We all know what spices do for food-they enhance, complement and complete a dish. I think they do the same for a healthy lifestyle, but there’s a twist. ‘SPICES’ actually represent an acronym for what I believe are key ingredients for a healthy lifestyle. These ingredients include the Social, Physical, Intellectual, Culinary, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of life. In a previous post I shared how the first three ingredients contributed to my own journey in making better choices for a healthier life. I described the importance of the Social connections in our lives and how much it can impact the success of our health and fitness goals. I found that having a partner who would help keep me accountable to making healthy food and activity choices greatly impacted my success. I see the same trends in my work now. I often encounter people who want to make better choices so they can feel better, but they express feelings of being alone, feeling defeated or overwhelmed with the task, not knowing where to start. Many times all it takes is a friendly offering of encouragement and they make it back into the gym the next day!
Of course, Physical activity is a key ingredient. I acknowledged previously that many of us think we are “active enough” or think we have “good genes”. However, in reality, most of us are not very active and good genes can be ruined by bad habits. The good news is that these exercise choices can look different for each individual–you do not have to be a slave to any particular plan for exercise. You can and should choose activities that make sense for your life and your schedule. This is the Intellectual aspect– it has to make sense to you or you won’t be committed to it, which will hinder your success.
I know we all hate diets (almost as much as we hate getting hot and sweaty from exercise!), however, we are all on one. Whether it is a healthy diet that is nutritionally balanced, a fast food diet, a low/high carb diet, or a vegetarian diet, etc., we are all making dietary choices. This is why I prefer to call it a food plan or food choices. This is the Culinary aspect of our lives and, as research shows, is interdependent with the physical aspect. It was during my own transformation that I realized that it has less to do with the food plan or method (combination of choices) and more with a change in perspective, dedication to the process, and a focus on the goal to get healthy.
The Emotional and Spiritual aspects may represent a variety of things and fit differently into each individual’s life. This doesn’t lessen their impact, in fact, it makes them even more important because they are further reaching, and are not as easily categorized or identified. I cannot define what these look like in your life, but I can help you discover them. As for my journey I will say that the emotional aspect was my “buy in”. I had spent many years thinking about getting healthy and feeling guilty about my choices. I had to reach the point of total buy in and commitment before I could begin to understand and make better choices. The Spiritual aspect was where I drew my strength and determination. It continues to be an important part of the choices I make for a healthier, better lifestyle.
I hope that sharing my journey helps you make important choices in these different areas of your own life. Please share your comments about your own journey, your challenges and successes will be and encouragement to the rest of us! And please contact me so I can help you in anyway I can!
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