Having difficulty aiming for a Happier Healthier You? It's no wonder, because with our fast paced modern lifestyles, it can be difficult to achieve balance and more importantly to prioritise the things we need to do to keep us healthy. Often we find ourselves reaching for quick and easy take away or comfort foods and don’t get around to regular exercise. This can result in weight gain especially around the abdominal area, bloating, reflux, sluggishness mood changes, anxiety and fatigue and if left unchecked can lead to chronic health problems like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and autoimmune conditions.
So if you are wanting to achieve a happier healthier you, there are a few things you can do to help you achieve this.
Consider Intermittent Fasting
For those of you who are prone to overindulging or comfort eating and are carrying excess weight intermittent fasting can be a good way to reset your metabolism, reduce insulin and blood sugar levels in order to shed those excess kilos. This involves restricting the hours you eat to an eight hour period with a sixteen hour period of fasting.
My recommendation is to aim to eat between the hours of 11am and 7pm and restrict food intake to 2 main meals and one snack if required. You can do intermittent fasting daily seven days a week or just a few times per week. For more information on the best plan for you feel free to contact me.
Detox Your Home Environment
Many of you may not be aware but your home is one of the greatest sources of toxins. These toxins come in the form of dust and dust mites, bacteria, moulds, chemicals from cleaning products flame retardants and formaldehyde from mattresses and furnishings; off gassing and fumes from floor coverings, paints; gas heating and air conditioning systems; pesticides used in weed killers. Not to mention electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices including wireless routers, iPad, computers, mobile phones, cordless phones, baby monitors and microwave ovens.
One important thing to consider is what we put on our skin including hand sanitisers, shampoo, and conditioner, make up, nail polish removers, sunscreen, hair dyes, hair products, perfumes and colognes and other personal care products. These contain a variety of chemicals including sodium lauryl sulphates, parabens, bleaches, colouring, preservatives and triclosan all which are absorbed into our skin placing a burden on our already overloaded detoxification system.
What to Do?
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Ensure your home has good ventilation and air it regularly.
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Clean air conditioning and gas heating vents regularly.
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Wash and air your clothing and linen outside in the sunshine on a regular basis as UV is a great sanitiser.
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Switch off your wireless router over night or whenever possible.
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Get rid of your cordless DECT phone and switch to a corded phone.
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SMS instead of talking on the phone where possible and use hands free or a shielded headset when making phone calls. If you need to use your mobile phone as an alarm switch to airplane mode to block radiation.
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Ensure your sleeping area is located away from wireless routers and fuse boxes where possible.
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Buy organic or pesticide free food where possible. Otherwise wash your fruit and vegetables in white vinegar to remove pesticide and fungicide residues.
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Switch to natural cleaning products such as microfibre cloths, white vinegar, baking soda, colloidal silver and essential oils such as lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree and clove oil and natural cosmetics and personal products.
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Switch to natural personal care products which are free from harmful chemicals like sodium lauryl sulphates, parabens, PCBs, preservatives and fragrance oils.
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Ensure you consume adequate “ real foods” and supplements to protect against the effects of toxins. These include:
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Antioxidants such as vitamin C, selenium, lipoic acid, grapeseed, resveratrol, and curcumin;
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A good quality multivitamin and mineral with activated B vitamins:
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Super foods such as chlorella, spirulina, wheat and barley grass, organic green tea
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Purified fish or krill oil.
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Eat More Vegetables: no matter what type of diet you embark on it should include adequate amounts of fresh vegetables. In fact you should be aiming for the equivalent of 5 cups of raw vegetables per day. My top picks are broccoli, broccoli sprouts, onions, garlic, spinach, kale, asparagus, zucchini, squash, celery, snow peas, rocket, beans and watercress. Avoid starchy vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, corn, peas, sweet potato and pumpkin especially if trying to lose weight or if you are diabetic
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Herbs and spices are also a great addition to the vegetable category as they have a wealth or antioxidant and other health benefits. My top picks are parsley, coriander, basil, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon. These are great added to juices or smoothies.
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Make Exercise a Priority
Exercise has so many proven health benefits apart from weight control. These include improving cardiovascular health and fitness and bad cholesterol reduction, preserving muscle, joint and bone health, reducing pain and inflammation and the risk of developing diabetes, improving brain function and feel good chemicals such as endorphins; improving immune function and reducing cancer risk.
If you are new to exercise, aim to start slowly at least twice weekly for 30 to 40 minutes with the aim of building up to 1 hour 4 times weekly. It is recommended to include a variety of cardiovascular exercise such as walking, jogging, cycling or swimming with strengthening and toning exercises such as yoga, pilates, weights or taichi.
To help you to maintain an exercise regime check out my exercise videos.
Remember: "Use it or lose it”!
To really achieve a happier, healthier you, make sure you prioritise the things you need to do to keep healthy.
