We often consider the term wellness as something beyond our reach or something only attainable to holistic doctors, adept yogis, wellness practitioners, but not for us – the common people living hectic lives and working the daily grind. But this is far from the reality. Wellness can be easily achieved by some small yet wise daily choices. And these small choices can pave the road for you to end up having a healthier and happier life. Whether you’re a working adult or a stay at home mom – wellness is achievable for everyone. You don’t need to invest a lot of time, money or be an expert in any skills because you can attain wellness if you choose to. A perfect wellness regimen simply begins with making one choice after another. To help you attain wellness in 30 days, we’ve outlined a daily checklist of guidelines here. If you can follow it properly, you’ll become happier and healthier within just a month. These tips are extremely simple, affordable, doable for everyone and absolutely life-altering. You just need to remember one thing that no one becomes healthy by only wishing, deeming themselves unworthy, or making excuses but by determination and proper guidance. Let’s go through the guide thoroughly.
Week 1: Kitchen Tips
Include Berries in Breakfast
Berries are rich in nutrients and can do wonder for our digestion, brain and can prevent various diseases. These fresh produce keep us fuller compared to processed cereals that contain dried fruits. Add half cup of your preferred fresh or frozen berries to either an oatmeal, smoothie or just consume some with unsweetened coconut yoghurt and a little amount of flax seeds or chia seeds. Berries are also rich in vitamin C that boosts your immune system.
Have One Green Food Each Day
Consuming one leafy green or one green vegetable each day is an excellent way to stay healthier without spending much time in the kitchen. It can be spinach snuck with a smoothie or one cup of broccoli at dinner. Some leafy kale mixed with chopped sweet potato or one cup of green beans at dinner or some easily available seasonings are also good options. You only need to make sure that it’s natural, green and from the earth. These can pump up your nutrition level than any other food available. They promote mental wellness, alkalize the bodies and protect you from various major ailments.
Consider Having a Glass of Water as the First Thing of the Day
We all know that drinking water is crucial to hydrate our bodies. Make sure that the first thing you do when you wake up is drinking a glass of water. It not only helps wake you up but is a great way to flush out your body’s toxins, thus letting you stay healthy as well. Remember, your body requires more water than you may realize. So, give it the adequate amount, starting from the morning – even before your first cup of morning coffee.
Enjoy Plain Tea and Coffee
Tea and coffee are great sources of antioxidants as long as they’re organically sourced and produced without any pesticide. These beverages promote mental health, heart health and liver health. The key is to eliminate the milk and sugar, which take away a majority of their health benefits. Coffee is being studied recently because of its positive effects on cancer prevention and longevity, while tea has a proven history of healing properties for years. Drink 1-2 cups of tea or coffee in the morning and again in the afternoon, preferably before 3 pm, if they’re caffeinated.
Prepare Your Own Meals
Cooking at home offers you two key things – it lets you stay in touch with the food that keeps you well and away from outside options that are prepared by someone else, probably using unhealthy ingredients such as salt, sugar, excess oil etc. So, simply eliminate the outside options and cook your own meals, whenever possible, even if that means cooking simple meals like a protein and veggie, a macro-bowl of salad, some smoothies with oatmeal, or a soup for healthy breakfast and dinner etc. Preparing your own meals is one of the greatest things you can do to stay healthy and live life to the fullest. Search online or go through some food magazines that offer easy-to-make meal recipes.
Replace All the Salt with Herbs
Try using herbs instead of pouring salt on all your food to flavour them. For breakfast, you can use ginger, cardamom and cinnamon for a spicy and sweet flavour. For lunch, you can use black pepper, Italian seasonings, sage and/or turmeric and cayenne. For dinner, pepper, some garam masala, basil, oregano, thyme etc are good options. Mix these up the way you like and use them more frequently. These are some of the best ingredients that are antioxidant-rich, have mood-boosting benefits, and even cancer-preventive benefits. They also lower blood pressure levels, unlike excess salt that may lead to chronic high blood pressure (hypertension).
Avoid Sugary Food
Sugary foods aren’t part of a healthy diet mainly because they don’t contain nutrients, are processed and can lead to addiction. Instead of having sugary foods, focus on eating some berries, an apple, an orange, a banana or just sweet veggies such as carrots. Your body will gradually start loving the taste of those fresh vegetables and fruits. Sugar disturbs your digestion, ages your skin, makes you feel tired, moody and above all – fails to satisfy your appetite. Avoid it and you’ll start feeling better in no time.
