We don’t have to look far to find tips and tricks and the next fad diet or exercise trend. There’s an endless supply around us whether it be from our friends, Instagram, or Pinterest. I think it’s wonderful, but I also think sometimes it can be overwhelming.
Here are a few tips that I’ve used in my own life that I feel have helped me become a healthier person all around, inside and out!
Most of these tips you may have heard before, but they are so important and also just so simple to implement, that they can’t be forgotten or overlooked.
- Shop the perimeter. If you pay attention, most of the “whole foods” in the grocery stores are around the perimeter. When I plan my shopping list, I organize it by section, i.e. Produce, Meat, Dairy, etc. Not only is this super convenient and makes my shopping trip much more efficient, I also can easily see the quality of the food I’m putting in my cart before I even go to the store. Try a shopping trip where you don’t even go to the middle aisles! I promise it’s possible. And you will come home with an array of colorful, nutritious food! To go a step further, if you are curious about organic or non-organic check out this source. I’m not saying I don’t shop in the center aisles, I do. But I’m also very aware of the ingredients in the foods I buy. The foods on the perimeter rarely even have an ingredients list 🙂
- Get rid of the bad fats/oils. Let me be clear. FATS are not bad; our bodies NEED healthy fats for rebuilding cells and MANY other reasons. But refined vegetable oils have a very high level of polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). PUFAs oxidize easily (this means they are easily damaged by heat, light, and air). The problem with oxidization in our bodies is that it causes inflammation, leading to all sorts of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and almost everything else out there. GOOD OPTIONS: Butter (real, full-fat butter, not margarine), Ghee (butter free of lactose and casein), Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, etc. (You can also watch this video about how canola oil is made – totally unbiased approach, but will still completely gross you out I’m sure.)
- Drink more water. Water makes up 55-60% of our body mass. We can go about 8 weeks without food, but only DAYS without water. Water has MANY roles in our bodies including but not limited to delivering oxygen to our cells, lubricating and cushioning our joints, flushing toxins, regulating body temperature (shall I go on? I can!). This is one tip that I STILL struggle with though. Something that helps me is to carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go. If you work at a desk, keep it right next to your monitor or phone and it will be a simple reminder. I also don’t try to overdo it in one day. If yesterday I drank a full bottle of water, today I’m going to try for two whole bottles. Put a reminder on your phone every couple of hours if you must, but do whatever works for you.
- Get Moving (bonus if it’s out in the sunshine). I can’t stress enough how important this is. ( In fact, my husband was tired and I just made him run up and down the stairs 5x – it worked.) We hear this literally all the time. There may be controversy over a lot of topics in the health and wellness world, but this is not one of them. Getting some exercise is crucial to having good health. Even if you just have time to go out on a quick walk for 10-15 minutes every day, do it! Your body will thank you for the vitamin D as well. Just find something that you love, grab your spouse or a friend and just do something to get your body moving.
- Build a routine. We as humans are creatures of habit. We thrive on consistency and our bodies like to know what is expected of them. If we build healthy habits that we do consistently every morning and night, we will have much better quality sleep (which is also so so so important, but we’ll save that for another day) and we will feel extremely refreshed in the morning. Therefore, we will be more productive and feel more accomplished. (Tip: Put exercise into your morning or evening routine and you will never want to miss it.) I did a post regarding morning routines, so stay check that out here!
- Love where/who you are. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. If we are constantly stressing about why we aren’t where we want to be, we will never be happy. Look around and have and show gratitude for your body, education, career, family, friends, goals, and every other blessing that you enjoy in this beautiful life. Once we begin to appreciate the things we already have and the progress we’ve made, then we will move forward and become better in every aspect of our lives.
Which of these tips are you going to implement moving forward? I’d love to hear how it goes!
Adrienne Biehl 
Hahaha, that last point is easier said than done! But very true.
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