52 CAN DO’S: Healthy Lifestyle Solutions for each week of the year

By Monifa Maat “The Healthy Motivator” (www.TheHealthyMotivator.com) & www.southbridgefitnesscenter.com

CAN DO TIP Week #22: Secure your foundation!

The spine acts as the foundation for your body. Without a strong foundation, the rest of the body has nothing to attach to securely—Dr. Jeffrey Chow, Physical Therapy of Harlem

Just as the spine is the foundation from which our body moves, our beliefs and values are the foundation from which our habits stem.   

I recently had a conversation with a mom who was frustrated by the many conflicting reports about what’s healthy to eat and what’s not. It seems one minute, fish is good for the heart –but the next “you have to be careful about the mercury!” Today whole wheat is healthy; tomorrow “wheat causes belly fat”, etc. Her attitude, and with good reason was, why try so hard to eat healthy if in the end, the “healthy choice” would be proven wrong. I finally asked her what she felt she was doing right with regards to her eating habits.

She mentioned how she loved eating salad on a daily basis, and then proceeded to tell me about the delicious bottled salad dressing she uses (which I knew contained ingredients neither she nor I could pronounce). Yet, I complemented her for eating more salad but suggested she make homemade instead of store bought salad dressing most of which are filled with preservatives, unhealthy fats and lots of sodium.  Before she could argue, I suggested she research online recipes for vinaigrettes with lime, sea salt and cilantro; creamy dressings made with avocado instead of buttermilk and blue cheese; spicy recipes with jalapeño, garlic and tomato. Her eyes lit up, “I can’t wait to try that!”

52 CAN DO’s wellness column focuses on simple, healthy habits that you “can do” instead of focusing on what you can’t or should not do for better health. Choosing just one habit a month can lead to 12 new healthy habits per year that may set the foundation for healthy lifestyle transformation that you and your family can benefit from.

“Foundation habits keep us from getting too physically taxed or mentally frazzled, and then, because we have more energy and self-control, we follow our healthy habits more easily”. – Gretchen Rubin, NY Times bestselling author

Make healthy habits a part of your physical, mental and spiritual foundation. Choose simple habits which make you get excited and take it one step, one bite, one small victory at a time.

Last May was National Physical Fitness & Sports month. Let’s add to that nutrition because you cannot pursue fitness without nutrition and vice versa. In this month’s 52 CAN DO’s wellness column, I am excited to share all kinds of interesting tidbits on fun, simple ways to incorporate healthy nutrition habits into your lifestyle along with helpful information from top nutritional experts. I’ll also share some of my favorite recipes and expert fitness tips to help make your body tight and feel just right this summer!

Monifa Maat is author of Bed Aerobics Fitness Flow®, a faith-based, therapeutic bed exercise and mobility system. To reach Monifa Maat, send email: Monifa@TheHealthyMotivator.com.