It doesn’t take that much work to get started on actively caring for and improving your wellness. By starting small and in small steps you can get into the good habits easily without it becoming a big struggle that you need to force yourself to do every day. If you follow through with these few easy things you will experience a great improvement in your overall wellness and how you feel. All the other benefits to your general health and life quality comes in on top of it.
- Eat 6 a day.
The official recommendation from the Danish health authorities is to eat 6 fruits and/or vegetables every single day. Translated into something which can be measured, it is 600 grams of fruits, greens and vegetables during the course of the day. This includes both fresh, raw and cooked greens.
And example could be:- Breakfast: a banana, two slices of wholegrain bread with cheese and a glass of juice – count 2
- Lunch: a salad with lettuce, cucumber, bean spouts, corn, tuna, salmon and wholegrain bread – count 1.
- Dinner: Dinner with a side-dish of green beans, broccoli and carrots. If the greens take up a third of the entire meal the count will be about 1.
- Snacks during morning and afternoon. A piece of fresh fruit – count 2
The total count for a day would be 6 and you’ll have done yourself a great favour. It’s important to vary what you eat and not just eat only a few kinds of greens and fruits. Variation is very important to a healthy lifestyle and food.
- Exercise for at least half an hour every day.
Several authorities now recommend minimum half an hours exercise every single day. It might seem like much, but you should take into consideration that the 10 min brisk walk to the train in the morning counts into that number as well, and so does doing half an hours gardening or physically demanding housework, or even playing with your children. Children should exercise at least an hour every day to keep them in shape and avoid a poor lifestyle and health. The more physical work we can include in our daily schedule, the better our bodies will feel.
In order for a physical activity to count in as exercise it should be something that makes your heart beat faster, your breathing to be affected or makes you sweat. While an hours relaxed stroll is better than nothing, it does unfortunately not count for an hours exercise. Use your common sense and don’t do yourself the disfavour of counting in things you’re in doubt about. In this case it’s better to do too much than too little.
Again, variation is the key here. Combine some strength training (washing floors or digging the garden can qualify for that), with conditioning training such as walks or playing ball with the kids. Don’t forget to give yourself time to rest between straining exercise. Alternate between the types so your body gets a chance to recover and rebuild. And spoil yourself with one full day a week where you can have your well-deserved rest after good work.
- Get enough sleep.
Sleep is very important for our wellness. Sleep is when the body reconstitutes itself and recovers from the strains of the day. Studies show that lack of sleep leads to a poorer functioning immune system, so the impulses to just sleep all day away when sick are justified. It helps strengthen the immune system and keep diseases at bay.
Mentally sleep is very important as well. Not only does sleep allow our brain to relax and process the inputs of the day, sorting the information and solving problems. But our mood is greatly affected by how tired we feel. Emotions become intensified and the emotional reactions are much stronger. For better or worse. Also problems seem much greater when we’re tired. We don’t feel we have the energy to deal with them and they become barriers instead of challenges to face.
- Think positively.
It is amazing what difference positive thinking can do to your life and how you feel about yourself. It can be a difficult habit to get into, but it is certainly worth it. Shortly put it comes down to accepting the negative thoughts and feelings you have, acknowledging them and then put them away, all the while you force yourself to see the good in any given situation.
When you focus on the positive in life, in yourself, in your surroundings, you will find that the negative becomes much less important and has much less impact on how you feel or act.
For further ideas and advice on how to think positively, I recommend you read the Positivity Blog. The site is a huge resource to positive thinking and how to change your own habits and behaviours.
If you manage to undertake those four steps and incorporate them into your daily life, you will quickly see an improvement of your wellness. These are four fundamental steps to wellness and well worth taking.
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