Living a holistic, healthy lifestyle can be a challenge for anyone starting out. I have been there too, and have done the dance of moving from habit-to-habit, and never seeing any results. Part of my problem was that I would jump right into everything, without truly doing the research on anything. Because of this, it has taken a long time for me to find true healing within my body. I am just now seeing the results of this, after two years of beginning my holistic health journey.
All that to say, it can be daunting to begin your journey towards a healthy lifestyle, but it is doable. The key is in taking measures one step at a time, and integrating habits bit-by-bit.
I have put together 10 habits that you can easily integrate into your weekly routine to begin down your journey of total health. These are tried and true habits that I integrated at the beginning of my own journey.
These habits do not need to be added all at once. 10 new habits in one day would be far too overwhelming. Try adding in a new one every 2 to 3 weeks. If this is still overwhelming, you can even take it one month at a time!! Often slow and steady wins the race, and in the realm of health, this principle applies. Health is not linear, it is a constant journey of ebbs and flows.
The beauty of total wellness is that you get to listen to your own body and call the shots on what is best for you.
If you want to begin incorporating habits for a healthier lifestyle, keep reading below for the 10 best habits to get you started on your journey.
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #1: Get at Least 30 Minutes of Movement Every Day.
Movement is so beneficial to a healthy lifestyle. It strengthens muscles, trains the body how to handle stress, boosts the metabolism, strengthens bones a decreases the risk of age-related bone issues, and can give you a deeper connection with your own body’s innate needs. This movement can involve a strength training session, yoga, or even a walk in nature.
Movement can be incredible for physical health, but it is also so beneficial to mental health. Movement can even act as the first step in the right direction in both the prevention and management of chronic disease.
This article goes on to list several other benefits to movement, both physical and mental. These benefits include:
- Reducing mortality rates up to 30%
- Reduces the risk of chronic disease
- Improves one’s self-esteem and sense of wellbeing
- Improved memory and a slower cognitive decline with age
- Decreased risk of depression and anxiety
This list could go so much further than this, but this list alone presents incredible benefits to regular exercise. 30 minutes per day is a worthy goal, and a wonderful way to ease your body into the movement, if just starting out.
It is important to note that movement does not have to mean cross-fit 5 days a week in order to make an impact. In fact, if your metabolism is not functioning properly and the body is in a chronic state of stress, intense movement can further debilitate the system.
If you are unable to recover quickly and left feeling completely debilitated after a work out, it may have been too intense for your body to handle at the time.
If just implementing movement, it is okay to start out gently and work your way up. Listen to what your body is telling you.
Do you not know where to begin? Here are some great ideas to get started on incorporating 30 minutes of movement into your daily life, in order to pursue a healthy lifestyle.
- Yoga
- Brisk Walk Outdoors
- Jog/Run
- Ride your Bike
- Go on a Hike
- Swim
- Pilates
- Strength Training
- Dance
- Band Resistance
- Rower
- Play Outside with Your Kids
- Play Your Pickleball or Tennis
- Go Golfing and WALK the course
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #2: Nourish Your Body Through Whole Foods.
Whole foods are so important for giving your body the energy that it needs each day. Eating whole foods leads to living a healthy lifestyle due to the micro and macronutrients that are so much easier for the body to absorb when food is prepped properly.
Eating correctly and nourishing your body will make it a lot easier to accomplish every other habit on this list, because it takes proper fuel in order to be nourshed. Nourishment allows your body to be in a place of balance where it can handle stressors well, relax well, and complete tasks with clarity of mind.
By ditching the processed pantry items and instead go for food that you get to make into something. If this seems daunting, you can try meal planning and prepping. I do this on Sundays in order to ensure I am eating nutritions meals every week.
If you are buying something off of the grocery shelf, look for 5 ingredients or less and make sure you can pronounce everything listed on the packaging.
Check out my post here on what a whole food, nutrient dense diet looks like.
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #3: Incorporate 5-10 Minutes of Dynamic Stretching into your Mornings
What is dynamic stretching, you may ask? Simply put, dynamic stretching involves stretching out muscles through active and gently movements. While dynamic stretching is very beneficial when wark=ming up for a workout, it is also very beneficial when you first wake up.
