To maintain and even improve your health as you age there are a lot of habits and choices you have to make every day. The challenge is maintaining consistency when life constantly throws up opportunities to disrupt and distract from doing the things that are positive for your health.
As I observe people who are able to sustain the consistency there is one factor that enables them to do it. Their family provide the space and support to enable them to do it.
I was inspired to write this post by two client interactions on Friday.
The first was a client struggling to maintain a routine of even walking more than 3000 steps a day and eating food that was causing significant nutrient deficiencies leading to 2 health issues in the last 3 months. They feel the need to sacrifice their own health for the needs of their family and job. Which means they haven’t negotiated the space to enable them to do the things that they know will improve their health.
The second is a couple who train with me. The wife set up twice a week training sessions to help her husband, who had put on a lot of weight and needed to get control back of his health.
They train hard twice a week and have adopted structured nutrition rules on what and how much they eat. When we met for our first training sessions of the new year and we checked his weight he was significantly lighter than when he started.
The difference being they have made a conscious effort to create the space and support to be consistently good at doing a few positive healthy habits.
What I enjoy about this couple is rather than nag and criticise her husband, she has taken positive supportive action to do the things that will help him. She enjoys seeing him work hard and she acknowledges and looks happy with his progress, which inspires him to keep going.
What food is consumed at home that meets your nutrition goals?
How much time is regularly available to exercise in the family schedule?
How much alcohol is normally consumed by family and friends at social events?
How much money in the family budget is allocated to coaches and medical support to keep you working effectively?
How much does your family recognise and value the results of the work you put in?
If you haven’t got these 5 supporting elements in place then you face significant barriers to maintaining a consistent and successful healthy routine.
The reality is that maintaining your health requires time, space and alignment from your family. It’s a real act of love to create and maintain what you need to be successful so don’t be shy about asking, as your family are probably very keen to help you.
Your act of love back is to do the work consistently and stay healthy and happy for as long as possible.