What are 5 Health Habits You Can't Live Without?

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What are 5 Health Habits You Can't Live Without?

Many chronic diseases are caused by lifestyle issues.

People tend not to exercise as much as they should, they allow themselves to become overweight, and they eat unhealthy foods that lead to things like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and strokes.

The problem with lifestyle issues is that they are difficult to turn around. Many people try to change their lifestyle all at once, which is extremely difficult to accomplish.

 As a result, they often give up all of their healthy habits and resort to the usual negative health habits that they had been doing before they attempted a healthy lifestyle. 

Sometimes it just takes a few days or a few weeks of trying to live healthy before the individual becomes overwhelmed and stops living healthy. 

They stop exercising and go back to eating processed foods and junk foods.

This is why it is better to change your health habits one habit at a time so that you don’t become overwhelmed and stop trying to be healthy altogether. 

Most weight loss programs work if they are done carefully and don’t deprive the individual too much. The same is true of exercise programs.

If you choose an exercise that you really enjoy or increase your physical activity more gradually, you can usually stick to the program so that you don’t become discouraged and quit exercising altogether.

The trick to healthy living is to begin gradually.

Don’t try any trendy diet or fitness fad. If you try these things with gusto, you are likely to respond negatively and you won’t stick with the programs. 

There are a few simple things you can do to live a happier and healthier life. 

Start with just these 5 changes in health habits:

     1. Try eating at least one healthy meal a day.

Even if you eat processed foods most of the time, if you try to eat just one healthy food each day, you will feed your body with good nutrition and healthy proteins.

Healthy meals consist of mainly fruits and vegetables, supplemented with whole grain products, and lean meats.

It doesn’t matter how much you eat because, if the food is healthy for you, it won’t usually contain a lot of calories and won’t cause weight gain as can be seen when you eat junk foods or highly processed foods.

Even so, you should try to watch your portion sizes. Protein is calorie dense so keep your meat portions the size of your palm.

I tutor young students each Saturday morning and they are expected to do a short mini-test in each of their subjects each week.

So I tell them that they need to eat a carbohydrate to wake their body's engine up in the morning, and a protein to wake their brain up and be ready for the test.

I found the times I ate my meals had a great impact on my cravings and energy levels. 

I used to have afternoon cravings and, as I got older and became more in tune with my body, I realised that the less I ate earlier in the day, the worse my afternoon and evening cravings were.

As I ate breakfast around 6.30-7 am, I decided to have my lunch at morning break, weaned myself off endless cups of coffee and replaced it with a large glass of water.

I ate my snacks for lunch and I did not have hunger cravings after this as I felt full all day long. I started not even wanting to eat my fruit until after work, on my way home. 

I also started to cook slightly more at night so I would take this for lunch, instead of sandwiches.

After a couple of years, people who had remarked on this habit changed from sandwiches daily to “left-overs”, as well.

     2. Drink a glass of water before each meal.

Water is perhaps the best liquid you can drink.

When you decide to drink a glass of water before meals, (an 8-ounce glass is enough), you will feel fuller before eating, and you won’t eat as much at the meal that follows a drink of water.

If you like, you can squeeze some lemon or lime into the water. 

I found that adding water or lime to my water decreased my appetite and I found it more refreshing. It is great as part of a weight loss program too.

Our bodies can give us signals that are hard to read, in terms of hunger and thirst. 

We may often be thirsty and we think it is a signal that we want to eat. This is another benefit of drinking water regularly throughout the day.

 

 3. Be active during lunch. 

    Even if you are given a half-hour to eat, it usually doesn’t take that long to eat your meals. Try eating your meals and then take some time to exercise. You don’t have to work out excessively but you should be able to take a brisk walk.

    Not only will this energize you but also it will help burn off the calories you just ate and will aid in the digestive process.

It really doesn’t matter what type of exercise you do as long as you choose something reasonable that will help you feel better after eating your lunch.

    Exercising during lunch also helps decrease the stress of your job and will make the rest of your day go easier. It also takes the focus off food and moves you away from the table.

     If you are at home, you can do a spot of gardening, walk the dog or do some shopping.

  4.     Try a Meal Replacement Bar. 

    

     This involves eating a healthy protein bar as a snack instead of junk foods. Most meal replacement bars contain a lot of good nutrition and fibre.

       They are also not as calorie-rich as you would think. They help stave off hunger pangs that are so typical of the mid-afternoon time.