Week 2: Activity Tips
Have a 20-30 Minute Jog or Walk
It may sound difficult, especially when you’ve a hectic schedule, but it is easier than you think. Getting up only 30 minutes ahead of your regular time will let you indulge in a good jog or walk despite your packed schedule. Running is even better but walking or jogging is great too. Starting your day with this promotes your serotonin levels, offering energy to your body and also keeps you concentrate better throughout the day. It’s a simple way to boost your metabolism that helps you to manage your weight.
Lift Something Heavy Every Day for 5 Minutes
You may have thought something like these hundred times: I don’t enjoy lifting weights or I don’t have time for weightlifting. Regardless of what the case is, here’s a simple solution to the issue: pick something heavy. It can be a dumbbell, a kettlebell or any household item you can hold in your hands, which is heavy yet light enough to lift. Lift any of these items only for 5 minutes each day, preferably over the head like people do in the gym, together with by the sides to work the arms and try to perform a few squats while holding it. This resistance training not only boosts your metabolism but promotes testosterone in your body that improves focus, sense of motivation and even your energy. It also helps to strengthen your body within that small period of time. More time would definitely be better but 5 minutes is enough to make you out of breath to good results. If you can perform this at 3 different times spanned across the day, you’d be lifting weights for 15 minutes without realizing it.
Avoid Sitting More
Sitting is obviously required and isn’t as detrimental as considered by many. The key is not to sit over. You need to stand more throughout a day, even if that’s when you talk on the phone, chat with the friends or just get up in between relaxing activities before sleep. If you like to watch the TV, make sure you don’t sit there for hours while doing it. If work demands sitting in front of a computer most of the day, try to stand and move around whenever possible. Sitting for a longer time can trigger brain fog, make you tired, slow down the metabolism and increase the insulin levels. It can even trigger restless nature and a bad mood. Your body likes to move. So, try to do it whenever possible.
Practice Commutes and Active Tasks
When commuting to work, running errands or doing something similar, it’s crucial that you stay active during those activities whenever possible. For example, if it’s possible to reach office walking, do it. Try to take the stairs more often instead of using the elevator. If possible, park your vehicle further away from the store and start walking. Working in a big city makes it easier for people, but if you rely mostly on public transportation and cars, try to avoid easy access to less activity and more sitting.
Do Some Stretching Each Day
Stretching is perhaps one of the most neglected exercises that improve your mood. It prevents muscle cramps, releases muscle tension, improves blood flow and lymphatic flow that boost your mood and keep your digestive system working well. It also averts muscle stagnation that can trigger bad feelings. Stretch a little in the morning as well as in the night before bed. Just a couple of minutes can make you feel better.
Spend Some Time Outside Daily
Walk through a nearby park or take a stroll around the neighbourhood. If you’ve a dog, take it for a 5-minute walk down the street. If you’ve the option of exercising outside, do it. It’s more rejuvenating than indoor treadmills. Try to be active outside, even if for a few minutes only. It’s a great way to boost your spirit without putting much effort. It helps you stay in touch with nature that can benefit your brain, avert depression and expose you to the majority of the natural sources of vitamin D – the sun.
Try Yoga
Yoga may not be everyone’s cup of tea but because of its multitude of benefits, you should at least give it a try. Don’t get intimidated by yoga if it seems strange or out of reach. In reality, it’s just a smooth way of stretching everything out, moving your body and being tender to your body through the movements. While an exhausting workout at the gym is fine for building your body, yoga is a smooth change of pace that lowers cortisol in your body. This reduces stress throughout the day and lowers insulin spikes that are triggered by elevated cortisol levels. It also stimulates lymphatic flow, which is the key to provide your body with a feeling of wellness in more than one way. If you don’t want to enrol in a yoga training class right away, try some beginner YouTube videos to take the DIY route.
Week 3: Tips on Mind and Mood
Take Care of Your Hormone Health
Most of us usually don’t think of our hormones when we grab something to eat or plan out a meal but it’s required. Our hormones are fully responsible for how we think, act, feel and how we treat others. Our diets, apart from our lifestyle and sleep, play crucial roles in controlling the hormones. Though stress management, adequate rest, staying active etc play important roles, nothing acts like the direction for the cells like the food does. Certain foods can mess with hormonal function and can even trigger anxiety, mood disorders or depression. Some of these foods include processed foods, gluten, dairy and sugar. Even if you’re not allergic to gluten, it can contribute to the way your brain thinks, feels and can trigger hormone disorders and depression. Most dairy products are strongly related to estrogen imbalance, brain fog, depression and anxiety. These foods trigger a problem because of the protein structure present in them that interferes with optimum hormone processes. Processed foods and sugar also disrupt insulin levels and can disturb optimum hormone function. Try to consume unprocessed and whole foods whenever possible. Foods like nuts, leafy greens, seeds, fruits and vegetables can greatly help you to maintain optimal hormone function.
