13 great pieces of advice if you want to start living a healthier lifestyle today

I asked 13 top voices in health, wellness, and food on their best advice for living a healthier lifestyle. Here's what they had to say...

You need energy to fuel your biggest goals

There are so many wonderful goals that I have in my life from publishing a cook book to having a family to traveling to Japan, and the list goes on. While all of these fun goals and achievements are exciting, the work to get there is tedious, constant, time-consuming, and takes a lot of energy and effort. Between daily life and the additional tasks to support these goals, your days will be full, but hopefully you will be moving in the direction to achieve them! But on that path to your goals and plans, there are going to be some roadblocks: Burnout, financial struggles, health issues, reroutes of original plans, and more.

And while you are not in control of everything, you do have the freedom to try and proactively mitigate some of the roadblocks that may show up. I want you to be able to achieve your goals! I want you to be able to show up every single day so you can continue to work towards those goals! Though a healthier lifestyle will not solve every problem or completely remove every roadblock, it will be there to support you.

I personally have experienced the positive impact that choosing to live a healthier lifestyle can have on every other area of my life. Living a lifestyle where I make decisions to support a healthier version of myself provides me with more energy to do what I love, more mental clarity to show up each day ready to work, more ability to feel good and enjoy the life I’m living. I want you to be able to experience all of these benefits too!

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Here’s what the experts have to say

I asked 13 strong voices in the health, wellness, and food space their best advice for living a healthier lifestyle. Particularly, I wanted to know how they navigate living healthy while managing their full and busy lives too. You will read more from nutritionists, home chefs, mothers, writers, doctors, and entrepreneurs who have experienced positive change as part of a healthier lifestyle. From their first inspiration to living a healthier life to their top tips for making healthy living easier, these 13 voices are sharing their best advice. I can’t wait to share them with you!

1) Set yourself up to succeed: Environmental tweaks for healthier habits

Making small, strategic changes to your physical environment is an easy and effective way to build healthy habits, especially when you’re busy. Our surroundings shape food choices, movement patterns, and daily habits.

Redesigning your environment reduces the mental load of making healthy decisions. For instance, consider keeping cut veggies at eye level in your fridge, lay out workout clothes the night before for easier morning workouts, and keep tempting foods out of sight (or out of the house!) to reduce willpower drain. A little forethought (chopping the veggies or laying out the workout clothes) can positively change your environment, making healthy choices easier — especially when you’re busy!

Anne, RD & Avery, CHC

, Registered Dietician and Certified Health Coach, Writers of NooS

2) Forget perfect, just start

So many of us get stuck in the “all or nothing” mindset—but when it comes to healthy living, it’s really about consistency, not intensity. One small anchor habit like a protein-packed breakfast, a 10-minute walk, or drinking water before coffee can shift everything. It might not feel like much, but tiny wins, done consistently, beat going big and burning out every time.

Ashley Gish

, Women’s Health NP + Founder of Wellness Redefined

3) Mastering blood sugar balance is foundational

My drive for a healthier lifestyle came after a series of wake-up calls: gestational diabetes, hypothyroidism, and burnout. If I had to start again, I'd aim for progress, not perfection, and start slow, not trying to fix everything overnight. I'd prioritize blood sugar balance because it's foundational, otherwise, you're building on quicksand: build meals and snacks around protein, healthy fats, and fiber, and learn to read labels - these are great first steps to real, sustainable change.

Karina Baloleanu, CFNC

Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor, Writer of Back to Wholesome

4) Habit stacking is a great way to make healthy living easier

Start with small and sustainable changes! Lifestyle pillars can really move the needle when it comes to health. Are you sleeping enough? Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating mostly whole foods? Are you getting some type of movement in each day?

Habit stacking is a great way to make healthy living easier! This is a strategy where you pair an old habit with a new habit that you want to implement. For example, since you brush your teeth every morning, try pairing gua sha with brushing your teeth. This creates a built-in reminder!

Lauren Less

, Food blogger, Recipe + content creator

5) Want to start living healthier? Start with your ‘why’

Start with your why. Not the “I should be healthier” kind of why, but the real reason. Maybe you want energy to chase your grandkids, finally write that book, start that art project, or just feel good in your favorite jeans. Once you name your why, then ask yourself why that matters to you. Dig deeper. My why was having energy for my passion projects, but beneath that… It’s because helping women feel amazing that brings me joy. When you connect to that deeper why, your motivation gets super real and lasting.

Melissa Scala

, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Nutrition Specialist, CPT, Writer of Grow Healthier + Happier

6) Root into the season: Start with what’s outside your window

Notice the light, the temperature, what’s blooming or fading. Let the season guide how you eat, move, and care for yourself. When you live in rhythm with nature, health becomes less about doing more and more about coming home to yourself.