Keep a stash of these protein bars in your desk at work or in your purse or briefcase so you can grab one whenever you feel hungry.

It will keep you from going to the vending machines and eating poor food choices. Try eating a meal replacement bar that is high in fibre and that has at least 10 to 15 grams of protein per bar.

If you are going to eat something, always try to make it the healthier choice- or the lesser of two evils, if your choices are limited!

5.     Exercise regularly.

You can keep it simple and walk for half an hour 3 times a week initially.

I found that when a walked twice a day and ate anything I wanted,  I consistently lost 3 kilos in a fortnight, with a pleasing corresponding loss of inches.

An inspiring walk for me was to meet up with a walkers group every Saturday morning to walk around the beautiful Botanical Gardens early in the morning when the scent of the gardens wafted from the gardens.

Twice around the gardens was 8 kilometres and it is amazing how quickly it goes when you are part of a group.

If you have a gym membership, try going there at least 3-4 times per week. Choose an activity you enjoy and make the most of it for at least a half hour per session.

This will help energize you, may build muscle mass, and will help you lose weight by burning off excess calories. 

If you are interested in more self-care strategies, you will be interested in these strategies. 

I use these to feel better, get rid of headaches, or become alert on the way to work or when I need to be focused. 

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How Do You Thrive? 5 Natural Ways to Thrive

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How do you thrive? 5 Natural Ways to Thrive

What does it mean to thrive?

According to standard definition, it means to grow, to flourish, to prosper.

This is a beautiful term, something that resonates deeply with anyone who wants to encourage and inspire wellness. 

In terms of wellness then, to thrive means that we are constantly encouraging wellness within ourselves, within our bodies, and of course, within our minds.

It is something we all aspire to develop throughout our lives. 

It is an overall sense of wellness and trust in ourselves that we will continue to grow in a positive manner as time passes, and be able to meet the challenges that lay ahead of us.

 To thrive is something beautiful and it is something that each of us can learn how to do. 

How Do We Thrive?

We thrive, quite simply by allowing ourselves to and by encouraging ourselves to do so. 

For some, this is easier said than done. 

There are many people who have tried to thrive, but who have faced too much difficulty in their lives, and they eventually give up believing because they think their life is just not cut out for it. 

For some, early difficulties in life have robbed them of their belief in their ability to thrive and seek professional help.

 Some may overcome their negative beliefs by finding a loving relationship. 

Sometimes, we enter really difficult times in our life when it just seems too hard- when we are grieving because of a death of a loved one or a relationship breakdown, or extreme financial difficulty or loss of a job at a late stage in life. 

I believe that all of us encounter times when we feel as if we are stagnating but there is no static cycle to thriving- the cycle between ups and downs may just be longer at times. 

Eventually, most of us get to a point where we think things have turned around and we are thriving and coping well with meeting life head on. 

 There are some things that we must understand about thriving, about constantly evolving, growing, and moving forward.

Knowing How To Thrive

To know how to thrive we must fully understand the process. Thriving, though the definition is of growing, prospering, and flourishing, is not always a case of thriving.

Sounds contradictory doesn’t it? Let me explain.

The tree that thrives in nature faces many obstacles.

 It faces potential destruction in its early stages by animals walking by that could possibly crush it underfoot. 

It has to compete with all the other trees and plants in the forest to get the sunlight it needs and even when it has fully matured still it must face gales and storms and through all of this, it must continue to strive towards thriving.

It can be seen then that thriving is not actually something that is achieved; rather it is something that one must aspire towards and to do that we must accept that we will face challenges.

Indeed in order to thrive it is essential that we face challenges and it is also essential that we overcome those challenges or at least have a mindset that will strive to overcome them.

5 Natural Ways To Thrive

Motivate Yourself  

Without motivation, it is impossible to thrive. 

Motivation is inspired through passion, whether that is related to doing something for yourself or for others, maybe your passion relates to providing a future for your children. 

It doesn’t matter what motivates you, use your motivation to thrive. 

Use it to grow, and to push you to the next level.

If you follow your passion, it does not seem like hard work.

 'Do what you have to do until you do what you want to do' is a great saying by Oprah that I use to motivate me when I am doing my work online.

I don't try to compete with others who have been working online for many years so I listen to their wisdom and try to add my personal touches.

In terms of achieving my goals, there is a saying that has helped me and really sticks in my mind.

 'If you continue to work on your goals, you may or may not succeed but if you give up you definitely will fail.' 

 Everyone is different so this may not do it for you, but it certainly does it for me. 

