To start pushing your health and fitness goals forward, identify which habits hold you back.

Let’s face it: you’re not as fit as you’d like to be. But that doesn’t mean you should just give up.

The first step is learning what can be improved. Do you eat too many processed foods, drink too much alcohol or caffeinated beverages, or take paracetamol or other medications unnecessarily? These are the kinds of bad habits that lead to chronic inflammation and damage your body.

Consuming these “bad” foods essentially wreaks havoc on your gut. You might not know it, but your gut is one of the most important systems your body has. It makes up three-quarters of your immune system! And yet so many people don’t properly care for their gut. Their poor diets strain their digestive systems, which leads to hormone imbalances, excessive hunger, fatigue and worse.

It’s not just what you eat that can damage your gut, but your stress levels have a powerful impact, too.

We accept stress as a normal part of our professional lives. But stress is dangerous. Constant stress increases levels of the hormone cortisol in the body. When it’s produced at high levels for extended periods of time, cortisol can harm bones and muscles, and disrupt normal hormone regulation.

Our jobs and relationships aren’t the only sources of stress, either. Excessive exercise can stress your muscles and joints. Many think that staying active means exercising hard and pushing yourself to the limit. But guess what: people burn more fat by performing lighter exercises more frequently.

By all means, keep up your heavy program if you like it! But do so only occasionally. Regular, light exercises will help you stay fit, and they’re much easier on your body, too.

With these basics in mind, let’s move on to a more detailed fitness strategy.