How to begin a healthy lifestyle and stick to it!

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Last Updated on November 30, 2023 by Cathy

How to Begin a Healthy Lifestyle and Stick to It!

We are all creatures of habit, we tend to eat and do the same things over and over whether it’s healthy or not. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a health crisis to make people change to a healthier lifestyle.

Knowing where and how to begin a healthy lifestyle can get a little confusing. There is a lot of conflicting information out there that makes it difficult to know which is the right path to take. But, they all have something in common and that includes:

Cleaning up your diet
Exercising
Getting enough sleep
Removing toxins
Stress management

For your convenience, there is a Quick Guide to Remove Inflammation at the bottom of this post.

Inflammation

Inflammation occurs naturally in your body but when it lasts a long time it leads to disease. Chronic inflammation is at the root of most diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, and heart disease.

Possible triggers of inflammation:

Diet (processed foods, refined sugar, refined carbs, food allergies, etc.)
Infections (yeast overgrowth, viruses, bacteria, and parasites)
Environmental Toxins (heavy metals, mold, pesticides, plastics, etc.)
Chronic Stress

When your body is overwhelmed with food allergens, emotional stress, and toxins, inflammation builds up wreaking havoc within your cells. Reducing inflammation is essential to starting a healthier lifestyle and improving your quality of life.

Stop Eating Processed Foods

To lower inflammation in your body, you need to stop eating processed foods. They contain additives, artificial sweeteners, dyes, preservatives, refined sugar, and ingredients we can’t pronounce. They also contain antibiotics, herbicides, GMOs, growth hormones, and pesticides, so it’s no wonder we are sick.

Eating heavily processed foods is taking its toll on everyone’s health. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 25.2% of people aged 65 and older in the U.S. have diabetes. That’s 1/4 of the population!

Every time you eat, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.

Plus, there’s hidden sugar in most processed foods, sugar is addicting making you crave more causing you to gain more weight. Stop consuming sugary beverages and refined carbohydrates (sugar), like soda and bread, they break down fast raising your blood sugar which causes an insulin spike.

To begin a healthy lifestyle stop eating junk food and heavily processed foods. That includes soda and take-home pizza.

Hidden Infections

A diet high in sugar feeds bad bacteria, yeast, fungi, and parasites. It sounds gross but you could be dealing with an overpopulation of parasites in your body. Parasite eggs hatch around the time of a full moon, that’s why people act crazier during a full moon.

Symptoms caused by parasites:

Allergies
Constipation
Depression
Diarrhea
Floaters in the eyes
Heart problems
Muscle weakness
Sugar cravings
Teeth grinding (especially at night)

Yeast overgrowth, known as Candida, happens when the good bacteria in the gut are killed off usually from antibiotics allowing the yeast to grow out of control. It is linked with autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

As Candida grows it leads to a leaky gut by breaking down the gut lining. This allows undigested food particles and toxins to pass through the gut lining into your bloodstream setting off an inflammatory response from your immune system.

Symptoms caused by Candida:

Brain fog
Chronic fatigue
Cravings for sugar or refined carbohydrates
Digestive issues (bloating, constipation, diarrhea)
Fungal infections (Athletes foot, nail fungus, ringworm)
Oral thrush
Seasonal allergies
Urinary tract infections
Yeast infections

Clear up any infections and repair your gut. Reduce the number of carbohydrates you eat in one day to stop feeding the infections. Eat more fermented foods to add more good bacteria to your gut.

Avoid Food Allergens

The most common food allergens are gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, nightshades, peanuts, shellfish, and soy. However, you may have a food sensitivity to any kind of food including healthy food. Any food sensitivity or intolerance will create inflammation in your gut.

Sometimes you may have a food intolerance and not even realize it. That’s why it’s a good idea to try an elimination diet where you remove common food sensitivities for at least one month. Then reintroduce them back into your diet one at a time to watch for any reactions.

I always knew I was sensitive to eggs, even as a child. But, an elimination diet is how I realized I was sensitive to tomatoes, chipotle, and sweet peppers. These three are part of the nightshade family so I decided to stop eating all nightshades.

Figure out which foods your body reacts to and remove them from your diet. Eating a personalized healthy diet will help reduce inflammation in your body. Eat a variety of foods that your body likes to get the most nutrients for your body to thrive.

NOTE: It is best to avoid eggs while you are trying to heal. In the book The Wahls Protocol, Dr. Terry Wahls recommends people avoid eggs.

Reduce Your Toxin Exposure

Every day you are exposing your body to chemical exposures by what you breathe and put on your skin. It’s impossible to avoid all toxic exposures but you can avoid as many as possible. As you start to remove toxins you reduce the level of inflammation that’s in your body.

Sources of toxin exposures:

Air fresheners
Body care products
Cleaning supplies
Dental amalgam fillings, also known as silver fillings
Dryer sheets
Mold
Non-stick cookware
Paint fumes
Pesticides
Plastics
Tap water

Find Time to Exercise

Exercise is not only a great way to stay mobile but it’s a great way to reduce inflammation. Exercising reduces oxidative stress by increasing the response to the anti-oxidant defense. Exercise helps with muscle strength, mobility, and depression, plus it promotes a sense of well-being. It can also help ease some symptoms such as stiffness, bladder control, and weakness.

Exercises to try:

Resistance Band Workouts
Stretching
Swimming
Tai chi
Walking
Wall pushups
Yoga

My favorite exercise is through an online gym called OptimalBody Personel Fitness. It was created by David Lyons who also has MS so he knows which exercises work to help with strength and mobility.

Reduce Your Stress

Stress is a huge setback when you are trying to heal your body. When you are dealing with chronic stress every day it weakens your immune system leading to many health problems. No matter how well you are eating, if you don’t have a handle on your stress you won’t be able to fully heal.

I know this from the experience of how stress can affect your body. Several years ago I went through extreme stress at my job from the threat of layoffs causing me to worry about our finances if I did lose my job. Plus, our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes which turned our world upside down.

My life was in turmoil and my walking was getting worse to the where I needed to use a cane. It wasn’t until my husband said: “let’s make a plan for when you DO get laid off.” That was it, I was so worried about the unknown but having a plan calmed everything down.

Don’t be like me. If you have stress, especially emotional stress, don’t wait to do something until your symptoms get worse. That’s why it’s so important to get a handle on what is causing your stress starting now.

Face your problems and get them out of your life. Avoid negative people they are contagious. Set boundaries with family members if they are stressing you out. There is nothing wrong with seeking counseling, we ended up doing this after our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and it really helped.

Quick Links To Information In This Post:

How to Stop Chronic Inflammation
The Connection Between Candida and Multiple Sclerosis
How to Start an Elimination Diet
Best Exercise For MS

Ways to manage stress:

Deep breathing
Exercising
Go for a walk
Journal
Listen to relaxing music
Meditate
Play with your kids
Pet your dog or cat
Read a good book
Soak in a warm bath
Spend some quiet time alone

We can’t escape from all stress but we can control how we react to stress.