It seems like it was just like last week that everybody was saying things like the year 2020 means having 20-20 vision. And I couldn’t agree more. Yes, this year has been super tough, a lot has happened and things seem to change every single day, but it has also cleared our vision (at least it did to me). 2020 showed me how much I actually care about a healthy body and mind, what things I take for granted, what I like and what I don’t like. 2020 was also the year where I have arguably learned more than any other year. I have learned so much about nutrition, fitness and health, but it has also shown me that I still have so much to learn. Over these past 12 months I have found out that I am way more passionate about health than I thought, not just my health, but yours as well. I believe that we can all help each other to raise our own (health) standards.

I am sure that some of you, if not all, went into 2020 with the goal of improving your health. I am also sure that not everyone succeeded in doing so. Why is that? To be blunt, it’s probably not a priority for you, or you might have tried but felt like you failed and gave up, or you simply don’t know how to. It’s okay that you failed, but it’s not okay to give up. Remember that it’s YOUR own health and body, which means you have to take care of it, because nobody else will or can. The first step here is analyzing why you haven’t succeeded in the past, was it because one of the reasons I mentioned earlier?

Importance of ”failing”

Understanding why you haven’t succeeded in the past is important because it teaches you what to do better next time. Was it not a priority to you? Well, make it a priority this time, that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice a ton. It just means you have to be conscious of the choices that you make on a daily basis. That level of consciousness depends on where your health is now and how far you wantto go.

Did you start but felt like you failed? or felt like you did not know where to start? That’s a good realization to have too, that means you know what to work on now. If you’re in that situation, it simply means asking for help and advice from people you trust. That’s where this blog comes in, to put you on the right track to start off.

Where to start, the basics

Just like everything else in life, you have to start with the basics, the foundation and you can build more and more from there. Too often we try to change too many things at once because we are impatient, but that won’t lead to any serious and long-term benefits. Think about the 3 main things you want to change in the next month or 2. From there start changing the first thing during week 1, change the second thing in week 2 and the third thing in week 3, week 4 could be a week where you to combine all of these things.

Don’t know where to start?

Go back to what I said earlier, if you don’t know where to start, ask for help or keep on reading and I will provide you with some tips on where to start.

Here’s a list of 10 things you can start to change if you’re looking to improve your health.

• Stay away from added sugars
• Avoid processed foods (Foods that are high in sugar, processed or have a long shelf-life
• Focus on eating whole foods. This might sound like the last point but it’s important enough to bring up twice. Whole foods are foods that are not processed in any way. The offer way better nutritional value, they satisfy more and are not packed with sugars.

• Be active, go for walks, runs or sign up at a gym. Make sure you enjoy it, there are 1000’s of different ways to stay active. think of things like: yoga, group classes, spinning, road cycling, climbing, hiking etc..
• Get your vitamins and micronutrients in. Make sure you eat enough vegetables because they’re packed with different vitamins and nutrients that are hard to get from somewhere else. Think you’re still missing something? Supplementing with multi-vitamin pills is an option.

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• Work on your mental health, your health does not just consist of physical health or appearance. A healthy mind makes for much better physical health as well.

• Drink enough water (2,5-3 liters a day, even when it’s cold outside). Your body needs to produce energy throughout the day, in order to accomplish that process it needs water.

• Sleep more and better. Sleeping more might not be a problem for most but better is. Come up with a night time routine that you go through every single day, that way your body knows it’s time to go asleep and your sleep will be of way higher quality.

• Stretch. Once you start working out more it’s important to keep your body from getting super tight and locking up. Don’t wait with this. Speaking from experience it’s much better and easier to start with this right away, it saves a lot of time later on. It’s also a nice way to relax your body and mind.

• Enjoy what you’re doing! This might be last on the list, but it could be at the top. We have to find enjoyment in what we’re doing, otherwise we’re setting ourselves up for long-term failure. You might stick with something you don’t enjoy doing for a couple weeks or months but what happens after that? Find the activities, foods and other things that you enjoy, while still supporting your own health

I hope these tips help you out and set you on the right track of improving your health in 2021. Go CRUSH IT!