Learn How To Develop Healthy Relationships

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Relationships are a necessary part of healthy living, but there is no such thing as a perfect relationship. Relationships, from business to romances, have the potential to enrich and add to our enjoyment of life. However, these same relationships can cause discomfort and sometimes harm.  Take a few minutes to learn more about how to develop healthy relationships.

What makes a healthy relationship?

A healthy relationship is when two people develop a connection based on:

  • Mutual respect
  • Trust
  • Honesty
  • Support
  • Fairness/equality
  • Separate identities
  • Good communication
  • A sense of playfulness/fondness

Even though each relationship is most likely a combination of both healthy and unhealthy characteristics, relationships need to be maintained and healthy relationships take work.  This applies to all relationships; work relationships, friendships, family, and romantic relationships.

What are signs of a healthy relationship?

A healthy relationship should bring more happiness than stress into your life.  Every relationship will have stress at times, but you want to prevent prolonged mental stress on either member of the relationship.  Below are some characteristic that maybe present in your healthy relationships.

While in a healthy relationship you:

  • Take care of yourself and have good self-esteem independent of your relationship
  • Maintain and respect each other’s individuality
  • Maintain relationships with friends and family
  • Have activities apart from one another
  • Are able to express yourselves to one another without fear of consequences
  • Are able to feel secure and comfortable
  • Allow and encourage other relationships
  • Take interest in one another’s activities
  • Do not worry about violence in the relationship
  • Trust each other and be honest with each other
  • Have the option of privacy
  • Have respect for sexual activity and boundaries
  • Accept influence.  Relationships are give and take; allowing your partner to influence you is important; this can be especially difficult for some men.
  • Resolve conflict fairly: Fighting is part of every healthy relationships, the difference is how the conflict is handled.

Maintaining the unity and love of a relationship can be difficult over time.  However, focusing on or building a better spiritual union can be very rewarding in honoring your commitment to the relationship.

Today:  Compliment your spouse.  If not married, then compliment the person you care about the most.  Please don’t text it 🙂

(Hall Health Center Health Promotion staff)

Preparing For A Healthy Lifestyle

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Before you start the diets and exercises here is how to set goals you can stick to for a healthier lifestyle:

Step One: Settle on the What

What do you want to change? Whether it’s an overall lifestyle change or specifics (lose weight, trim fat, get more muscle, or achieve a fitness goal), you can’t set goals if you don’t know what you want to achieve.

Step Two: Get Specific & Realistic

Many goals fail by not being specific enough. You could say “I’m going to eat healthier this year,” or “I’m going to exercise more,” but what does this really mean? If you don’t get specific, you won’t know when you’ve hit your goals, which is your major motivator.

Secondly, your goals need to be realistic. Weight loss goals need to be achievable (5-10% of body weight), exercise goals should be attainable, healthy eating goals shouldn’t feel like punishment. The more realistic your goal, the easier it will be to attain. Once you reach that goal, you can build on your success.

Step Three: Break it Down

Having a specific goal is great, but if it’s too big, it will feel unachievable, which means the second it feels out of reach you’ll want to abandon it all together. By breaking your goals down, you set small achievements that will help you stay motivated. For example, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds, then losing 2 pounds is your first hurdle.

Step Four: Plan for Setbacks

Everyone has setbacks along the way, look at nearly every pro athlete who ever had an injury. The key is to understand that setbacks happen, and you can come back from them. The second step is to identify what caused the setback. If your healthy eating goal gets set back by unhealthy options, find new healthy options that satisfy your cravings. If your exercise goal is failing, change up your routine.

Step Five: Keep a Record

It can be hard to stay on track and see successes as they happen, so keep track. Even if you’re looking to simply drop pounds as a healthy goal, keep track of exercise and what you eat. Not only will you find small successes (such as trimming inches), you can also identify where there might be room for improvement.

Step Six: Get Help!

You don’t have to tackle your healthy living goals alone – get help! Meal planning, exercise routines, and inspiration are easy to find, affordable, and will increase your chance of success. With a bit of planning and some dedication to your new healthy living goals, you can end on a high note.

If you are looking for guidance with a healthy plant-based diet, look no further than 22 Days Nutrition. They are here to help with Vegan Meal Delivery and plant protein bars and powders. You can pick up a copy of The 22-Day Revolution and The 22-Day Revolution Cookbook at your local bookstore and at Amazon.