1. BUY AN ALARM CLOCK
Turn your phone off 1 hour before you go to sleep, and set a real alarm. They cost less than $15, so NO EXCUSES! Your sleep quality will more than make up for this tiny expense. This will prevent you from getting distracted by all those apps, texts and staying up too late, and disconnecting from the world is great for stress relief. In addition, there’s evidence that the electronic signals sent between phones and cell towers can increase your risk of cancer, so eliminating those for at least 8 hours per day is a little added bonus of that practice. The outside world can wait, your sleep health can’t.
2. DRINK WATER
An easy way to tell how well hydrated you are is to look at your pee. If it’s a dark yellow and there’s not much of it, you’re very dehydrated. It should be a light yellow, and there should be a lot of it! You should be peeing at least every 2-4 hours, if not more.
In addition, you should avoid consuming too many unhealthy drinks like soda and alcohol. All of the sugars in soda are very dehydrating, as is alcohol. These drinks will leave your body thirstier than before you had them, so if you MUST drink them, at least hydrate at the same time.
3. EAT REAL FOOD
Microwaved dinners, fast food, canned food, and anything heavily processed that doesn’t go bad quickly contains many preservatives and chemicals that are not good for us. There are many ingredients that we are used to seeing, like palm oil, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners which we don’t think much of but actually have very harmful effects. Want to learn more? Check out this link: Toxic Food Ingredients.
The number one way to avoid all of these harmful products is to shop around the perimeter of the store – all of the fresh produce which only stays good for a week or so and doesn’t have a barcode stamped on it is healthiest for us.
4. START JUICING VEGETABLES
If you have trouble finding time to eat and cook a lot of vegetables, try juicing them. Using a vegetable juicer allows you to cram a ton of nutrition into a glass of juice, because you remove the fiber and pulp but keep many of the vitamins and minerals found in vegetables by consuming just the juice. This practice is going to make an amazing impact on your energy levels because all those extra nutrients are going to help your body with all of its maintenance.
Depending on your schedule, try making a large batch of juice on the weekend and drinking a glass every morning, or make small batches each day. Fresher is better, but week-old juice is way better than no juice. Try this recipe for a potent anti-inflammatory drink that will help you start every day feeling great: i. Juice one cucumber, 1 small apple, 2 carrots, a lemon, and an inch of ginger. Start a compost bucket with the leftover pulp, your body and your garden will love you.
5. KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL
You should track all of the beverages you drink and the food you eat, it will help you get a better idea of what’s going into your body and make a huge difference in developing mindfulness about food. You don’t need to weigh and measure everything down to the gram and tracking all of your macronutrients just yet, start by learning about your habits by writing down the best information you can estimate. ○ The best part of this is that you’re going to see how often you’re really eating junk food. It’s going to be hard at first because you’ll realize your diet isn’t nearly as clean and healthy as you thought, but keeping track will quickly help you change your habits. Try it for a month, and you’ll be shocked at the impact it makes.
Alex Stanton,
CSC Personal Trainer
