THE BE PROJECT, V.3


Healthy living is an easy blend of simple living and healthy choices.  I’ve mentioned simple living; I see ‘healthy choices’ as choosing nuts, kale, avocado and milk over chocolate, chips, pizza, and Sprite.  In other words: choosing nutrition — a need  — over ‘junk’ — a want and keeping a balance between the two; sure, indulge in pizza and coke on weekends but let’s not splurge on our favourite junk foods on a daily basis.


A healthy lifestyle is an active one. Choosing to shut off your computer, jump up from your chair, open the front door and step outside can be difficult; beginning a task is often the hardest part.  Go crazy and just do it -- go on a walk, do fifty jumping jacks, run around with kids, take breaks in between sitting down.


While healthy thing living may be ideal, it is essential to put living, exercising, and eating into perspective.  Maintain balance and perspective when you eat; savour life and the food you eat -- be it sweet and sugary (think cinnamon rolls!) or plain and nutritious (think spinach).    


Be intentional.  Know what you're eating and what it is good for (eggs and nuts are a source of protein, spinach a source of iron, and so on). Buy good food, make good food, and most likely you'll eat good food.  It is equally important to be intentional in what you listen to, read, wear and how you act.  Classical music (as well as music in generalstimulates the mind.  Reading literature that encourages you to think critically benefits your mental health!  Even clothing has psychological effects. Clearly, how you act toward, judge and love others is crucial to living a healthy life. 


Get to the root of the issue.
  What is stopping you from eating healthy?  What is it that makes you want junk food?  Stress? Shopping habits?  Worries? Obligations?  Get rid of them! 

Maintain reasonable goals
...for instance, why not try cooking something different and healthy, eating fried egg for breakfast, and working out for 7 minutes?

 Get a friend to shop for you or try online shopping
Give your simple, healthy shopping list to a friend so that you can resist the temptation of a dark chocolate Cadbury bar sitting at the end of the aisle. Online shopping is a great alternative to shopping in person -- and it's a better way to resist picking up items of food you really don't need. 


Buy or borrow a good cookbook. 
Look for a cookbook without a million foreign ingredients you don’t have or haven’t heard of.  Libraries have cookbooks, too!  Or start an email or Facebook chain where you tag friends and share your favourite recipes.  Ask a parent or relative for a few of their healthy favourites.  

Go natural... and cheap.
 Companies earn billions of dollars each year when people like you and I buy their beauty products.  Do we really need the latest (and apparently greatest) cleanser or face moisturiser?  I replaced cleanser for Dove soap and moisturiser for Virgin Coconut Oil.  Dove soap cleared up some of the small bumps (milia) on my forehead.  Coconut oil de-frizzed my hair and my legs felt so soft.  Also, drinking more water (8 or so cups a day) made my skin noticeably clearer. 





Do you have any healthy routines or habits?  I'd love to hear from you!
xx Acacia


You can view previous BE project posts here

15 comments

  1. Such great post! I am motivated being a more healthier person now:)
    Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips:)
    June
    The Journeys of My Beating Heart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad I motivated you; stay strong, beautiful, and healthy, J! Consistency is key.

      xx

      Delete
  2. Honestly, I'm the most unhealthy person ever and no matter how hard I try, I can't stop with the junk food. I mean, going for jogs, sit ups, bike riding, tennis... yeah I'll do all that. But the food just doesn't come easy. So I'll try your tips because they sound good, and fingers cross it works!!

    -M
    The Life of Little Me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M, I completely understand your difficulty. If it were not for my mum, who fills the cupboards with lentils and brown rice and the fridge with kale, spinach, and carrots, I would eat junk food all. the. time. I've learnt that in order start eating healthy, you need to strip yourself, your cupboards, and your home of junk food. Then there's no other option but to eat healthily! :) It may be hard to fill your cupboards with 'good' food if you live with your family and they fill it with 'junk' food... all the more reason to be intentional and self-controlled. Instead of reading for chips or cookies, grab a glass of water or munch on some nuts. All the best, M! xx

      Delete
  3. Great post, Acacia! I do live pretty healthy, but I need to work on now is moderation. Hopefully I'll get there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there, Marianela! Thanks for stopping by. Eating and exercising in moderation is difficult to do, but key to healthy living. I'm not an 'expert' in the area, but if you ever have any more questions, I'd be glad to answer them. xx

      Delete
  4. I love this post, Acacia. I've been thinking a lot about healthy, simple living lately. In soo many ways it is so freeing to simplify. I agree with you, when I first started changing my lifestyle, the hardest part was actually committing to *starting* a task, especially on days when I didn't particularly feel like it, but it's soo rewarding! And thank you so much for including the beauty tips.. I am totally going to try using Dove soap and coconut oil now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Katie,
      Yes! As you put it, simple living is very 'freeing' -- you can feel life just that much more and move through your days with a sense of ambition. Let me know what you think of the Dove soap and coconut oil -- I'd love to hear how they worked on you. (Next time you get out of the shower, rub coconut oil on your legs and arms... it's so refreshing and your legs and arms look beautifully shiny!)
      X

      Delete
  5. Thank you so, so much for all of these good tips. I'm struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle here at college, and this post encouraged me so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there, Emily! Healthy living at college is hard -- as I mentioned to J, consistency is key: buy good food, make good food, eat good food; your body won't regret it. ;) x

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the tips Acacia! I especially like the point you made about choosing nutritional (need) over junk-food (want).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Nuala! Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad my want/need phrase stuck with you! I hope it encourages you to live and BE healthier. :) x

      Delete
  7. Can I just say that after looking at your blog, your photography is beautiful! Those wedding photos were gorgeous! What kind of camera are you using to get such HD pics? Lovely post, lovely blog and you just gained a new follower! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Meg! Thank you so *so* much! I use a Canon T3 (1100d). It's one of the cheapest dSLRs on the canon market (in fact, I think it may be *the* cheapest canon dSLR) with the 50mm f/1.8 lens. To get HD pictures, I shoot in manual (with RAW -- not JPEG) and edit in Lightroom, then I export using highest quality. Thanks so much for stopping by and following along! x

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete