5 Healthy Habits That’ll Change Your Life
Lucy Davis, hybrid athlete and elite fitness influencer, is an inspiration when it comes to challenging your body and having fun with your fitness routine.
Priding herself on having the right mindset, Lucy takes on huge physical challenges – and she credits this ability to five habits that have made her physically and mentally stronger.
1. No social media past 9.30/10pm
Lucy says that for the past two years, she’s been reducing her use of social media right before she goes to bed.
Lucy has previously struggled with an eating disorder, and she would get triggered by things that she saw online. She’d see something on her Instagram that upset her or made her angry just before she was going to sleep and then would be laid in bed, thinking about it for ages.
Saying no to social media from 9.30pm helps avoid anxiety or stress when you wanting to be relaxing and unwinding, ready to get a good night's sleep.
Lucy also shared a scary statistic - ‘If you spend five hours on your phone a day, by the time you’re 80, you will have spent 12 years on your phone.’
Anything you can do in your day to lessen phone time and relax your mind is a great habit to pick up.
2. Performance over aesthetic
Over the past two years, Lucy has focused on performance over aesthetics, and it’s made her training more enjoyable.
Lucy loves to be active and to challenge her body in different ways – so when she was basing her training on how she looked, she was so drilled into her routine that training became a bit miserable.
Now, Lucy is a hybrid athlete who runs, cycles, lifts and swims – and it’s changed her relationship with fitness. Focusing on performance and health is her first concern, and aesthetic is just a by-product of how Lucy trains.
Lucy’s advice to anyone who doesn’t enjoy exercise or feels bored by their routine? ‘Have a little switch up and see if you can do something different that hits you in a different way.’
3. Hydration
This one’s a classic – but Lucy states hydration is key to all parts of living a healthy life.
Here are just some of the reasons Lucy stays hydrated:
Helps you cognitively - Helps you focus
- Reduces headaches
- Keeps your body in tune with itself
Helps to flush things out of your system and keeps your body working as it’s supposed to
Lucy drinks about 4 litres a day but the recommended amount is around 2 litres. Lucy has a two-litre bottle she refills throughout the day and suggests you invest in a bottle to help you remember.
Try one of these:
Lucy’s top tip if you’re finding it hard to remember to hydrate? Add some cordial or juice to your bottle to give it some flavour.
4. Understanding & appreciating balance with food
Growing up as a competitive swimmer, Lucy found this habit hard to build up. When she was competing, her body fat would be measured and she’d be weighed constantly, leading to body dysmorphia and eventually an eating disorder.
The main shift that Lucy took in her relationship with food was moving away from the idea that there’s good and bad food.
Food has different nutritional densities, but it doesn’t make it good or bad. Everything should be in moderation, whether that’s a banana or a chocolate bar.
‘People always asks me do you have sweets and chocolate? Do you have alcohol? And yeah, in moderation, I have it all.’
‘It’s finding the balance. I fuel my body to perform whereas I used to be scared of food. Food is fuel.’
Don’t be disheartened if this habit takes time to build – creating a balanced lifestyle is not something that happens overnight.
5. Improve the way that you talk to yourself
‘As humans, we’re very negative. We will look at ourselves in the mirror, pull our skin, nit-pick, say we don’t like this or that.’
About a year ago, Lucy changed the way that she spoke to herself, by telling herself things that she likes about herself, things that she’s good at and things that she appreciates about herself.
She also started journaling, although admits she finds it hard to do it every day, so she just does it when she feels like she needs to.
Lucy encourages everyone to try and tell themselves five positive things when you are having a bad day. It could be events or plans you have to look forward to, hobbies you're enjoying at the minute or affirmations that you love.
Start small and positive self-talk will eventually become a habit.
Take Home Message
Bit different from Lucy’s normal training videos, but mental health is at least equally important as physical health.
Mindset is a huge part of being fit – you only get one body, so keep doing everything you can to look after it.
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