If the mind ain’t right, the body ain’t gonna get right. So use these daily practices to develop both a Healthy Mind and Healthy Body.

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What does healthy mean to you?

Everyone is going to have a different definition and example of how this looks. And for good reasons. Health is relative to the individual.

But, there are some guidelines to help us achieve real individual balance in body and mind.

And while I spend the majority of my time creating content around losing fat, that is not the end game of your health journey.

Do not conflate fat loss with being healthy

There are a million ways to lose fat (of course all of them require a calorie deficit, but I digress). However, the majority of those ways are rooted in unhealthy means of getting there.

But what I’m talking about today is real health. Long-term health that will have you moving well, feeling well, and yeah maybe even looking well if you commit to it long enough.

Fitness is just one aspect to this piece.

But, today we’re going to dig deeper into health and what it means to actually cultivate both a healthy mind and healthy body. You’ll get some actionable tips to help you embrace a more holistic approach.

Let’s get into it.

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Developing a healthy mind and healthy body starts by prioritizing your overall health

And that starts with simplifying your nutrition and your fitness. 

Because I’m a health coach, I’m definitely going to highlight some things you should do to help make physical health a thing.

You’re making this far more difficult than you need it to be.

Fitness and your way of eating should fit seamlessly into your lifestyle, and not become an additional burden to it.

Now, if you’ve been completely off-the-rails with your eating and sit on your ass all day with zero movement, then yes … you’ll need a lifestyle overhaul.

But, please stop overthinking this stuff.

Like I preach all of the time, it’s the little things that will make up the bulk of your process:

• Eat mostly nutrient dense foods (more on this shortly)
• Prioritize some more protein
• Perform some resistance training 2-3 times a week (relative to your strength and abilities)
• Walk as much as possible

This is it.

It’s how I set things up for all of the members of the Life4Life Academy. Minimalistic and within reason.

If you embrace this approach and do so most days, you’ll be totally fine with your health and fitness.

No need for brutal bootcamps and non-stop cardio sessions on expensive stationary bikes with fancy TVs mounted on them.

You can create a lifestyle around this approach and end up healthier and happier, more energetic and more confident as a result.

You want to prioritize foods that will go bad when you sit out

I’m a nutrition coach. And one thing I can say without a doubt is that most nutrition coaches and influencers and gurus all disagree on a million things.

• High carb
• Low carb
• How much protein
• Meal timing and fasting
• Gluten and GMOs and everything in between

Every coach has their own approach and many are stuck in dogmatic views of how you should eat.

This is flawed. The way of eating should be different for everyone. Because … well, we are all different. Duh.

But despite all of these differences in opinions and approaches to your diet, all of us nutrition experts agree on a few core tenets:

• Eat some protein
• Prioritize more vegetables
• Be sure to hydrate
• And as long as the majority of your meals are minimally processed foods, you’ll be just fine.

If you can handle those big rocks with the majority of your meals, you’ll be just fine.

Now, I’d like to take this a step further and encourage you to include a balance of carbs and fats.

And I’d also like you to know that fun foods should always be included in your way of eating, as long as you do so in moderation.

Explore movement and play

It’s not just about picking up heavy things a few times per week. Yes, you should have a regular strength training program as part of your movement repertoire.

But, it should not just start there.

Back in my sports reporting days, I used to talk about the importance of football teams being strong in all facets of the game: offense, defense and special teams. The three major areas of the sport.

In fitness, this is the same thing.

I want you to be sound in strength, cardio and mobility. For you, cardio could just mean adding more steps into your day.

Or it could be adding in one round of intense sprinting and intervals to your weekly routine.

But cardiovascular health is important for long-term health. It’s not a fat loss thing. It’s a “let’s not die of preventable causes” thing.

When it comes to mobility, explore some things that make you happy. It does not need to be full-on yoga or stretching routines.

Explore new ways to play around. Play a sport. Learn how to incorporate more dynamic, locomotion movements into your day, like the gang at GMB Fitness promotes.

Do some fun shit.

Learn to dance around more. Roll on the floor with your kids. Embrace actually sitting on the floor more throughout your day.

All of these things will open you up a bit more and combat the negative effects brought on from sedentary office culture.

Learn a new skill

When was the last time you tried to learn something new? Something that was totally unrelated to your field of work or study?

If you’re struggling to figure out the answer to this question, then it’s time you found a new skill to learn and develop.

This doesn’t have to be anything grandiose.

But, having something that you are striving to improve regularly sharpens the mind.

Doing something outside of your normal daily requirements and aiming to learn a new skill that you enjoy can also help with stress and anxiety.

It gives you a carrot at the end of the stick to look forward to during the shitty grind of a day.

Here are a few ideas to get you started on skills you could potentially practice:

• Handstands
• Foreign languages
• Improved creative writing (maybe it’s time to write that memoir or children’s novel)

We are not meant to just wrap up any and all learning after high school or college. The human brain needs real stimulation, outside of the social media madness that over-stimulates the mind.

I’m talking about making improvements and learning new things and practicing new skills.

Find something you enjoy and practice doing it every day, even if it’s just a few minutes per day.

Do something you’re passionate about

I’m a big fan of video games. They’ve been a part of my life ever since my parents broke their budget to buy me a Nintendo and Super Mario Bros.

Yet, as the daily grind of work and then parenting these two crazy kids came about, I lost the time in my day to play.

Then I realized it was time to make this a priority. Remember that.

If you make something a priority in your life, it will happen. No matter how busy you are.

This includes your health and fitness. You have the time. Even if you think you do not.

But I digress.

I started setting aside more time in my day to just do something I really enjoyed. Even if it was just a few minutes per day.

Whereas spending time every day to practice a new skill (like learning a new language) will sharpen the mind and your focus, spending time to do something like video games eases my mind.

You don’t have to be passionate about video games.

It can be something important to you. Perhaps it’s charitable work or maybe it’s writing or drawing or playing a sport (or just watching a sport).

Life is far too short not to make time for the things that keep you invigorated.

Do nothing intentionally without meditating (just sit and slow things down)

All of the gurus out there are promoting this non-stop hustle culture. It’s a cancerous approach to work and ruins your relationship with living life in general.

If you’re always chasing the next project and always grinding to stand out in front of the crowd, life is going to fly right by without you noticing.

You’re constantly plugged into your computer, then your phone, then your TV and then back again to your phone.

Instead, I want you to slow the fuck down.

Then put the phone down.

We’ve been so over-stimulated by social media and computers and phones that we have no idea what quiet is anymore.

I’m talking about true quiet with no noise, no obligation to do something right now, no urge to fill the silence with shit just to hear yourself.

Schedule 10 minutes into your day tomorrow to do absolutely nothing.

Not even journal or meditate or deep breathing.

You’re not going to take a nap, either. Just sit. Peacefully. Mindfully and present in the moment for those 10 minutes.

Then do this as often as possible (preferably every single day).

Let me help you learn to develop both a healthy mind and healthy body … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Healthy mind and healthy body” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.