Dynamic stretching prepares muscles for the day, reminds your body of proper posture, and can rejuvenate the mind with a burst of energy to kick off the day with joy and gratitude.
Dynamic stretching upon waking is a much better option than static stretches, because if someone jumps straight into static stretches after not having movement over an entire period of sleep, this can put strain on ligaments muscles.
Here are some dynamic stretches to try upon waking:
- Arm circles
- Cat Cow
- Downward Dog with Leg Movement
- Dolphin Pose
- Gentle Lunges
- Thread the Needle
- Forward Fold to Mountain Pose
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #4: Eat Breakfast within 1 Hour of Waking Up
Contrary to popular belief, I would argue it is very important to eat within 1 hour of waking up. Some experts will even argue that you should eat within 30 minutes of waking, but for the ease of beginning the journey towards a healthy lifestyle, aiming for within an hour is still very beneficial.
Why should an individual eat within 1 hour of waking up?
Let’s put it this way, the body has already been through a fasting period of 10-15 hours depending on when you ate dinner and when you wake up. You are waking up without fuel in your system, just stores.
This lack of fuel signals the adrenal glands to produce the hormone cortisol, which tells the body to begin producing more fat. This is because the body does not know when it will get more food, so it has to prepare in advance. This cortisol spike also creates inflammation in the body that messes with hormones, especially in the female body.
On the contrary, by eating a nourishing and balanced breakfast (this is NOT the permission you needed to eat cereal) the metabolism will be working consistently in order to process the fuel into what the body needs.
I think often where people go wrong and feel crummy after breakfast is that they eat the wrong breakfast. The conventional meals of toast and butter, cereal, freezer waffles, or doughnuts are simply not the same as a nourishing breakfast.
Not sure where to begin? Try out these meal ideas:
- Scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and homemade sourdough toast
- Homemade Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
- Quiche
- Omelets packed full of veggies
- Protein Packed Oatmeal Bake
- Greek Yogurt with Honey and Fruit
- Gelatin Gummies
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #5: Practice Grounding for 10 Minutes Every Day
Do you know the magical feeling of your bare feet touching the earth? There is a reason for that. It truly is magical and a wonderful habit to incorporate into your healthy lifestyle.
What is grounding? Grounding is when your bare feet touch the earth for an extended period of time. It can be 10 minutes, or it can be an hour. It is up to you! This can be blades of grass, dirt, or sand. This is also known as earthing. Grounding, or earthing, is known to electronically reconnect your body to the earth.
This is because human bodies have electricity pulsating through them, and free electrons on the earth’s surface are able to connect to the body and bring in into an internal rhythmic state.
This practice has many benefits including:
- Regulated Circadian Rhythm
- Improved Energy Levels
- Improved Mood
- Improved Sleep
- Improved Metabolic Function
- Regulated Stress Levels
I like doing this in the first light of day in order to set the circadian rhythm of my body into motion. It is such a wonderful feeling to hold a warm cup of coffee in hand, let the sunlight hit my skin, and let my feet touch the earth. It is such a wonderful time of prayer for me, and I always reenter of my house rejuvenated.
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #6: Unplug from Screens 1 Hour Before Bed.
This is a difficult one to implement. Trust me, I know. I used to be in the habit of watching a show every night before falling asleep. I used to lie in bed and check social media one last time before closing my eyes.
And then I found out that this was simply detrimental to my sleep life.
For one, screens emit blue light, which stimulate cortisol levels in the body. Now, blue light is absolutely not bad for the body. In fact, it is essential the the natural rhythms of a healthy lifestyle. This is what the sunlight gives off throughout the day. It is a part of regulating the body’s circadian rythm.
The problem is that blue light keeps the body in a state of wakefulness. Our bodies were not designed to take in blue light after the sun sets, but our society is absolutely saturated buy it, with an almost continual exposure to this stimulating light.
One way to diminish the body’s exposure to blue light is to step away from technology at night. This allows cortisol levels to lower so that melatonin can take over.
