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When most people hear the word "fitness", a picture of an in-shape person like Britney Spears (when she isn't in her heavy moments) or some rock star with a fabulous physique, or a supermodel pops up in their heads. These people may look fit, but really aren't. They only prove the point I'm trying to make - it is possible to achieve a toned, slender body yet remaining fundamentally unfit. A truly fit and healthy person needs to give nutrition and mental health/spirituality as much importance as he or she gives exercise. Britney Spears is a great example of someone who really isn't doing any of these three things right. She either over-exercises or not at all; eats horrible processed foods, over consumes alcohol and takes drugs; and clearly is experiencing lots and lots of mental anguish/stress. Models are another good example. Having been around them I know they often smoke, hardly eat at all unless they are naturally very skinny in which case they often consume burgers and fries, and many times don't exercise as they can't afford gaining any muscle at all. But they look great, don't they...?

I don't mean to put either Britney or models down. In fact, in my teens and early twenties I lived just like them. I smoked, I mostly ate crappy food or not at all, I exercised like a maniac not to gain weight, and I stressed out about everything! I even snorted some cocaine. I can't say I was a very happy person, but I certainly looked fit and happy. For this I have mostly youth to thank - and to blame...

These days I am different. I stopped smoking a long time ago, I drink little alcohol, I certainly don't take drugs, I eat good foods and don't over-exercise, and I sleep well and rarely stress out. It's only now that I feel truly healthy and happy despite having looked like it forever. My change didn't happen overnight. It took me years to get to where I am today. I hope that with this article, I will inspire you, if you feel you're not leading a healthy lifestyle, to make the necessary changes sooner rather than later and save lots of time and money wasted on things that aren't good for you.

The first thing you should do is to download this lifestyle questionnaire., a questionnaire created by Paul Chek, founder of the Chek Institute.. As a holistic lifestyle coach certified by him, I give it to all my clients and find that it is really helpful in getting to the bottom of their health status. Please fill it out and see at which stage you are. It really is an incredibly simple tool to quickly get a good idea of how healthy your lifestyle is. In addition to this questionnaire, go to my June Newsletter, download and fill out the metabolic typing questionnaire in the first article. Eating according to your metabolic type is very important for optimal health.

When you know your lifestyle status, you will know which areas in your life need the most attention. For your own sake, start making adjustments to improve your score. I have found that when people take it slow, they experience the most success. For example, if you scored low in the YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT section (the most important section) how about starting with always using sea salt instead of regular salt, only drinking high quality waters (preferably glass bottled spring water or reverse osmosis filtered tap water), and stop using the microwave? Do this for a few weeks and then make a few new changes. Some people (like yours truly) want quick results, so they think if they change everything all at once they will be better off. This method isn't recommended because you are likely to get overwhelmed and burnt out and revert back to your old behavior. The step-by-step approach is better.

As the questionnaires only cover nutrition, stress, sleep, and digestion, I recommend that you take a look at my article t Spirituality - Is It Important for Your Health? Also, take a look at the t article about EFT in this newsletter for an interesting approach to mental health. When it comes to exercise, here are four basic rules to keep in mind:

1. Less is more. This rule applies to people who are sedentary and are just starting out, as well as to people who exercise a lot. Take it very slowly if you have never exercised before (or in a long time). Don't start out by running a five K. Walk instead and add short spurts of jogging here and there. If you're a gym rat and love to workout, make sure your life doesn't revolve around working out.

2. Don't do the same thing over and over. Mix up your weight-lifting routine with new exercises to shock your body. Make sure you include functional exercises such as pushing, pulling, twisting, squatting, lunging, bending, walking.

3. Don't overdo cardio. Women especially do this. A good rule of thumb is the 50-50 principle - 50% cardio-50% resistance training. If you can, do even less cardio and more resistance training. If you go quickly in between resistance exercises and do mostly full body exercises, you will get a cardio workout as well as a strength workout. If you want to lose weight, spend more time on your nutrition instead.

4. Don't forget to stretch. Make sure you plan in time in your day for relaxing stretches. Your body will thank you in more ways than you can imagine...

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