7 Rules for Leading a Healthy and Active Lifestyle with Ease and Joy

We all know about the enormous benefits of an active lifestyle, but if only it was so easy to achieve.
Maintaining active living demands a lot of willpower and strength: you can't get it just by downloading fitness apps, buying activity trackers, or listening to motivational TED-talks. The WHO reports that around 80% of adults do not get enough physical activities. Nevertheless, we will try to break the ice with these seven crucial rules for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle.

In a nutshell, physical activity is responsible for incredible health benefits for your mind and body. It increases your mental resilience, reduces a chance of heart diseases, diabetes, or cancer, improves your digestion and sleep, and so much more. Who doesn't want all that? The secret is that you don't have to kill yourself with hours of daily exercise to get the necessary movement. Your physical activities will become more process- and joy-oriented instead of bodyweight-oriented by following these simple rules.

The secret is that you don't have to kill yourself with hours of daily exercise to get the necessary movement.

Rules of an Active Lifestyle

1. Start small

2. Routinize

3. Give it a try

4. Have a break when needed

5. Use your intuition

6. Employ a positive body image

7. Don't make significant investments

What is considered an active lifestyle?

Physical activity is not something you have to do. It is any type of movement you find pleasure and enjoyment in.

Along with the WHO guidelines, we suggest reconsidering the notion of being active. First, physical activity is not something you have to do. It is an activity you find pleasure and enjoyment in. It is a satisfying process rather than a goal.
Second, by physical activity, we understand any type of movement, not only running a half-marathon or sweating in the gym. Physical activity does not equal exercising or doing sports.

Staying active includes walking, dancing, playing with kids, or taking care of household chores. Exercising, on the other hand, is only one way of staying physically active, which includes structured and planned activities aimed at a specific skill or a set of muscles. Exercising is incredibly beneficial, but it is not for everyone.

An active lifestyle is also grounded in healthy eating habits, such as intuitive eating and positive body image. LifeOrganizer helps you maintain an active and mindful movement that is a natural part of your life. We move because we love it and not because we need to lose weight. Walking five miles just to arrive at a specific weight on your scale or to achieve some illusionary calorie deficiency — that is an erroneous attitude. Mindfulness will help you concentrate on long-term benefits and be more accountable for possible difficulties. Research reveals that it's a sure way to adopting an active lifestyle. Here are our tips for making moving around an essential part of your lifestyle.

physical activity can be anything, like playing tennis

1. Start small

Not only spending hours at the gym is considered physical activity. Walking for twenty minutes (or doing twenty squats) is a good enough start. We are against counting calories, so the quantity doesn't matter as long as being active makes you happy and is performed regularly. Also, it is vital to introduce activities in a convenient environment. Choosing a short at-home workout instead of a HIIT training on the other end of the town will increase your chances of committing to physical activity and finding it enjoyable.

2. Routinize

Make movement a habit, integrate it into your routine. The first few weeks will be challenging, so accept the difficulties and be mindful of the process. The first few weeks of, for example, making daily walks a routine will pass easily if you publicly commit to such a practice or make it social. Also, remember that exhausting yourself by cardio workouts for "getting toned for summer" and then not getting any activities for the rest of the year is not healthy at all. Being active and healthy is a lasting pleasurable journey.

3. Give it a try

If you don't have enough energy for a home workout tonight, that's fine, don't blame yourself for it. But at the same time, consider giving it a try: get a yoga mat out and lie down, maybe start stretching your legs. Does it feel good? Perhaps just one sun salutation since you're already on the mat? If you get a similar desire to continue with some movements — perfect. If your body and mind are in a complete negation, accept your state as it is today. However, this trick of "giving a try" works since the most challenging part is to get to your mat (or to put on running shoes).

4. Have a break when needed

If your body and mind signal you to take a pause — do it. We all have bad days, we also, unfortunately, get sick and exhausted. We hope that at some point on this journey, you will learn to find energy in movement, and physical activity will become one of your most significant resources.

5. Use your intuition

Mindful activities are also intuitive activities. "Find what feels good," as in the motto of Yoga with Adrienne. But to find what suits your temperament and body, you should try and experiment. Don't be satisfied with what your friends or influencers do. Explore what you've never done before, as long as it is available to you (boxing? golf? squash? frisbee? flamenco? hiking?).

By moving in a new way, you will discover new sides of yourself, not to say about the joy and health benefits you will receive. Use all the opportunities for engaging in your favorite physical activities that are available: fitness apps, workout plans, hiking clubs, and walking groups.
In the same way, explore your schedule. You should find out if it is more natural for you to walk in the morning or after dinner, to do bedtime yoga, or to stop by a swimming pool after a day at work.

bouldering is an exciting physical activity

6. Employ a positive body image

Our approach does not only involve physical movements. You should work on your body image and accept your body as it is. You are active not just to get some non-existent "ideal bodies" or be "a better version of yourself." You move because you love your body. Your body is the dearest friend accompanying you throughout your whole life: so nourish it, take joy in it, take care of it. And since it is made for movement, move it around!

7. Don't make significant investments

You can do so many activities from the comfort of your home. So at first, get a habit of staying active without considerable investments. Do squats and sit-ups instead of signing up for a gym. Do pilates in your old pants from high school before buying an expensive tracksuit. Try out some free fitness apps and find what you love before signing up for expensive courses.

These are the fundamental principles of leading a healthy and active lifestyle. Of course, you should adopt them towards your needs, make them more specific, or even expand with some other rules. The key is to embrace that physical activity is about a pleasurable process that becomes a part of your happy and mindful life.