There’s a lot of health and fitness advice out there.
From articles to YouTube videos, network weight-loss shows, courses, local gyms and studios, and everything in between.
But if you’re really trying to up your health game or you’ve been trying some things to no avail, it’s also important to turn to the mindset of the world’s fittest people, the ones who practice what they preach and can inspire you to create lasting change.
Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.– Jim Rohn
Here are five habits of the world’s fittest people.
1. Find a way to enjoy exercise - Bob Harper
Fitness guru Bob Harper, one of several personal trainers who rose to fame on NBC’s The Biggest Loser, says he actually looks forward to his workout.
“For me, working out is a form of therapy, it’s cathartic for me, it’s a good stress reliever,” he said in an interview withParade. “I know that when I go to the gym I am taking care of myself and I know I’ll feel so much better afterwards.”
2. Define what fit means to you - Beyoncé
Fitness is a subjective term. You decide what fit is to you– not someone else.
Unfortunately, many of us look to outside examples of what it means to be fit and end up berating ourselves for not reflecting that perfect mold.
The one and only Beyoncé says that she’s found her own definition of fit.
She told SELF, “I feel best when I’m not really thin and not really heavy, when I’m still curvy...I really believe that everyone is supposed to be different, and whatever is a natural weight for you is usually what looks best.”
3. Always eat breakfast - Sanya Richards-Ross
In an interview with Huffington Post, Olympic Gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross said, “I never miss breakfast...If I do I am the most grumpy person in the world.”
Eating breakfast is one of the easiest healthy habits to adopt. And, as research has suggests, there’s a lot of benefit in doing so.
Researchers at Oxford University concluded that “the failure to eat [a well-balanced] breakfast has been documented to have a deleterious impact on cognitive performance” as well as on several other important processes in the body.
“There really are a number of reasons as to why breakfast should be considered the most important meal of the day. The decision about if and what to eat and drink at the start of the day has been shown to have some profound effects on our health, well-being, and cognitive performance.”
4. Make healthy a lifestyle - Laila Ali
Quite possibly the most important habit of all is the habit of maintaining a health and fitness lifestyle itself.
By that, I mean to not look at getting fitter and healthier as a momentary thing in your life, where once you’ve reached your goal you ease back.
Instead, if you want to arrive at your health goal and stay there, you need to make healthy a permanent lifestyle change.
Pro boxing champ Laila Ali told Ebony in an interview, “I do my best to work out five days a week. There are times when I can only get in three days a week because I am traveling or just need rest due to a hectic schedule. But working out is always a priority and if I fall off due to my schedule, it is not long before I get back on track.
People who are fit are the same as anyone else. The only difference is their level of commitment. If looking good and being fit was easy, everyone would do it! Most people don’t want to put in the work or make the sacrifices needed in order to be fit.”
5. See fitness as more than just dropping weight - Michelle Obama
Fitness isn’t just about the physical body, dropping weight, building muscle, or the size of your waist. In fact, when you really get going, you see that the real benefit is in how it makes you feel rather than your physical health.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, an avid health advocate, told Women’s Health: “the truth is, being a healthy woman isn’t about getting on a scale or measuring your waistline — and we can’t afford to think that way...Instead, we need to start focusing on what matters — on how we feel, and how we feel about ourselves.”