If you want to further diminish the body’s exposure to light, get red lights to tun of at night. Salt lamps are a great option for the home, and create a nice ambiance that can help ease the body into a restful state.
Check out my favorite salt lamps here:
The Body Source Himalayan Salt Lamp
Another quick thought on turning off technology earlier in order to pursue a healthy lifestyle:
Social media, texts, and news can be stressful… Like, REALLY stressful. These sources do not promote rest. In my mind, it is so much nicer to fall asleep with peace than with the latest news headline hanging over me.
Things to do to unwind for the night instead of watching TV:
- Read a book with a warm mug of herbal tea
- Play a low-stress game with your family
- Have meaningful converstation with a loved one
- Cuddle with your pet
- Take a nice warm bath
- Journal
- Close your eyes and reflect on your favorite part of the day
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #7: Establish a Morning Routine
Establishing a morning routine can be such a beneficial habit to implement for a healthy lifestyle. Not only can you implement many of the habits listed here into a morning routine, but it can also provide structure for your day.
If you have a morning routine, this can be good motivation to wake up and take on the day with a rested spirit. Having a plan in mind allows the day to not slip away from you, so that you are fully capable of implemented all of these amazing habits in order to pursue a healthy lifestyle!
Need ideas on where to start? You can read all about my personal morning routine here.
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #8: Keep a Gratitude Journal
In my opinion, keeping a gratitude journal can my such an important step to take in beginning to live a healthy lifestyle.
It is a great way to ground your mind in the things that matter, so that you do not spend your days dwelling on negative thoughts.
Practicing gratitude is vital to mental health, and can change a day where you wake up on the wrong side of the bed in to one where you stop on smell every rose on your path.
This does not have to take long. You can write 1 thing, or 5 things. I like to settle for 3 things unless I am feeling extra amazing one day.
Writing these thoughts down can take 5 minutes or less, and is such a simple thing to implement in order to change the entire outcome of your day.
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #9: Take an Epsom Salt Bath Each Week.
This is such a great practice to implement for a healthy lifestyle. Taking an epsom salt bath allows your body to absorb magnesium- a mineral vital to many different functions throughout the body.
Adding in other herbs is just a bonus.
Here are just some of the benefits to taking epsom salt baths each week:
- Improves magnesium stores
- Reduces stress levels
- Improves circulation
- Reduces Inflammation
- Calms the Nervous System
- Improves Sleep
- Improves Mood
- Soothes Skin
Habit for a Healthy Lifestyle #10: Get 7 to 9 Hours of Sleep Every Night
I feel like it is so fitting to end this list of habits on the importance of sleep for a healthy lifestyle. As you have seen from the habits listed above, sleep is absolutely vital to health for so many different reasons.
In fact, it can be argued that good sleep is one of the greatest things that you can do for your health. I fyou are only able to prioritize one thing on this listed of habits, it would be sleep. Here is why:
- Allows you to regulate and process thorugh various emotions and experiences
- Improves memory through creating new brain pathways
- Repairs tissue in the case of injuries and inflamation
- regulates hormone levels
- Improves metabolic function
- Strengthens the immune system
- Increased mood
- Increased ability to function in day-to-day life
- Increased ability to handle stressors
- Improved workout recovery
- Work to regulate your circadian rythm
- Eat enough food throughout the day
There are so many more benefits than this! Here are some ways to encourage good quality sleep in your body for a healthy lifestyle:
- Establish a nightly routine to help your body wind down from the day
- Turn off screens an hour before bed
- Turn off regular lights and turn on red light
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol consumption in the hours before bed
- Take an epsom salt bath
- Turn on a white noise machine
There you have it! These are 10 simple habits that you can begin to integrate into your life for a healthy lifestyle. The goal of these habits is that you will be able to be on a journey towards holistic wellness. This means you are not just focused on what you are eating or how much you are exercising. You are implementing rest and caring for your mental health just as much.
This is just the beginning. It is so exciting. I cannot wait to hear what you habits you implement for a healthy lifestyle. Let me know by commenting below or send me a message!
