Dear Reader,

I'm back! Thank you for your patience 😊

When I'm working, I feel like I spend too much time inside and on a screen. While I don't think screens are inherently bad for us, I think too much makes it easy to fall out of touch with our bodies and internal wellbeing.

So I took advantage of the warmer weather - I went to a baseball game, met up with old friends at new restaurants, and had lunch on a bench in the park (underrated activity).

Can't forget that life is meant to be lived.

The health habit that helped me start a healthy lifestyle

If you’ve been following my story for a bit, you would know that I grew up overweight and that in turn had caused me to struggle with my mental health (or maybe it was vice versa?)

Regardless, I’ve come to understand that our mental and emotional health are closely interconnected. And like many interconnected things, there’s a momentum to it.

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The most useless (but true) health advice I got

Besides eating plenty of vegetables and getting regular exercise– tried and true health advice which also isn’t very useful if you’re struggling with your health (*human empathy matters when it comes to health, pure science often isn’t enough)– I remember receiving health advice from a teacher that I had no idea what to do with.

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“The easiest way to be healthy is to stay healthy”

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He announced it like it was the most profound thing you could share, but if you’re not healthy, what good is this information? I was young, overweight, and struggling at the time, and I had never felt less seen.

But reflecting on it years later, I began to understand what he was trying to explain, which is that good health is momentum– it gets easier the more you do it, but if you stop, the longer you stop the harder it is to start.

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​​So I reframed it: the easiest way to be healthy is to keep doing healthy things.​​
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And what are healthy things?

• A walk in the park
• A stretch in the morning
• Fresh fruit with breakfast
• Water with lunch
• Eating a meal without a distraction (no phone, no tv)
• Eating in moderation
• A conversation with a friend
• Doing a favor for a family member
• Doing something for a personal passion
• Tidying up the kitchen
• Sleeping early

The list goes on!

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For me, my start was a 10-minute walk

The health habit that helped me start a healthy lifestyle was 10 minutes walking outside (a walk down and back the block), five times a week. This eventually became a 6 minute jog, and then a 10 minute jog.

I didn’t think too much about it, I just knew walking was good for my health and began there.

As I went further and faster, I began changing my eating habits to reflect my new jogging goals. Less mindless snacking, a bit more water during the day. I started eating fruit, then I became conscious of eating vegetables.

People often declare that one health habit changed their life: cutting out soda, stop drinking alcohol, stop smoking, start walking, and so on. And it’s true, because healthy habits nudge other healthy habits. It’s a momentum.

You don’t need to start off with the sprint, but if you’re looking to improve your health– whether physically or mentally– try starting off with something small, and build off that momentum.

See what else that action inspires in you, and how it can be nurtured to grow.

Keep doing healthy things, no matter how small. Because when small efforts are compounded, you’ll be surprised by how much can change in just a year.​
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What health goals do you have?

What healthy habit would you like to start to meet them?

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Warmly,

Kaki

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