Ideas for a Happy Life Archives - Official Site of Giaan Rooney

June 23, 2015 by Giaan Rooney

Healthy Habits for Great Skin

There’s something about growing up in the subtropical Queensland climate, next to some of Australia’s most golden beaches. It’s certainly hot and humid, but the sea air permeates the stickiness, while the sunshine purifies. Even though we had to lather on the Sun Protection Factor, my skin always had this effortless lustrous clarity to it. I never even had to think about it.

When I moved to Melbourne in 2002, cold weather, intense training, chlorine and the general stresses of living in a big city all made it difficult to keep that beach glow going. What had been a natural part of my lifestyle became something I actually had to think about and make a conscious effort to maintain. Heaven forbid, I know. Ignorance was bliss.

Upon reflection there were certain elements of my lifestyle that worked for me and the more I talk to other glowing faces about it, the more I am convinced of this recipe for perfect skin.

The Secret to Health and Happiness

One of the most important lessons I learned from elite sports is that being healthy is both very complex and deceptively simple.

Complex because being healthy is so much more than just exercising as often as possible, watching what you eat, and getting enough rest and water. It certainly involves a bit of all that, but you can do all this (all the ‘right’ things) and still be profoundly unhealthy. I would argue that you’re not truly healthy until you feel good and think happy.

Being healthy is also deceptively simple. When you’re happy, leading a balanced life, full of reasons for active enjoyment, being healthy is so much easier. Then, all of a sudden, doing what’s good for you is no longer a struggle and exercise is not your enemy, but an opportunity!

You stop fighting yourself every moment to do the so-called right things, and start making choices and life decisions that make ‘healthy’ a more natural outcome of what you do, the people you keep in your life, and the activities you pursue.

Exercise Ideas for the Time Poor

I may have been an elite athlete in a previous life, but I am the last person to recommend some kind of gruelling, militant-style training regime. Those days are well and truly behind me, belonging squarely to a time when, let’s face it, there were fewer demands on my time and attention. As life got busier, I’ve had to make a more conscious effort to squeeze snippets of physical activity into my day, or switching something up, turning it into an opportunity for exercise.

Whether it’s a short 2-minute squat session while you brush your teeth, or 15 minutes of bouncing bubs while he giggles his little heart out, it’s all good! All physical activity counts for long-term health and happiness. So don’t stress if you’re not going out and hitting the pavement for a two hours every day. Or if you haven’t yet mastered the art of pulling a jumbo jet up a mountain with a rope. The reality is, you probably have much better things to do with your precious time.