2021! New year, new me, right? Well, what does that really mean? It probably means that you weren’t all that happy with the person you were, the things you did and the goals you set for yourself during this past year. But why did you wait this long to make any changes? I hope everybody realizes that they can make big (or small) life changes whenever they feel like it. The new year might feel like a fresh start, but you can create that starting point for yourself throughout the entire year. It’s no different for your health. If you’re not happy with how you feel physically, mentally or spiritually, why wait to make the change? Do it today or tomorrow and 6 months down the line you will be happy that you made the necessary changes.

I am very committed to my health and not just because of the pandemic going on right now, because I realize that my health needs to last a life-time (not just a couple months). I care about my health on all levels, it’s not just about fitness and looking good in the mirror for me. I care about my mental health too. You will see in the points I am about to bring up that good physical and mental health sometimes get stimulated by the same things.

What I do to stay Healthy

Let’s just get the most obvious one out of the way, I work out. But I don’t just workout because I want to be fit and look good naked. I work out because it gives me a sense of accomplishment, positivity, self-encouragement and confidence. Besides all of those things’ fitness gives me an outlet for my thoughts, whether that’s by shutting my brain off or by thinking through certain tasks, problems etc.. None of those things directly impact my physical health but they sure are important and welcome benefits of working out.

2 other things that come to mind when I think about health are stretching and reading. They’re the last two things I do before going to sleep at night. Obviously, stretching offers great value when we’re looking at the physical side of things, but it’s also a great way to relieve stress and calm down your mind. It’s the same thing with reading, it helps you focus on something that doesn’t impact you directly which allows you to let go of anything that might have been bothering or stressing you out throughout the day. I make sure to stretch somewhere between 15-30 minutes every night (I use the GOWOD app)and read at least 10 pages before closing my eyes for the night.

When we talk about physical health it’s easy to just think about the physical activities you do throughout the day (workout, stretching etc.), but to me, nutrition impacts my physical health more than anything else (even more than the actual working out part). I am currently on an intermittent fasting kick, where I fast for 14-16 hours and give myself between 8-9 hours to eat. The first thing I consume that will break my fast is my ”green” smoothie. It might feel like ”the newest and hottest” thing but it’s popular for a reason. From my experience, the smoothies have helped me with digestion and energy levels throughout the day. My smoothies consist of: Almond milk, fresh ginger, raspberries, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon powder and a table spoon of wheat-grass powder.

The most important aspect of my nutrition is eating whole-foods. 90-95% of my nutrition consists of whole-foods, foods that are fresh, nutrient dense and NOT produced in a factory or lab. I try to get my meat from a local butcher as much as I can and I eat different sources of vegetables each day, those 2 things make up the majority of my daily intake.

The ”little” things

So far we have talked about the obvious and big things that I do throughout the day to support, maintain and improve my health. But it doesn’t just stop there. Mainly when we’re talking about mental health, there’re a couple of small things that I do throughout the day that keep me happy, positive and in a good headspace.

The first thing that comes to mind is being grateful for the things that I have, the position that I am in and the person I have become. It might seem like a random thing but it keeps me positive, in turn that benefits my mental health greatly. No complaining, it’s something I really try my best to stay away from because I know that giving a voice to those thoughts is going to make them more powerful. There’s a difference between complaining just to get it out and complaining to find a solution, I’d rather focus on the latter. I stay in contact with the people that have a positive impact on me and avoid contact with people that bring me down. I have recently started writing more poetry, which allows me to actually write thoughts and emotions down.

There are probably a bunch of smaller and bigger things that I (un)consciously do throughout the day to keep myself in a positive head space, but these are all the things that I actively focus on and think about throughout each day. That’s the thing with health, it needs to be a consistent effort, it can’t be a 1 day on, 1 day off kind of thing (at least for me).

I hope that my daily routines help inspire you to put the same effort in for your health because you deserve it.

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