I thus thought it was the perfect time to make a cup of hot tea and go through some excellent manners. We tend to be more reflective at the start of a new year, which is one of the things I like about it. This makes it the ideal time to evaluate our routines and see if they are still beneficial to us.
As many of you are aware, I was diagnosed with celiac disease about eight years ago, along with a few additional autoimmune diseases just for good measure.
I've been on a wellness quest since then, trying to figure out what suits my body and me the best. So I decided to share some of my favourite advice with you today—those healthy routines that I believe are really significant and can help strengthen your immune system, promote general wellbeing, and improve your mood over time.
I get that ordering takeout or dining out is quick and convenient, and I'm all for it occasionally. But it's time to reconsider when takeout accounts for 80% of your usual meals. Restaurant meals often have more salt and saturated fat content and more calories than meals prepared at home.
And let's be honest, they're usually not starting with high-quality ingredients. That's why studies have shown that people who cook for themselves more often than they eat out tend to be healthier overall. I've travelled quite extensively, and I've noticed this interesting thing, mainly in western culture.
And it's that we have these notions of what breakfast, lunch, and dinner should look like, mainly because of how we've been marketed to. Breakfast is a bowl of cereal, toast with some jam, or pancakes with syrup. Lunch could be a sandwich, a salad, or even a slice of pizza, and dinner could be chicken, beef, or fish with maybe a side of rice, potatoes, or veggies.
However, in other areas of the world, food is just food, and it may be consumed whenever you choose. You may frequently see pictures of me eating on Instagram, whether it be leftover salmon and sweet potatoes for breakfast or a few soft-boiled eggs and salad greens for dinner.
It only takes a small mental change to accept the notion that you can consume any meal at any time of day, but it's crucial to keep in mind. Continuing from the prior tip, simply eating extra veggies for breakfast will do your body the world of good.
Because of the previously listed foods, such as cereal, bread, pancakes, pastries, or even oatmeal, breakfast is frequently one of our most bland meals. I thus dare you to be imaginative with your breakfast and choose a tonne more color. Add spinach and other veggies covertly to a scrambled breakfast.
Instead of butter or jam, top your toast with sautéed vegetables or a balanced protein and healthy fat. Or, even better, completely replace your bread with sweet potato toast.
Often, you'll hear wellness folks say that when you wake up in the morning, the first thing that you need to do is drink a glass of water with lemon or apple cider vinegar. And if you have lemon or apple cider vinegar, that's great, but I want to simplify it even further and say just drink a glass of water, and drink it not only in the morning but at several times throughout the day.
Water is essential to life, and your body needs it to function properly. But in the morning, water will increase your mental clarity and level of alertness and jump-start your metabolism.
So before you grab a coffee or a tea, drink a large glass of water first, and then make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day. I tend to get the munchies between meals, especially as I work from home. So I've found that it's super important for me to keep healthy snacks front and center.
If I open the pantry and I see chocolate right in front of me, I'll admit that it would challenge even my willpower not to grab it.
Rather, I put nutritious foods like almonds in the spotlight and sweets hidden away in my cabinet. It's the same with my refrigerator and countertop, where fruit is constantly in plain sight and vegetables are meal-prepared and available for consumption since, at the end of the day, it's about assisting yourself in making good decisions.
In addition to making sure that nutritious meals can be prepared quickly and simply, it also helps to save time in the kitchen during the week. When I think about what I'm going to prepare for meals, I'm also mentally preparing my meals for the remainder of the week.
And I found that planning ahead is 90% of the work when it comes to staying on that healthy path and making healthy choices.
For many of us, myself included, we sit at a desk for the majority of the day, and that is doing our bodies no favors. Movement is critical for maintaining bone density, flexibility, and muscles, but let's not forget that it also helps boost our immune system and reduce stress hormones.
So focus on moving at multiple times throughout the day, which could be standing and stretching at your desk, going for a walk around the block, doing yoga, going on a hike, or riding bikes with your kids. The more you can move and keep the blood flowing throughout the day, the better, and there are apps and timers like Time Out or Pomodoro to remind you to take breaks and provide a little gentle nudge if you need it.
There's this amazing healing and rejuvenation that happens to our bodies when we surround ourselves with green trees, lush grass, and blue oceans. For me, the impact on my stress levels is pretty immediate, and I can just feel any stress or anxiety that I might have simmer right back down.
That's why you often see me on nature hikes through the hills in Orange County, or you might see me rollerblading along the beach, just smelling and breathing in that fresh ocean air.
When we get out into Mother Nature, not only do our brains get some much-needed downtime, but our bodies will get some vitamin D, and our immune systems will get a refresh.
And you'll notice afterwards that it's virtually impossible to not feel more calm and centered. So I always aim to get at least two hours of one-on-one time with Mother Nature every week. We're all incredibly connected today with laptops and mobile devices, and it can be so hard to turn them off. But that's exactly why we need to turn it off and make it a priority.
Looking down at our phones not only causes horrible posture and spine alignment, which then throws off the delicate balance of other things in the body, but I think we've all read enough studies to know that it's not good for our mental health either. So set boundaries with your screen time.
Turn off pop-up notifications, and when you're at home, try to completely unplug. Instagram and YouTube will still be there tomorrow, but you might find that you now have time to take that walk, read a book, or meal prep a few veggies for the week.
Out of all the tips I'm sharing with you today, the one I'm constantly working on and probably always will be is managing stress. I always say that there's a reason that I named my business Downshiftology, and it's because sometimes we teach what we most need to learn.
We will never experience entirely stress-free conditions, but with practise, we may improve our ability to cope with stress. The body and mind may be calmed and stress levels reduced via the use of acupuncture, yoga, and meditation.
And I strongly support each of the three. But shutting our eyes for even five minutes and taking many deep breaths also has amazing effects. I often believe that stress and sleep are equally as significant to the body's health as food, so if you see your level of worry or tension increasing, use it as a hint that you need a brief break and perhaps sit down to take a few deep breaths.
So speaking of sleep, it truly is one of the most important yet often overlooked factors in staying healthy. When we sleep, our brain is repairing and renewing cells, the body is regenerating and producing critical hormones, and our immune system is fighting infections.
There's a whole lot going on in the body when we're getting shuteye, and that's why sleep deprivation is tied to so many different health issues.
For optimal long-term health, sleep needs to be a top priority, and we need to remember that it's absolutely essential to our emotional and physical well-being.
A certain diet or supplement may have been beneficial for your coworker, your mom, or your sister, but it may not have the same effect on you. And that's because you have vastly different genetics, a different microbiome, different stress levels, different ancestry, and, well, pretty much everything else.
Find out—I mean truly find out—what makes you feel your very best. This is the best thing you can do for your health. After that, keep in mind that what made you feel good last year may not make you feel good next year.
Our bodies are dynamic beings. Since they are always changing, we must also be flexible. I'm sure there are more behaviours and suggestions I could provide, but I believe those 12 are the ones that have had the most impacts on my life and altered my course toward wellness in more ways than I could have ever anticipated.
The lesson here, in my opinion, is that none of these are particularly ground-breaking. In fact, a lot of things you probably already knew, but the important thing is to really do them. And all of these healthy behaviours are really the result of a lot of tiny things added together over time.
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