Giving up on your goals and dreams equals 100% failure. So find a positivity quote that motivates you and hits home base for you.


Get this free 10 step checklist  How To Stay Motivated

For more reading on Resilience, visit this post

Accept all challenges 

When you are challenged, you are forced to thrive. 

This doesn’t mean that when somebody challenges you to a game of pool for example, and you win the match easily, that you are thriving.

No, a true challenge is something you find difficult, something that you cannot easily achieve, something that requires that you grow, or learn a new skill, or visit a new environment or face a fear, to achieve. 

This is true thriving, pushing your boundaries, expanding your limits, forcing yourself to thrive.

Another great quote that inspired me was 'If someone offers you a challenging task, say yes then figure out how to do it later.' 

This worked for me as I was a perfectionist and would shy away from things if I did not know the steps to get there!

Face your fears 

Face Your Fears

Fears, in every case, are designed to limit us. 

By facing our fears, we are pushing ourselves into an area of life that we have been too afraid to visit. 

To truly thrive we must want to be able to do anything and we must be able to do everything without limitation.

 In order to do this, we must allow the formation of mental barriers to what life presents us with.

Everything that comes our way can be used as an opportunity to thrive and by facing our fears, we will make the most of every opportunity that does.

Early in my career as a teacher, our placements and many promotions were based on numerical rankings. 

When I shifted to another state, I had to attend job interviews for the first time and I was highly anxious. 

The way I got through this was to say to myself' 'what is the worst thing that can happen?'

 The answer, of course, was that I would not get the job but I would gain experience. 

However, by pushing and preparing myself, I am happy to say that I was successful at 5 job interviews! So it was certainly worth pushing through my fears and anxiety.

Balance 

Balance your life from the perspective of ‘Body & Mind’.

 In order to truly thrive,  we must develop a way of life that promotes balance. 

If we cannot promote physical wellness then our mental wellness will struggle and the same goes in reverse. 

By developing balance physically and mentally, we allow our spirits to thrive.

I learnt the hard way as I let go of all the things I enjoyed and just focused on work....... and paid the price for it!

 My close friend said that I had undergone a complete personality transformation as I was trying to be an excellent teacher in autism (autism was new to me) and I was also trying to be there for a partner and elderly parents.

I can now understand things that were beyond my earlier understandings and I write from personal experience, not from a psychology or medical degree.

Develop harmony

Harmony is something that is very important when it comes to thriving. 

Without harmony, we face too much opposition in the world, and this opposition leads to restriction of our ability to express ourselves.

If we cannot express ourselves freely, we cannot thrive.

 Learn to accept what happens around you and even within you.

Be selfless as it encourages harmony and not only will you thrive, but you will see that everyone else that you interact with will also, in their own way, will thrive.



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You may be interested in this video
Finding a Balance Between Selfishness and Selflessness   

Does this resonate with you? Write a comment below if this has been a concern for you.

HOW DO YOU BUILD THE MINDSET MUSCLE-RESILIENCE?

How Does One Build Resilience?

We need to build resilience from an early age as children need to be prepared for life and, as adults, we will come upon times of overwhelm, grief, sadness, or darkness.

As I reflect upon my childhood, I remember having to do so many things without the support of my parents. 

If I wanted or needed to do it, I just had to figure out a way to do it, without relying on them.

That is not to say that they were not good parents but times were different then. My parents were very hard-working migrants who came to Australia with nothing but a few precious things they could bring with them.

They came at a time when there was not the support that migrants have now so dad, who was a highly skilled waiter, making lots of money overseas, had to work as a carpenter while mum worked in a factory making televisions. 

She went for an interview with little English. while walking up and down the streets in town and just happened to talk to someone who sent her to this job.  

I remember dad saving his money to build a bungalow and my sister and I sleeping on a wooden table, for a while. 

These days, parents are constantly running their children from one activity to another, and kids get chauffeured to school, with few exceptions for those who walk or catch the bus.

 In fact, there are Walk to School programs to encourage children to walk to school.  How many people worry about rain in case they get a little bit wet?  My sister and I walked through sleet to get home and then drained our shoes as they were filled with water. LOL.

 I do realise that it is a different world today and, with distances being covered and safety issues, parents want to make sure their children get to school safely. 

The point is not really about walking in the rain or the heat- it is about persevering and pushing through things, without making excuses, giving up, and getting out of our comfort zone.

