1.
Stress Less, it sounds so cliche, doesn’t it? Well, there’s a reason why. It’s #1, people! When you’re wound up in your worry, your body produces a stress hormone called cortisol. This stuff is toxic to so many aspects of your health and has been linked to high blood pressure, weakening of the immune system, heart disease, several different mental illnesses, and so much more.We all have different types of stress, and nobody who functions in society can claim to not have any at all. If you are involved in many high stress situations at the same time, you are at high risk for the aforementioned consequences. Here are some examples of high stress situations. If you can identify with more than 1 or 2 of these, you need to slow down, breathe deeply, and try to relax!- overwhelming work stress- family fighting/dysfunction- toxic relationship cycles- significant financial problems- weight management frustrations- lack of stable home/moving- addiction/mental health cyclesIf you have too much stress, you can try yoga, meaningful mantras, deep breathing, dancing around to your favorite music, writing down your thoughts, positive thinking, or even therapy if you find your stress to be too much to handle. The best approach is to try it all! My best tip? Try to eliminate your worry over things you cannot control. If there is no solution to the problem in your mind, then let it go! I call those wasted worries.While you’re working on eliminating unnecessary stress from your life, move on throughout the rest of these steps and you’ll find these stress easier to manage as you become “whole-body healthy.”
2.
HydrateI never realized how important water was until I actually started drinking it. I was brought up on juice, mostly… and I only drank water when there was nothing else. I honestly never realized how much I was missing water. I struggled with headaches, back pain, and constant fatigue. Although I’m sure other factors had a role in this, water has changed my life… Drastically.How much should you drink? The minimum recommendation from The Mayo Clinic is about half your weight in oz./day. For example, I weigh 130 lbs, so I should be drinking at least 65 oz. water per day. That’s almost 9 8 oz glasses of water/day! If you’re not already a superstar water drinker, that really is a heck of a lot. I know it was for me! But it’s so imperitive for your overall health and well-being.Now, I do have some recommendations for your water consumption. BPA is no joke. It’s a serious problem. Plastic is really never safe, but in life we just can’t avoid it. Water, the purest part of your life, should be fully pure. BPA (Bisphenol A), is in pretty much all plastic (along with aluminum and more – look it up!) Even if it says BPA free, it’s got something pretty darn close to replace it. BPA is theorized to contribute to neurological damage, infertility, hormone imbalance, prostate & breast cancer, and more. Try Glass. You can buy individual glass bottles, but it’s gonna cost you. There are some small health markets that refill glass jugs, or Mountain Valley Spring Water has a 5-gallon jug delivery program. It’s crazy how hard it is to live in this world without all the toxic chemicals, but I truly believe it will become easier as more people migrate back to their intended natural roots – the free life, I call it.
3.
Eat More Plants, Less JunkTake every complicated thing you’ve ever learned about how to eat and toss it out the window. Stop counting calories, cutting carbs and crash dieting. Eating right is quite simple: EAT MORE PLANTS. Your ancestors ate plants. You were evolved to eat plants. you HAVE to eat plants. Our bodies need a variety of vitamins and minerals to function fully. Where do they come from? Plants. And eating peas everyday isn’t enough. You need a variety of vitamins, so eat the rainbow – and not in skittles!Sugar: It is public enemy number one to general health, if you ask me. It’s in everything. There are thousands of different words for sugar in the foods we eat – the foods we feed our children. There are studies that predict 1 in 4 young adults will be diabetic within the next 10 years if something doesn’t drastically change. It’s nearly impossible to avoid.Animal Protein: Let me preface this by saying, “I am not a vegetarian.” However, i don’t eat very much meat. The average person doesn’t need nearly as much protein as they think, especially animal protein. There are so many other ways to get protein, and eating too much meat can cause a slew of gut problems, especially when it’s not sourced well. Try more beans (especially lentils!), seeds & nuts, dark leafy greens, peas, sweet potatoes, and ancient whole grains (quinoa, farro, freekah, barley). Those all have plenty of protein, plus other wonderful nutrients!Tips:- If you don’t already avoid GMO’S, you should start. I won’t get into my pages of opinion about them, but here’s a good link the check out. http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/- Ditch the processed foods. If something has more than a half inch of ingredients, you don’t want it.- Choose farmers markets & health food stores over chain supermarkets. Grocery stores have been designed to make you go up and down the aisles and grab more junk than you even want. You see it, so you want it. If you have to go to a chain store, make sure you write a list. Stock up on produce, then only go down the aisles for the things that you need.
4.
Get MovingFor the longest time, I thought that eating well was enough. I still didn’t feel good. People told me to exercise. I knew I had to exercise. I just didn’t. But now I do, and it changed my life. I don’t do much, but a little bit goes a long way – truly. I hope to continue to grow in this area of my health journey, because it is truly where I am lacking the most.It doesn’t matter how you exercise, just do it. Commit to it. Run up some stairs, play some basketball, dance around to music until you fall over, or go to the gym if that’s your thing. You’re body needs it. It will help heal your mental and physical health. Don’t forget to stretch, and don’t over-do it or else you won’t want to do it again!
5.
Set GoalsWhatever it is that you’ve been putting off, make it happen! Write a list of simple short-term goals and set a deadline to complete them. Then make a list of long-term goals, too! Visualize these goals and make them come to life!
6.
Clean Up ShopYou’re already getting rid of the wasted stress, junk food, and laziness. It really is a perfect time to go ahead and get rid of all of the junk in your life. Clean your house & car, throw out what you don’t use, have a garage sale or sell some stuff online. You can’t reach your potential motivation level with junk laying around. It prevents you from doing what you need to. If you’re going to live clean, do it all the way.
Remember, your next second is a new second. Search for joy & live in positivity whenever possible. You’ll be surprised with how much you can you if you take these steps.
Source: New feed
