From Couch Potato to Bean Sprout
The thoughts of how to live healthier and be more productive can overwhelm even the most motivated of us, but breaking a lazy spell isn’t as easy as just getting up and doing it. Don’t let the simplicity of your Nike logoed sweaters terrorize your couch time.
Instead, try to incorporate a few daily routine practices that both keep you continuously productive and healthy as well as able to enjoy downtime when it’s needed. Hitting the gym every day isn’t the only way to practice a healthy lifestyle and isn’t even possible for all of us.
However, on the other hand, living the life of a couch potato increases the likelihood of suffering from high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and diabetes. All of that chilling out can result in a relaxation overdose whose path’s ending includes higher life insurance for overweight individuals and other difficult situations.
Get Out of the Lazy Rut
It’s completely normal to have bad days, weeks, or even months. Sometimes things just aren’t going our way, and hiding from the world can be healthy when we need a break. But on the other hand, we’ve all had times where rebooting ourselves mentally and physically just seems like too much, and tomorrow quickly turns into never.
The best thing you can do when catching yourself falling into a pattern of continued laziness is to identify what has you stuck.
Figure Out the Problem
Say it out loud, write it down, or scream. Sometimes we avoid what’s happening by not allowing ourselves to actually say what has us down because even with no one around, we can be embarrassed by our feelings or the way our life looks at any given moment.
But in order to win, you have to know what you’re fighting. Are you going through a break-up, feeling insecure about your career path, or suffering from anxiety or depression and not knowing how to end it?
Take a deep breath and mentally give yourself a break. You won’t have the strength to get up if you’re letting your thoughts beat you down. Tell yourself what’s wrong, write down with ways to help, and tell someone you’re close to how you’re feeling.
Just speaking about the problem will help you take the first steps to get you back to yourself.
Give Yourself Peace
Funny how being alone can feel like standing in a room full of loud, judgmental relatives. Quiet negative thoughts by practicing meditation, which may sound like cliche advice, but it works.
There are different forms of meditation, so take some time to find a way that works for you. It may be a bit unexpected to hear that the best way to get going is to slow down even more, but taking just 10 minutes a day to think about what you want to accomplish in the next few hours is a great way to increase your mood and your level of production.
Even if you’ve never done it before, meditation is a great practice because you can do it anywhere and anytime for any reason. A large part of getting trapped in the couch potato lifestyle is not feeling motivated and not being able to get adequate sleep, which causes us to feel fatigued during daylight hours.
Use meditation before you start your day, and after you end it to give your body and mind a needed rest. You will sleep better and be able to work better during the day.
Change Your Diet to Increase Your Energy
The phrase you are what you eat is a bone-chilling truth when you’re opening the blinds in the darkroom you’ve carefully crafted. Comfort foods may be emotionally comforting, but that comfort only lasts for a moment.
Improve your energy by improving your diet. Increasing your intake of healthy foods you enjoy will help you not only get deeper sleep, so you wake up refreshed but also give you the energy to not want to sit on the couch anymore.
As a couch potato CEO, I understand how much this advice is hated. I’ve been the chubby kid who basically blocked my ears whenever I thought phrases like this were coming my way. So from one couch potato to another, trust me, it’s for your best interest to put more effort into your diet.
Do Something Crazy
There’s so much life happening all around you that you’re doing yourself a disservice by not going out and experiencing it. Take an art class, sign up at an open mic, climb a mountain (or maybe just the tree in your backyard) — it doesn’t matter what you decide to get out and do as long as it’s something that breaks your daily routine. Do something that intimidates you or try that thing on Pinterest you think is cool but don’t know if you can pull off.
We often think of ourselves as the protagonist in our life stories, so think of something exciting that your favorite character would do and try it out. Even being bad at something can provide a much-needed confidence boost in getting back out and active.
So get that coupon for ax throwing or glass blowing. As long as you can take a picture of yourself doing it, it’s worth giving a try.
You’ve Gotta Have Your Friends
Make active activities a group hang. When you hang out around active people, you tend to become one. So simply ask a friend what their day has planned and ask to tag along.
In college, I frequently went on grocery shopping and dinner dates with a good friend, and in that way, tedious errands became a fun part of my week. I got to look forward to. I knew my friend would be counting on me, so it helped me stay off the couch.
Join the Dating Pool
Flirt with the idea of being desired and go on some dates. If you’re married, take your partner out on the town, and if you’re single, dust off those online dating profiles and get back out there.
Going on a date gives you a reason to get out, put on your best outfit, and finally shave. There’s nothing like feeling smooth, clean skin to boost your confidence, and to find some inspiration. When you look good, you feel good.
Most of the time, if you don’t have plans, there’s no reason to get up and wipe the crust out of your eyes, so going on a date is a great way to fake it until you make it when breaking out of the couch potato rut.
Why Couch Potatoes Don’t See Light
Don’t bury yourself from the world because time goes by faster than we think. We all need moments to reset and even allow ourselves times to feel sad, but vacations are only great when we don’t overindulge.
Feeling proud of ourselves and strong is more than just how much money we have or how good we look online, but rather it’s about the small daily habits we choose every day that creates the lives we wish to have.
Whether you’re stuck in a rut or trying to change your lifestyle, even reading this article is a great start. These tips can be a good beginning, but the only real trick is to do things that make you happy. When you’re happy, you move more, do more, and live more. Remember, you deserve to be happy.
