Column: Justinne Lou Go shows how to set up a healthy home base

Getting into a healthy lifestyle is one thing, staying in it is another. It is common knowledge that a healthy lifestyle would involve two main things to put into practice — healthy diet and exercise. When it comes to dieting, most people would usually start with eating out less or cutting back on sweets and junk food. That is definitely a good way to start. But, beginning a healthy lifestyle hits closer to home than you think. The healthy lifestyle is not just about diet and exercise; it’s also about thriving in a healthy environment.

Stress is one of the major factors that could cause health deterioration. Although it is impossible to avoid all stresses in life, it is possible to minimize stress. It’s a matter of finding a place or simply making time to slow down and tune in to rest and recover from the daily hustle. When you can’t find a place with a calming environment — whether it’s a corner in the office, or a café, or even your car — you create one. This can be applied in healthy eating as well. If you can’t find a good, healthful place to eat, you create one — right in your own kitchen!

If you have decided to start a healthy lifestyle, you must also be fully aware that this entails changes and challenges, and you must be ready for it. In this generation, eating home-cooked meals has become a rare occasion — a luxury, even while eating out has become the norm. I could talk about the pros and cons of cooking and eating at home but I’ll save that for another article. Setting up a healthy home base is your first line of defense for the antagonist environment — fastfood, buffets, convenience store food — that awaits you as you