12 Rules I Follow Every Day To Stay Fit & Healthy

But my biggest health success has come from following these 12 truths:

It actually takes less time and money to be healthy. Start every day with a protein shake. Eat lean protein, healthy fats, lots of nonstarchy veggies, and slow-load carbs at your meals. Don’t overcomplicate nutrition.

Optimal health can be the difference between a person living or dying, or getting that great opportunity or not. You’ve got to be ready, which means it’s not tomorrow when you start; it’s right now.

Exercise helps you handle stress better. You feel better, look better, you have a better immune system… Everything gets better, and you don't need to spend hours doing it. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t. You can practice high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in just minutes and it's a challenging workout.

You can’t just eat what you want and then exercise like crazy. I’ve watched people try it. It doesn’t work.

The more I spoke about food intolerances creating weight-loss resistance and other problems, the more so-called experts dismissed me. Today, we’re finally acknowledging things like gluten intolerances. But even 10 years ago, that was controversial. Stand up for — and stand by — what you believe in.

If you meet successful people — those who’ve really affected the world – they’ve all gone through challenges. My biggest occurred when my then-16-year-old son was struck by a hit-and-run driver and left for dead as I got ready to launch The Virgin Diet. Challenge becomes an opportunity to get stronger and better, because we don’t grow when life stays easy.

I used to say weight loss becomes a metaphor for life, but really weight loss is a trigger that helps people get inspired. Your “big why” must be big enough for you to get off the couch and take action.

The smallest things like starting the day with a protein shake, getting eight hours of sleep, and burst (or HIIT) training can yield big dividends. You start one good habit; the next one rolls in.

When you care about yourself and prioritize yourself as number one, lots of other great stuff happens. I don’t know why we feel guilty about things like extreme self-care, but that’s really what we need to be practicing. That rolls over to every other area of our life. That ripple effect helps millions everywhere.

If you’re eating junk food, you’re sending your body the message of, “I’m a trash can. I don’t matter.” Treat your body right.

Every morning for more than 20 years, I've set an intention. I focus on what my big goals and dreams are right now. I write them down: everything from specific numbers of business goals to life goals to my life’s love. I share these with friends and colleagues to make myself accountable.

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