Do Something You Love Each Day
It can be something as simple as writing in your daily journal, preparing your favourite breakfast, pursuing your favourite hobby, participating in a local event or anything else you actually love. Doing something just for yourself each day is an excellent way to improve serotonin levels in your body to trigger those feel-good hormones on a daily basis.
Focus on Magnesium-Rich Foods
Magnesium helps to relieve stress together with lots of other benefits. Plant-based foods are good sources of magnesium and are crucial for improving mental wellness. Some of the best sources are nuts, seeds, leafy greens, bananas, cacao, sweet potatoes and avocado. Conduct some online research or go through some health journals to know how you can include more of this important mineral in your regular diet.
Focus on Good Fats
Healthy fats can be considered as fuel for good mood. They’re one of the crucial things to be included in your diet to promote a healthy metabolism and a healthy mood. They also lower cholesterol level, promote heart health and contain none of the detrimental side effects that come from animal-based saturated fats. Focus on consuming raw coconut, almonds, avocados, acai fruit, walnuts, cashews, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, olives and pecans. Many of these are also good sources of B vitamins, protein and magnesium that improve brain health as well.
Avoid Negative Self Talk
Consistently telling negative things about yourself such as you don’t deserve something, you’ll never achieve something, or you can’t do something is never going to bring any positivity in your life. So, avoid negative self-talk and begin developing new messages on the positive note instead. When you change the mindset, you’ll have the power to alter your life. This is one of the most neglected yet most crucial things that everyone can do at the least on a daily basis for better mental health and mood.
Focus on The B’s
B vitamins promote energy, enhance concentration and lower stress in the brain – something that everyone wants to have. Apart from vitamin B12, other B vitamins like B3, B5, B6 and B7 also play important roles in your wellness. If you focus on a diet that’s plant-based, you can get enough of them easily. Some of the best B vitamin sources are seeds, nuts, broccoli, leafy greens, root vegetables, avocados, beans, coconut, pumpkin, bananas, legumes, berries and whole grains. Combine these up across a day to ensure healthy brain function all day long.
Focus More on Plant-Based Foods
Even if you aren’t a complete vegan, consuming some plant-based foods on a regular basis can prove to be highly beneficial in terms of enhancing your mood. Plant-based foods have proven a history of relieving anxiety, depression and even promoting mental clarity. The internet is full of delicious recipes that are whole-food based and capable of making you feel good throughout the day.
Week 4: Lifestyle Tips
Be Social
Social wellness is something often overlooked but we should heed it for the long-term health benefits. Even if you like to stay alone in your free time, you should remember that we all are social creatures by default. So, try to get social whenever you can. Interacting with others can enhance your mood, relieve stress and promote longevity. If you find it difficult to participate in social events, try to spend time with family, friends, or chat with someone at the office, gym or park to fulfil your social needs on a daily basis.
Consider Sleep as a Gift
Most of us often overlook the importance of sleep and neglect it in the first place but it shouldn’t be like that. Sleep is as crucial as the food we eat and our regular exercise habits. When we sleep, our body detoxifies, resets itself and makes us prepared for the next day’s grind. Inadequate rest can lead to stress, weight gain, depression and food cravings. Your sleep time may vary from 8 hours to 9 or 10 hours. The key is to have a good sleep. So, get enough of it until you wake up each day at the same time without any alarm clock.
Be a Minimalist
Having an abundance of nice things is just great and it obviously is a treat we should give ourselves whenever possible. However, you should never forget that by being a minimalist, you can bring a great amount of joy to your life as well. As a minimalist, you can reduce the number of things you use, prepare more simple meals etc. It makes you feel that sometimes less is more and little things can bring you huge joy. Try to reduce items in your wardrobe and start giving away what you don’t wear anymore. Stay away from using costly beauty products and start using natural options instead. Clean out the kitchen and try to have whole foods that need simple preparation. This is an excellent way to make life simpler that can make you happier and healthier without the need of an abundance of things.
