Habits. We all have them. Some are good some are not so good. It doesn’t really matter what happened or what you used to do. As long as you are open to examine yourself to detect those that may harm or at least not benefit you, and are willing to replace them with ones that fit you and your goals better.. voila.. that’s the way to go.
Following are 8 lifestyle habits that will make you feel better inside and out:
1 >> Move your body daily
No panic! It doesn’t have to be a lot. I don’t mean you have to start running to the gym for hours on end – no that would be too much of an extreme.
- stretching your body in the morning
- doing some squats while your food is cooking
- choosing your bike over your car
- … that’s what is meant here
No matter if you start making it a habit to walk to work, or go on walk during your lunch break, make sure you get your body moving at least 20 min each day.
Make it as fun as possible – listen to your favorite music, ask your best friend to join, bring your dog, and chose an activity you enjoy
2 >> Use your feet instead of an elevator or escalator
Again, this falls under the category of “move your body”. It’s so easy to opt for the elevator. But hey, it’s also so easy to choose the stairs and get your daily being-active-rate up 😉
By doing so you improve your posture, strengthen your muscles and benefit your respiratory system. Ha, all the good stuff
3 >> Participate in social or leisure activities
The other day I wrote a blog post about how social ties benefit your health and contribute to a happy, healthy and long life – you can read it here. So go out and meet your friends 🙂
4 >> Don’t spend too much time in front of the TV
Oh, how well we all know that. Yet how little do we actually put it into action most of the time.
Not only is this a massive time killer but somehow also a time sucking machine. You put the TV on and next thing you know hours and hours are gone. It’s almost magic haha.
I remember how we had a project in school back in the days, where we had to note down, when, how often and what we would watch in TV for a certain amount of time. The results were pretty shocking. We often lose track over how much time we actually spend in front of that screen.
5 >> Replace junk food with fruit
Generally the idea is to replace junk food and food that won’t nutritionally benefit you, or make you feel good, with food that does.
Replacing junk with fruit is one idea. Feel free to come up with your own ideas of how to nourish yourself more deeply.
By doing so you not only allow more nutrients into your system, but also the urge to snack will reduce, as you fuel your body with enough of what it needs.
The aim is to not eat less, but to eat better. Restricting calories will never work over the long run!
6 >> Get the right amount of sleep (around 7-9 hours)
After diet, sleep is another very important topic. After all, both are part of our day to day life.
But why is it so important anyway? While we sleep, our body generates melatonin – a hormone produced from neurotransmitter serotonin. It plays part in the sleeping and waking cycles. Melatonin strengthens our immune system, contains an element that protects against cancer, promotes natural production of insulin, slows onset of Alzheimer, prevents Osteoporosis, fights heart disease and is a powerful antioxidant which helps live longer.
And all of this while you are literally asleep. Our bodies are some crazy machines right?
Also finding the right amount of sleep is crucial for your overall well being. While too little sleep won’t allow our body to rest as deeply and restore its energy stores the way it needs to, too much sleep makes us lethargic.
For most people 7 to 9 hours is a good amount of time to get well rested and energized for the next day.
7 >> Play with children/pets, or join a sports team
Doing so strenghtens your body and stimulates the mind – key factors of staying young, happy, healthy and living longer
8 >> Be conscious of your daily routine
There are 2 important key factors in here:
Being conscious which allows you to detect harmful habits and to replace them with more positive ones.
As well as having a daily routine which takes away decisions from the mind as you know what you have to do.
Most successful people have a daily routine that will make their life easier and take away constant small decisions (should I eat first and then brush my teeth, or the other way around). While such things are decided once, there is more space available for other thoughts, ideas and creativity.
Daily routines also play an important role in Ayurveda – the ancient Indian tradition of medicine. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
Till then…
To feeling good inside & out,
Sarah
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