On our daily living we tend to avoid being uncomfortable. Skip exercising, wake up late, binge on alcohol, smoke and the list goes on. Then complain we are tired, overweight and no energy.
It does not have to be this way.
If you put crappy gas to your car it will not run the way it should, same goes with your body. Many times the way we feel is related to the way we treat our body.
I am a firm believer in waking up at 5 am every day, even on weekends. A benefit of such early rising is that by noon time you have accomplished so much. Is it hard in the beginning? Absolutely, however humans are an animal of habit, you do it for 3 months and the rest is like clockwork.
A benefit of waking up early, is that usually by 9:30 pm you will fall asleep easily, while remembering not to take naps during the day.
You will have time to exercise, pack your lunch for work, meditate and discuss the day with your kids.
Eating nutritious food on a consistent basis is fundamental.
You need to provide your body the energy to function at the highest level.
Is it uncomfortable cooking every day? Yes. But cooking is like meditating, you are concentrated in what you are doing shutting all the days noise in that time.
In our house the food is 100% home cooked, heavy in vegetables/fruits and grains.
Food is packed for work and school everyday (not only saving money for adults but also for the kids).
This brings me to another benefit of bringing your food to work; not having to look for food at noon time, spending money and most likely end up eating a low quality food. Some will even skip lunch.
Skip the daily wine with dinner. Alcohol is overrated and not healthy for you. Instead have it only in Fridays and Saturdays if at all.
Did you know alcohol is linked to breast cancer? Yes it is. The more you drink the higher is your risk. Don't believe me? Just google alcohol and breast cancer.
Alcohol makes you gain weight and disrupts your sleep cycle among many other deleterious effects.
Exercise 5 to 6 days a week. This is a must. No negotiations. No excuses, and trust me I have heard all of them. Think about exercising at home, nowadays with you tube you can easily do any class of aerobic exercise you wish for 20 minutes.
Not only will exercising make you live longer (it is medically proven), it will also give you serenity in the mornings at work.
After you have become comfortable exercising 5-6 days a week, now is the time to push the limit, increase intensity and see where you can take it.
I have seen direct correlation between the food you eat and exercise performance. The better quality food, the better performance you get.
Did you know that when you think you can not go more, you are usually at 50% capacity? Interesting right. Try pushing the limit.
Get uncomfortable.
Till next time.
JL
This blog is meant purely for educational discussion of finance. It contains only general information about financial matters. It is not financial advice, should not be treated as such.