My memories of  my personal challenges:

Reflecting on my early memories of my childhood, I had a lot of fun but it was because I had things I wanted to do and, as my parents were not always available, I had to find a way to do them myself.  

   Walking to school through two suburbs in the fierce heat or the pounding rain as a young child. 

   Walking to the church by myself on Saturday morning- again through 2 suburbs-so I could get to the 7 a.m. confessional (I took religion very seriously then).

   Catching a bus in the morning to the pools in summer, making sure I had some food and drink for the day, and often having to walk an hour home in the blistering heat because the bus driver didn’t feel like making the stop! (starting from 8 years old)

    Having to do my own homework and reading activities as parents, in those days, were not expected to help and simply did not have the time. If they worked, they did not have modern conveniences, like washing machines, but battled with the wringer!

    Working in my dad’s shops at an early age, during busy periods. I had to weigh the customer's fruit and vegetables and add and give correct change, using only mental calculations. It gave me great responsibility and dad trusted me. 

 
   Preparing for exams in high school but still having to honor all other family and personal expectations(later, we brought all our family to Australia and it was expected that you visit regularly and celebrate birthdays on the day of the birthday- not leave it until the weekend. It could be stressful!

    Having a part-time job at 14, and having to walk half an hour in the dark on wintery
    Saturday mornings to catch a train to where I worked. 

         When I saw a difficult educational task that my sister was doing, I would say to myself “That’s okay- I will be older and then I will understand.”

   Being the interpreter for my parents and one of my aunties and uncles from a young age.

   Having an asthmatic baby and having sleepless nights, then going to work.

   Working full time and taking my four children to their after-school activities-sport and dancing- doing school preparation most nights after they went to bed, and then sewing their costumes until 3 a.m. before concerts, and then working again in the morning. This was an endless cycle for many years and I was so tired all the time. I ended up with chronic fatigue and left teaching for a few years, so I could spend quality time with the children. 

    Going through a divorce is a grieving process but, all of a sudden, there are many things that need to be organized and extra money to be found to live. It's overwhelming but you have to push through. 

    Most people have daily challenges and busy periods that come in waves throughout the year.

The reason I mentioned the above is that I realize that I have learned to push myself to achieve my goal. 

Sometimes I felt as if my bones were exhausted but I learned to take each day at a time.

So those experiences are very personal to me and shaped the person I am.  

It has helped me through a very challenging time when I found out what it was like to want to give up and  I experienced an extreme low, which was out of character for me.

Somehow, I got through it, even though I found it difficult, I still turned up for work and asked for help in the right channels, to build my resilience again. I refused medication to help me get through my depression and turned to my community and my work, which I enjoy. Reading about Gratitude and its power to change your mindset and allow happiness in was the real game changer for me. 

Personally, I went to a counselor but I did not find it useful. It may work for you but she was possibly in her early 20's and was of no help whatsoever. The power of gratitude worked better than a counselor in my case.

Building resilience since childhood is the factor that helped me on my journey: to keep seeking answers, and eventually that led me to appreciate the power of gratitude, as I refused medication.

 

Strategies to build resilience

WHEN FEELING OVERWHELMED- DOWNSIZE!

What has helped me during my studies and working online is to break a task into small, manageable steps and focus on only one step at a time. 

This also helps you to prioritize what needs to be done, and in what order.

So it actually clarifies the task mentally for you, which in turn makes you understand what you are doing and gives you momentum.

MAINTAIN AND MAKE NEW CONNECTIONS WITH LIKE-MINDED, SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITIES

I read that the saddest thing in life is to feel that no one cares about you and not be able to share meaningful experiences with those who have the same values.

 A handful of caring people who listen to you can be the difference between a person giving up or deciding to push through a very difficult time.

These are the people you let into what is happening in your life. They teach you the difference between positive support and negative judgment. 

It can be surprising where that support comes from! 

REMEMBER THAT REALITY IS REALLY SOMEONE’S PERCEPTION OF A SITUATION.

You can choose your reactions to any situation and, if you stay connected to your meaningful communities, you will find that different people have different reactions to the same situations.

When I was concerned about a family member's perceptions and behaviour, I visited a trusted doctor to discuss what I was seeing and hearing.

It was valuable as he verified what I had been thinking: that the person had an undiagnosed social disorder. 

Then, you need to be proactive and protect yourself as sometimes you can trust family values and compassion but not everyone thinks like you do. 

Don't disregard your gut feeling and professional advice! 


Remove yourself from situations where one can manipulate situations and bring you down. 

