Asian Avenue Magazine Cover Story 2015

Ready, set go! Go get the life you want! Healthy living is living life to it’s fullest. It’s participating in activities you love. It’s eating foods you enjoy. It’s spending time with your children. Healthy living is making sure your choices match your values. What is healthy living to you?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Interestingly enough, health is not simply defined as just the absence of disease. The actual definition of healthy living is the steps, actions and strategies one puts in place to achieve optimum health. Healthy living is about taking responsibility and making smart health choices for today and for the future.

Eating right, getting physically fit, emotional wellness, spiritual wellness and prevention are all apart of creating a healthy lifestyle. Since the entire you, meaning all aspects of one’s self, must work in harmony to achieve wellness, you need to put balanced energy into each aspect of yourself.

The body requires good nutrition, appropriate weight, beneficial exercise, adequate rest and proper stress management.

The mind needs self-supportive attitudes, positive thoughts and viewpoints and a positive self-image. You also need to give and receive forgiveness, love and compassion; you need to laugh and experience happiness; you need joyful relationships with yourself and others.

The spirit requires inner calmness, openness to your creativity, and trust in your inner knowing. And for some it requires having a relationship with a higher power.

The American Holistic Health Association developed the following simple quiz to help identify areas you may need to add to your Healthy Living Plan. Here are some questions:

Asian Avenue Magazine Cover Story 2015
  • Do you have the high energy you need to do what you want?
  • Do you wake up with enthusiasm for the day ahead?
  • Do you laugh easily and often, especially at yourself?
  • Do you confidently find solutions for the challenges in your life?
  • Do you feel valued and appreciated?
  • Do you appreciate others and let them know it?
  • Do you have a circle of warm, caring friends?
  • Do the choices you make every day get you what you want?

​​If you answered “yes” to many of these questions, congratulations! But if you answered “no” to several of them, you have identified areas in your life that you may want to change. This can be valuable information. These questions all relate to our emotional and spiritual selves. And to truly define healthy living for ourselves and create a healthy living strategy it is important that we address the whole self.

Each individual needs to identify their own definition of healthy living for themselves. For example, if you don’t have a social support system, then one of your strategies would be to make more friends. Or if you never see a doctor, then part of your health strategy would be to have an annual checkup to practice preventive health care.

Sit down and outline your definition of healthy living. List all your negative habits, the ones that contribute to your unhealthy lifestyle (i.e. smoking, excessive alcohol consumption). Then take the time to list your current health conditions. Taking the Wellness Quiz will help identify other significant areas that you need to include while outlining your definition of healthy living. Once you have all your information written down it’s time to create a healthy living plan.

Add as many goals as you need to this outline. Once you have completed your definition of healthy living and have turned that into a concrete plan, it’s time to prioritize. Pick a few of the goals that you feel are most important to your overall health and happiness and start with those. Don’t try to do them all at once that’s a sure fire way to fail!
Asian Avenue Magazine Cover Story 2015

Start with 2-3 for a month and then add one per month until you have achieved all your goals. Achieving total health requires taking responsibility, making a commitment to yourself, creating a plan and then taking action.​

​“Healthy living is more than just simple daily habits or monthly weight goals – it’s a lifestyle. I’ve learned that if you incorporate a healthy diet (IIFYM) and well-balanced exercise to your everyday life, you will not only look good but most importantly feel good about yourself.” – Trang Luong

“Living a healthy lifestyle to me is being well-balanced. Healthy both physically & emotionally. Being active is one part, and the more important part is nutrition. With meal prepping, you are preparing yourself for success.” – Tony Huynh​

​“Healthy living and exercising is very important to me because not only does it make you feel good, but it teaches you to live a disciplined lifestyle. What you put in is exactly what you get back. And that’s the mentality I want to teach my daughter.” – Katleen Mara Luistro

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