Michelle Seguin MD

, Family Medicine & Lifestyle Medicine Doctor

7) One change at a time: The secret to sustainable health

Begin with one small, sustainable change. Maybe it's drinking water when you wake up, getting morning sunlight, taking a short walk after dinner, or adding one vegetable daily. Make this habit automatic before adding another. Track progress using a method that brings you joy. Connect habits to something deeper than appearance—perhaps better energy, blood sugar or sleep. Remember that consistency outperforms perfection, and small changes add up. The best diet and lifestyle plan is the one you can stick with.

Beth Bollinger

, Nutritionist, Integrative health practitioner, Writer of Nest Wellness

8) Find the right professionals

Losing my mom to cancer changed everything. I saw how misinformation can cost lives. If you want to live healthier, start by tuning out the noise. My tip: seek out professionals trained in health. The right support can make all the difference—you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Sara Redondo, MD

, Author, Integrative and Preventive Health Advocate

9) A return to what’s real

Go on a diet. Buy supplements. Eat superfoods. Do yoga. Count calories. Wake up at 5 a.m. (This is what you're told.) Health advice has become complicated, stressful, and restrictive. You must go back to the basics. Start thinking of wellness through an ancestral lens—true health is about remembering what your body has always needed. Move every day. Eat whole foods. Sleep well. Breathe through your nose. Get sunlight. Prioritize connection above all else. Do what's been done before.

Sophie Francis

, Clinical Mental Health Counseling student, Writer of Well on Your Way

10) Your healthier life starts with one habit

If you’re just starting, my best advice is: begin with habits. Not big ones, not perfect ones, just consistent ones. Something like drinking a glass of water with lemon in the morning. Reducing processed food and instead adding more vegetables, seeds, and nuts to your meals. Taking a short daily walk, hopping on the bike, or simply moving your body in ways that feel good. These small actions, done daily, turn into powerful rituals. They don’t feel like effort anymore, they become part of who you are. You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight. You just need to begin. And trust me, the results build quietly, but powerfully.

Orry

, Nutrition & Health Mentor, Writer of NutriMindFit

11) Build a foundation you enjoy

My health journey started as a competitive high school runner, and that love for movement stuck with me. My top tip: build healthy habits you enjoy! I prioritize daily walks, eat simple, whole and nourishing foods, and lift weights 3–4 times a week. These small, consistent choices help me feel strong and grounded—no matter how busy life gets.

Shelby, Well with Shell on Instagram, Certified personal trainer, Nutrition student

12) What will my body thank me for later?

One of the biggest hurdles that many of us have faced to consistently living a healthier lifestyle is navigating food cravings. It often presents a dilemma: do we give in to the immediate urge, or consciously choose nourishment? This struggle is especially real when emotions come into play. When a craving for comfort food hits, try a pause. Your mind might want something processed, but ask: what emotion is this tied to? What would truly nourish that feeling, and what will my body thank me for later? This isn't about constant denial, but about prioritizing regular nourishment and finding other ways – like a walk or a chat – to healthily address emotional needs. By pausing, you create space to choose nourishment that benefits both mind and body, and mastering this skill will make healthy living infinitely easier.

Shannon Dubois, MS

, Holistic nutritionist, Writer of Back on Track For Good

13) Balanced hormones, the key to feeling good

When I was 18 I developed an eating disorder and became obsessed with my body and with food in a very unhealthy way. I ran myself into the ground with over-exercising and under-eating for years and then I started to see the side effects from my actions. I discovered that hormones impact every single function in our bodies and that our menstrual cycle is like a monthly insight into what’s going on.

My top tip for being your healthiest self as a woman is to begin to learn about your menstrual cycle and tune in to your hormones. Learning what your symptoms mean and what your body is trying to tell you and then supporting it with diet, supplements, and lifestyle practices is the key to thriving as a woman. I promise you can have balanced hormones, glowing skin, effortless periods, and get pregnant easily, I help women do it everyday.

Lulu Godin

, Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Writer of Be Balanced

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What would living a healthier lifestyle look like for you?

From starting with your why to eating more balanced meals and building habits that last, there are so many ways that you can choose to start living a healthier life today. Remember, it is not about trying to do everything perfectly, but instead showing up consistently again and again. With this mindset, you can continue to learn and grow into a healthier version of yourself. The impact might not be immediate, but over time, the daily choices of living a healthy life will compound. Before you know it, you will have even more energy to fuel your beautiful and full life.

I would love to hear from you! Reply to this and share 1 thing you are going to do this week to support a healthier version of you.

P.S. I hope you enjoyed all of these wonderful contributions from these voices in the health, wellness, and food space. If you liked this blog, please consider sharing it with someone who is interested in living a healthier life. Your recommendation with a friend or family member means the world to me!

Best,

Grace Barker

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