit.  When you are adjusting to a new lifestyle, in the beginning before your compass is ingrained, removing temptation is effective in creating your healthy life.  Clean out the junk food, soda, and diet pills, etc., out of your pantry, desk, car, and your life.   Deciding to eliminate certain foods, activities, and behaviors is a key aspect of setting your compass.  Fast food is no longer a part of your diet plan.  Neither is soda, diet or regular.  For the most part, you need to eliminate processed junk foods, like chips, candy, and every other food product that has lots of calories and fat and low amounts of nutrients.  Change the way you stack your plate.  Produce should be the star of the show, not a side dish.  The colorful vegetables and fruit should take up most of your plate with the grain and meat in smaller portion.  Be interested and educated about where your food comes from and how it is made.  Learning about your food will result in better decision-making and make it much easier to stick with healthier foods.  Knowing why certain foods are good for you is motivating and will help you learn to appreciate the value of good, clean food. Finally, don’t allow outside factors determine what you eat.  Whether it is a person in your life who isn’t supportive of your healthy eating commitment, the peer pressure of friends, inconvenient scheduling, or lack of healthy options for prepared foods, make healthy eating a priority.  Those who love you will respect your decision to make a healthy eating and living a central part of your life.