18 GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018 The lazy, hazy days of summer are over, and you’re working to get back into a routine – crazy as it may be. If you’re a parent, you’ve likely been focusing a lot of your time on your kids: preparing for the school year, whether that’s back to the classroom or off to college, ramping up for fall sports, shopping for that back-to-school wardrobe… They always need something. In the midst of all the chaos, make sure you take some time for yourself. Your physical health, your financial health and your mental health need some attention, too. In the next pages, we offer some ideas from the experts to help you be your personal best. After all, you deserve to be the best YOU you can be! PERSONAL FITNESS FOR LIFELONG WELLNESS By Clint Fuqua | Contributor Health, wellness and fitness are either a part of your life or they aren't.  They are not a lifestyle, a hashtag or something you do when the timing is right.  They cannot be achieved in a 2-day or even a 120-day program, as those programs are just potential starting points or interludes during a lifetime of living a healthier life.  Here are my suggestions for getting healthy and staying healthy for a lifetime: 1 | Journal, track and monitor what you do currently for 1 week to 1 month before ever starting any exercise or dietary changes. Know what you do daily and what you are not willing to stop doing long- term.  This way you can start making improvements in your life instead of changing it into a life that you won't be willing to live. 2 | GET EXPERT HELP!  The only thing worse than not having a plan is having a bad plan made up of fads and fake health news.  Put together your own health team (doctor/ chiropractor/ trainer/ health coach) to help create a progressive program you are willing to live with for a healthy life instead of suffering through a few days or weeks of dietetic and physical insanity. 3 | Start slow! Going full speed with your first step is the best way to fall on your face and stop. Start where you are and build up slowly.  Pain is not and should never be the goal.  Progress and feeling good is the goal and the best way forward. 4 | Move your way. Find something that makes you want to move and get moving, but start slowly with it and learn how to do it well.  Walk, Run, Bike, Dance, Swim, Surf, Lift, Grapple, Climb, Kick, Punch, Wii Fit or whatever else your way to better health. 5 | Get a partner or a team of partners.  Teamwork makes the dream work and will keep you moving forward even on the days you may not feel like it.  They will depend on you as much as you depend on them, and that's the healthy peer pressure that leads to greater success. 6 | Don't cheat.  Have planned feasts instead of cheat meals.  This way occasional excessive eating is a part of the plan and can be enjoyed rather than resented, so stress stays low and the calories get burned faster with less storage. Living well is the ultimate goal, and it will take a lifetime to do it well, so don't rush it or neglect it. In the end if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything. Editor’s Note: Clint Fuqua is a Certified Health Coach, Personal Trainer, author, and host of the nationally syndicated Personal Health Care Reform talk show. He works with private clients to help them learn the best ways to get and stay healthy. Reach him at www.clintfuqua.com or call 469.585.1023. READY. SET. YOU!