It is difficult to form habits and it does take time, but good daily habits can make such a big difference to your overall health and your life.
Welcome back to the whole happy life. My name is Ria and I’m a holistic nutritionist with a food engineering background. We’re going to talk about 10 daily habits that have made a really big difference to my life in different areas such as physical health, emotional health, and brain health.
Before we dive in I wanted to say a few things so you know the context. The first thing is these daily habits have been the result of gradual habit-forming over the last five years- it’s not something that happened overnight.
Although these habits are daily habits I don’t put pressure on myself to do them every day especially when things get too busy or things are too overwhelming.
Sometimes things slide a little and that’s okay. When you’re making lifestyle changes it’s not about perfection it’s about doing what you can and generally, I do try to do these habits at least three to five times a week IN the times that I’m really stressed out because I feel that they do help me stay on track and they do help reduce stress.
Anyway enough with the introduction let’s get into the habits:
>Drink a glass of water as soon as I get up
Well not as soon as I get up -I brush my teeth, I go to the bathroom, and then I have a glass of water.
I find that this has made a big difference to energy levels in the morning. When we’re sleeping we’re not taking any water and when we wake up we can be mildly dehydrated and when we’re dehydrated our fatigue levels go up.
There is some science behind this. So a good thing to do is start your morning by getting enough hydration. I drink a glass of filtered water. If I feel like it, I’ll add some lemon to it I don’t always do that and it’s usually at room temperature but if you like warm water that can work too.
It really is about personal preference but drinking some water in the morning is a great thing to do for your energy levels.
>Meditate for 10 minutes every day
I used to be very skeptical about meditation when I first started.
I didn’t really believe in it I didn’t think that there was science behind it but there is actually quite a bit of science. It can do things like reducing anxiety, it can help you improve your immune function, it can help reduce pain.
There’s a lot that it can do I have a few links in the description box but for me, the biggest change is mental clarity and I feel much calmer. I am not naturally a calm person. I may appear calm on YouTube but I am not naturally a calm person.
Years of meditation have gotten me to this point and I really do think that there are a lot of benefits to trying it out. Now if you’re a beginner, meditation can seem very daunting and I have two tips to provide.
So the first one is to try to just be very open about meditation in the beginning. The first 10 to 15 sessions for me were very difficult.
I didn’t know what I was doing and I felt overwhelmed and I felt like I was doing it the wrong way.
It wasn’t until the 15th or 16th session that I really got into it and I started to see the benefit. So give it time. The second thing is if you are starting try guided meditation versus meditation where you’re just doing it on your own.
Guided meditation can really help you stay on track and can really guide you through the process. I use an app called Calm – I highly recommend it. I love it. There is also another app called Headspace which you could try out.
Brisk walks outdoors every day
Now I have to say that I live in Canada so a brisk walk outdoors every day does not happen year-round! It doesn’t happen in the winter but for the rest of the year, I do try to get outside because I find it’s such a mood booster to get some fresh air.
To get some sunlight and to be out in the greenery and some studies show that exposure to greenery is good for your health. As usual, everything’s in the description box. Now for me, the brisk walk is not just a mood booster – it’s also the way I get exercise.
The World Health Organization recommends that we get about 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity a week or 75 minutes of cardiovascular activity a walk can count if your heart rate is high enough.
So when I’m walking I test my heart rate I have an app on my phone Samsung health is the app that I use and my heart rates usually between the moderate and thicker zone so my walk actually counts as a workout it counts as water and activity so that’s how I get my 150 minutes of exercise per week through my walk.
In addition to the walk ayuh exercise so the walk is great for cardiovascular activity if you’re doing a brisk walk or if they’re jogging or running but a well-rounded exercise regimen should include more than just cardio.
>Do some weight training
I specifically wanted to talk about weeds there’s a lot of women who shy away from it especially because they think they’re going to look a certain way if they train with weights the World Health Organization recommends at the average adult do at least two sessions a week why is it so important.
As we age we tend to lose muscle mass it’s a normal part of Aging another normal part of aging is losing bone density it happens but we can slow that process down with one thing and that one thing is weight training so it doesn’t matter what age you are it could be in your 20s or 30s it’s never too early to start preserving your muscle mass and preserving your bone density.
If you’re a beginner you should always speak to a professional learn the proper moves you could do body weights or free weights but always speak to someone who knows what they’re doing so you don’t get injured and then eventually when you know what you’re doing you could always work at home.
That’s what I do I am NOT a gym person as I mentioned earlier so I don’t go to the gym but I will use free weights and bodyweight exercises at home if you’re interested in the exercise channels that I follow I have them in the description box below.
Try to eat something green every day
It’s rather embarrassing but I will admit that even as a nutritionist I find it hard to eat greens I did not grow up eating greens so it’s a very foreign concept for me but I do understand that they are very nutrient-dense and it’s a good idea to get some greens on a daily basis especially a variety of greens you are getting a variety of vitamins and minerals.
If we’re interested in nutrient density score that I have one link in the description box below now if you’re a beginner the easiest way to add greens to your diet really is smoothies.
People who follow a vegan diet can obtain healthful proteins from plant sources, but not all plant sources contain all of the essential amino acids that animal sources of protein do.
Therefore, pairing certain plant foods together is important to ensure that the person consumes all of the essential amino acids they need. Quinoa and tofu contain all essential amino acids.