Look for ways to change negative situations into positive situations. 

The challenges in front of us can teach us to improve ourselves if we choose to learn from the experience.

On a personal note, my life changed drastically a couple of years ago, when the workplace I had spent my life working at, got rid of all senior personnel who were well respected in their profession.

They had a need to cut costs because of a variety of bad financial decisions they had made throughout the years as they had not made necessary changes earlier. 

They were then forced into making financial decisions that hurt a lot of loyal, highly experienced staff.

It was a blow but it taught me so much.

 I do not think I would have learned how to build websites, learn internet marketing, blog and make friends from all over the world, and make a successful re-entry into mainstream teaching if the changes to my career had not happened. 

And my teaching career has flourished!

COPING WITH STRESS

I have worked in the Autism area for many years and we had to actively teach our students strategies for emotional control so they could cope better with their world, which could often be distressing or confronting for them. 

 Under the guidance of the Occupational Therapists, each student had a calming strategy suited to their level of functioning.

Lack of emotional control affects our body’s functioning in a negative way, as well as impacting those around us. 

Yoga can help us to focus on our breathing and take the focus of whatever is upsetting us. 

The focus on our breathing will control those hormones that build up with anxiety and damage our bodies.

  A simple technique with the children I taught, was to breathe in and then out to the count of five. 

I taught the Zones of Regulation to all the children in Grade 4 (targeting an autistic, ADHD, trauma background student) and they loved it. 

We also taught them to recognize their symptoms so they could use the technique independently, such as an awareness of their heart racing, flushed face, etc. 

Hopefully, they will be well prepared for their adult years. It gave them strategies to use when they identified the need for it and we had very positive feedback from the parents.

This is a simplistic account of the more in-depth strategy we employed with children. 

For adults, if you don’t do Yoga, you can do a breathing exercise by choosing a number e.g. 3, then breathe in to the count of 3 seconds, then out for the same time and repeat for 3 minutes. 

You can increase the number you wish to count to. 

This is a method also taught to those in dangerous situations eg. those soldiers who go on dangerous missions and combat, such as the Navy SEALS, so don't dismiss its effectiveness. 

You may be interested in this post What are the symptoms of unwellness, especially the Self-Care section.  

VISUALISATION STRATEGIES

When I was involved in Party Plan, as a part-time income, we were taught to put pictures on our fridge of goals we wanted to attain. 

Most people would put up pictures of holidays, cars, houses, and other items they wished to buy. So the focus was always monetary-based.

However, I use this strategy now and I use it in two ways.

 Firstly, I imagine what success looks like to me and, secondly, I think about the consequences of failure. 

Both these imaginings keep me on track with my goals. 

I may feel dispirited on a particular day but I never give up as I have a great imagination and just could not bear the consequences of failure!

Through webinars, I learned to have a long-term goal and use this as a starting point.

 For example, if you have a financial goal for the year, you then use the first strategy mentioned above to break it down into smaller, achievable steps. 

You break that yearly goal down to a monthly and weekly goal and, from there, you can work out how many customers and sales you need to attain your yearly goal.

You can apply the visualization strategies to other areas of your life e.g. to keep you on track with your studies, a blog, or a program to become a successful sports player. 

  It is also important to use this strategy of visualization often – so daydream often!!!!

DEVELOP GRACIOUSNESS BY SHOWING GRATITUDE.

There has been a great emphasis on showing gratitude on Social Media this past year. 

Lots of great posts are appearing that talk about being grateful for things, such as being alive, having a roof over your head, someone who cares for you, daily food, etc. 

 My post  Does gratitude contribute to wellness? goes more into depth on this topic.

Sometimes, it is hard to be positive when you have had something happen during your day that upsets you. 

It can override all the positive things that may have happened throughout your day as it has an intensity to it that overrides all else.  

To develop a more positive mindset and feel better, it helps to get into the habit of reflecting upon your day and thinking of at least 3 things that made you feel better. 

It can be as simple as someone sharing a joke with you, or a stranger smiling and saying ‘hello’. 

 Some people are advocating the use of a Gratitude Journal to get into the habit of thinking about the positive things that happened each day, rather than focusing on one negative thing and letting the bad reflections build up during the week. 

It helps develop a positive mindset, which is critical for a happier life and the attainment of your goals.  

You can check out the Gratitude Bundle resources here.

If  you want to test your resilience, take this quiz

I  hope you found this post helpful. Subscribe to my blog below and get notifications as to new posts.