by Sean Paul Curry 

I am on the healthy living craze and I am loving every minute of it.

Living life the healthy way will prolong life and work wonders for your mental Health.

My personal healthy living journey has been long and tough and I am still working at it. I try to train at least three times a week mixing both cardio, muscle building and core exercises.  I have been doing it now for just over two years and it has made huge difference both physically and mentally.

Physically I’ve lost a bit of weight and toned up and mentally I’ve never felt better. I can now wear clothes that I would never have dreamt I could wear before. Strangely I have become less clumsy and my reactions are a lot better which I didn’t expect.

One of the good things about living healthy is when other people start to notice you have lost weight and tell you look great and you are doing well.  I think we find it hard to say thank you to people for saying this. Maybe we find it hard because we don’t see a difference but we should become comfortable with saying THANK YOU.

Luckily in Fermanagh and south Tyrone gyms are popping up everywhere as are classes in local halls and couch to 5k programmes in villages and towns across the counties. The same is happening with Slimming World and Weightwatcher groups. The 'in thing' to do now is to live the healthy lifestyle.

The gym in the Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen is excellent and the staff are great.

Gyms themselves can be very daunting and scary for some people who are body conscious but once you realise nobody is looking at you and that they like you are there to concentrate on making themselves fitter and stronger, then the gym will become a much more welcoming place to be. Fitness rooms can be quite expensive but I think if you are getting the use out it, it’s well worth it to see the physical and mental difference in your body and personality

Some might say there is pressure on people to look a certain way and to be honest there is a certain amount of truth in that. I think it certainly gives you encouragement to live healthy. When you start to feel the difference it becomes like a positive addiction.

Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy my treats but it is very important to find that balance. I have a treat day every week but I mix it with eating healthy during the week and training at least three times a week.

The internet Is packed full people showing you how to live a healthy lifestyle, Joe Wicks AKA The Body Coach is one of these people. He has travelled the world showing people how to exercise and creating recipes for healthy eating and even showing us all how to prepare his food.

Living a healthy lifestyle is now literally at your fingertips. The emergence of Apps for your phone that can help you plan your session and Fitbit watches that measure everything from heart rate and sleeping pattern to counting how many steps you take in a day are all things that are helping people live healthy and more importantly making you more aware of how your body is working and coping with your current lifestyle.

The hardest thing to do is to find the will to keep going when times get tough, I sometimes buy myself gym gear or download some gym music so it makes me think  ‘now that I have bought I have to use it’.

The healthy lifestyle is the in thing to do and I for one have proudly jumped on that bandwagon. Being healthy is a state of mind you adapt to and it does wonders for your mental health, but it’s not for everyone. If you are happy with way you look and feel then there is no need to change.

In my opinion even if it’s just a hobby being healthy will make a huge difference in your lifestyle the fact that it’s now fashionable makes it easier and more possible for people to get into a healthy living lifestyle.