The subject of health and wellness is at the forefront of almost every conversation today. Now more than ever, businesses, educational institutions, governments, and the general public are placing a greater emphasis on the mental and physical health of others.
If you feel like there is room for improvement there, you’re not alone. The truth is, there are things we all should be doing more or less of to help us feel better about ourselves and live healthier lives. Self-care is an important part of this journey and involves putting your health and wellbeing above all else. It can be easy to make this a second or third priority, especially if you are working hard or taking care of your family.
The first step is to set realistic goals for yourself. How do you want to feel about yourself? How many pounds do you want to lose? Do you want to travel somewhere? Land a new job? Move to a new city? It’s important to set these expectations for yourself and do what you can to meet them — but remember, don’t be so hard on yourself if you don’t see the changes you’d like to see right away. As long as you are working towards them, everyone grows at their own pace.
To help get you started, here are 5 healthy lifestyle tips that are perfect for you to incorporate, such as boosting self-confidence, exercising regularly, and diet changes to help you feel better about yourself. Let’s get started!
Boost Your Self-Confidence
If you’re feeling down, there could be many reasons. Maybe your significant other just broke up with you, or perhaps you lost your job. Everyone could use a self-confidence boost every now and then.
There are many ways to help boost your self-confidence. Studies show that dressing up every day helps you feel better about yourself. This could involve dressing up in your favourite lingerie and reminding yourself of the good looks you have to offer, or wearing business attire while out and about.
Ultimately, your self-confidence relies on your thoughts and how you choose to view yourself and the situations around you. But before anything else, you must accept yourself for who you are. Only then will you feel comfortable and confident enough to grow into the person you want to be.
Eat well-balanced meals
I don't subscribe to any diets and I believe in all sizes are valid! However, there is a connection between our food and our mood so making small changes, not for weight purpose but for self-care and mental health is a positive step forward. What you put into your body can determine how you feel overall, how your skin looks, how your hair grows, etc. You want to be eating meals that are rich in vitamins and nutrients and cutting out foods that could increase your blood pressure and glucose levels. Lowering your intake of processed foods is also important, as they have little nutrients and oftentimes contain chemicals.
The most common types of foods that experts suggest you remove from your daily diet include:
Sugars such as candies and juices
Processed or prepackaged foods
Sodium
Milk
Anything that is fried
Instead, try eating more whole grains that have better quality carbs than refined grains like potatoes. Whole grains are rich in fibre, which helps keep you feeling full while boosting your metabolic rate. You should also opt for more fruit and vegetables as a healthier snacking alternative, which can help you resist the urge to eat more unhealthy snacks like potato chips.
Try to Practice Physical Activity Every Day
The more you move, the better you and your body will feel. There are many reasons why people may want to exercise more as there are so many benefits associated with daily physical activity, including:
The more you move, the better you and your body will feel. There are many reasons why people may want to exercise more as there are so many benefits associated with daily physical activity, including:
Boosts mood
Lowers stress
Improves heart health
Strengthens body
As you can see, everyone should be aiming to practice physical activity daily. It’s an important first step in ensuring your overall mental and physical health are in good shape. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) states that individuals between the age of 18-64 should practice about 150 minutes of physical activity each week. This could be something as simple as taking a walk around the neighbourhood or a local park, and then slowly increasing your activity to include jogs, weight lifting, etc. You want to make sure you are getting your heart rate up a bit, as cardiovascular activity is an important aspect to ensuring your heart is healthy.
Consider supplements
It's worth staying on top of things like your Iron and Vitamin D levels, I've had very low iron before and it really affected by overall wellbeing, but some iron tablets from my GP it sorted out the issue very quickly. I also use rescue remedy daily, which is homoeopathic and helps me with any additional anxiety and stress. If there is a certain aspect of your life you want to improve such as sleep or stress reduction there are lots of options out there such as Nature Happiness which uses natural ingredients to help people live a happier, more productive life.
I'm really trying to do physical activity daily. I know I'll struggle over the summer holidays.
ReplyDeleteI always think that getting out for a walk every day really helps my mental health and for me to look after myself.
ReplyDeleteYES! for me I have to do something physical every day I just don't feel right unless I move my body in some way.
ReplyDeleteI try and get out for a walk as often as possible as it makes me feel so much better
ReplyDeleteLOVE this anything that promotes self care is a good thing in my book. you have provided some really good ideas here for sure x
ReplyDeleteThis is so true, I do find that I am in a much better place if I stay off of refined sugar and carbs. And much better if I get out for some fresh air regardless of the weather.
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