Try Something New Once Each Month
Your rigid schedules can turn you into a follower of habits. It’s easy to go along with the motions but it also makes you unhappy, bored and even lead to loss of passion for things you once cared about like your job, physical condition and healthy eating habits, among others. So, the solution is to indulge in a new activity whenever you can, possibly once each month. It can be anything from trying a new exercise, trying a new recipe, trying a new approach to your work, creating a different ambience at home/work with some simple steps, or shopping at your local farmer’s market instead of a grocery store. Indulge in new activities and see how rejuvenated it can make you feel.
Do Something Nice For Others When Possible
Doing something nice for someone else doesn’t only benefit him/her but you as well. We’re meant to be giving though many people consider it as some sort of a sacrifice. The reality is, when we give, we get much more in return in various ways. It doesn’t need to be related to money all the time but it can be as simple as sending an email, a card or preparing a dish for someone, running errands for someone else, taking someone to lunch, sending flowers to someone or just letting someone ahead of you at the grocery store. You can also donate for an animal organization or volunteer at one, or promote cultural awareness. Doing little things for the good of others regularly is a crucial part of long-term wellness. Give it a shot and see how contended it makes you feel and how you could change the lives of others in different ways you may have never explored before or thought of earlier.
Bring In Positive Energy
Regardless of what you’re going through in your life, one of the most important things you can do is to bring in positive energy instead of stealing it. It means you must maintain a positive energy and outlook, even if your life isn’t going in accordance with your expectations. This isn’t only crucial for your health but for others around you as well. People with a positive mindset can create a great impact on people around them. If everyone practices this on a regular basis, the world will become a happier and more energetic place. So, the next place you visit, regardless of the reason, try to bring in positive energy and see how it changes the ambience.
Spend Some “Me” Time Each Morning
If you exercise in the morning, this is an excellent way to get some time for yourself. But if you don’t, try to spend some quiet time in the morning. This can help in lowering the stress hormone cortisol in your body that hits the peak every morning. It also allows you to plan your day ahead by having some quiet time to think. You may even write your thoughts, prayers, to-dos, concerns or whatever comes to your mind during that time. Sparing just 10 minutes every morning, perhaps over a cup of tea or coffee, is an excellent way to progress toward lifelong wellness.
Now, it’s all in your hands. You are now armed with an entire month’s wellness tips that you can practice to become happier and healthier. You can try these tips optimally or take it easy by adhering to one tip each day. We’re sure that you’ll be amazed with the differences you’d be experiencing by the month’s end. Remember – wellness is a precious gift you choose to offer yourself that starts with just one simple choice.
Bonus: Week 5
Don’t forget your smile
Every so often, you should take a close look at your teeth, tongue and gums and make sure there are no surprises. You should also always pay attention to any pain or discomfort you feel.
Pay attention anytime you start having mouth issues because cavities and gum disease can be indicators of serious health conditions.
Bacteria from diseased gums can contribute to the formation of artery-clogging plaques and to infective endocarditis, a condition in which the interior lining of the heart and heart valves become inflamed. Left untreated, this condition could lead to a fatal infection.”
Additionally, “Research suggests that periodontitis is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease and that people with chronic gum disease have increased the thickness of their neck blood vessels,” explains the Mayo Clinic.
If you have been struggling to keep your teeth white, your breath fresh, and your gums healthy, you may have stumbled across the suggestion that you try an oral hygiene practice known as ” oil pulling. “
Most people use cold-pressed sunflower or sesame oils. I prefer using raw coconut oil for oil pulling since it is one of the healthiest oils in the world and helps boost the thyroid. (where to buy coconut oil)
Right after you wake up, drink a glass or two of water to start your saliva flow and then take about 1 tablespoon of oil into your mouth. Swish it around for as long as you can. Start with 5 minutes and gradually increase to 15 to 20 minutes. I plop it into my mouth and swish away as I make my breakfast and pack my lunch.
Do not swallow the oil – it’s loaded with toxins! (But don’t beat yourself up if you accidentally do.) It is vital to spit out this oil after 15-20 minutes of swishing. Spit it out in the trash (not the sink as it can clog pipes) because this is the safest, cleanest and best way to eliminate used oil.
Be sure to wash out your mouth thoroughly to help clean out any lingering bacteria or toxins.
Voila! You’re done. Now go about your day knowing that you’ve done a great thing for your overall healing.
Start your journey to wellness today!
