If you are having a struggle with getting into better shape why not take a leaf out of a slim, fit person’s book to give you a leg up to losing some weight and getting into better physical shape. What are some of the healthy habits these people have established that could help us?

Healthy Habit No 1 – People who seem to be always in good shape move a lot. This seems pretty basic, but in a sedentary society, we are moving less than ever before. So we often have to make an effort to move more both at work and at home.

Slim, fit people don’t shy away from physical activity in their daily lives. They will walk if they can rather than drive and will take the stairs rather than use an elevator. They consciously go out of their way to find opportunities to move. Whether that is parking a greater distance away from the shopping mall, taking the stairs at work, or even picking up their pace when walking from meeting-to-meeting at work. They always seem to be on the move and moving fast at that.

They also find ways to be active in their leisure time and regard recreation activities as just part of an active lifestyle and not a replacement for a proper exercise program that will always contain strength building and maintaining exercise.

Whether they are involved in a sport, walking the dog, swimming, running, or stretching at their desks, they understand that staying in-shape is a lifestyle, not just a “kick” you go on. They will admit to exercise as something ‘you become’ rather than ‘something you do’.

Healthy Habit No 2 – They do not diet, slim fit people do not ‘go on diets’- they are on a diet every day, lots of healthy food to fuel their activity and support their exercise regime.

They do not restrict calories and understand that long term health and fitness requires consistently eating 4-6 small meals each day spaced every 3-4 hours throughout the day.

Each of these meals contains at least 20 grams of protein and lots of raw and cooked vegetables to nourish and sustain them. You can often spot a slim, fit person because they don’t skip breakfast, they will often bring their own lunch to work and they seem to always be snacking on healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts.

It’s also rare to see them eating fast food or drinking soda and they avoid the ‘fat free food trap’. The result is that they have more stable blood sugar levels along with plenty of natural energy. And what’s more they are less likely to store body fat because they rarely eat more calories in any given meal than their body can utilize.

Healthy Habit No 3 – They record their progress. Slim, fit people keep track of their workouts so they can determine whether they are actually making progress toward their goal.  You can not improve what you don’t measure.

By keeping track of the details of a diet and workout regimen, you can have better visibility into potential stumbling-points and are then able to work and improve them. Fitness conscious people understand this, since meeting their goals means understanding that progress from the small steps of improvement you make each workout. Unless you are tracking those improvements, you will find yourself stalled and frustrated.

Try copying these three healthy habits and maybe you will experience a surge of progress towards your health and fitness goals. It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. So, let us all learn from the people who have made great progress towards their goals and are envied for their slimness, fitness and healthiness.