The Elements of Wellness - Where to Start

Want to know a secret? The key to building a healthy, balanced, vibrant life is pretty boring. There is no magic pill or “diet” that will transform you into a new person in 30 days. Transformation doesn’t work that way. Life doesn’t work that way. It is the small, seemingly insignificant choices we make every day —our daily habits — that lead to the big changes we are looking for. Think of these daily habits as the cornerstones of your good health. If one or two are weak, the whole structure becomes unstable.

Eat

The habit: Eat only when you are hungry, eat only until you are 70 to 80 percent full, and enjoy every bite. This may be all you can manage some days. That is ok. However on most days, make it a habit to choose fresh whole foods, mostly vegetables and fruits, in a range of colors. Drink plenty of pure water and tea, and choose unrefined starches and healthy fats. Kick highly processed foods and refined sugars, grains, and oils out of your life. You don’t need them. Before you eat, stop and ask yourself if you are really hungry. Many times we eat for other reasons (stress, boredom, habit). Stop eating if you are not really enjoying your food. You are not required to clean your plate.

Sleep

The habit: get enough sleep. Not too much or too little. For most adults that means between 7 and 9 hours a night. Your body needs sleep to repair, rejuvenate, and detoxify all of its systems, including the brain. Short term, lack of sleep can make you fuzzy headed, accident prone, and stimulate food cravings. Long term, it can cause serious problems with metabolism, memory, immune function,learning, and many other vital functions.

Move

The habit: move your body every day. The key is to increase your regular, daily activity. Make a point of getting up and moving whenever you can. Walk or bike instead of driving, take the stairs, park far from your destination, stand up to take phone calls. According to the World Health Organization, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. If you can add in a few sessions of weight bearing exercise and some aerobic training each week, even better. But remember, an hour in the gym won’t make up for 10 hours of sitting in a chair.

Soothe

The habit: calm down! The “fight or flight” response is our body’s way of defending itself against an immediate threat. The adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones, breathing increases, muscles tighten, the heart pumps faster to get blood flow to the arms and legs, digestion slows down. Unfortunately chronic stress causes many of us to spend most of our time in this heightened state, something the body is not equipped to handle. A daily practice to reduce stress is critical to health. This could be learning a breathing technique, meditation, a long bath or hot shower, restorative exercise, playing music, or engaging in a hobby. Anything that lets you relax. It is particularly critical to take a moment to calm down before eating, the body can’t use food properly in a stressed state, which is one of the reasons stress eating is so harmful.

Step By Step

It can take some time to establish new habits. Don’t try to take on too much at once. Pick one thing to work on at a time. The great thing about habits is that, once they are established, it doesn’t take a lot of effort or willpower to maintain them. Life and food are meant to be enjoyed, not a constant struggle. No one can, or probably even should, eat “perfectly” at every meal. With your healthy habits in place, a few indulgences won’t completely derail your efforts.

*These are general ideas, suitable for most people. For a nutrition plan tailored to your individual needs and goals, schedule a personal consultation.