Improve Well-Being

How to Improve your Well-being

We all have habits, actions that we do every day.  Whether it’s brushing your teeth, drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning or a mid-afternoon sweet snack, your daily actions can contribute to your overall health and wellbeing. 

A habit can be broken down into three parts. First, there’s a cue or a trigger in your internal or external environment to take action. Next is the action which is followed by the reward. 

As much as these actions become habitual, there are always many choices available to you.  If all of your habits add up to create your lifestyle, it’s worth focusing on healthy habits that will help you to feel your best.

What are healthy habits?

Healthy habits are the actions you take every day, often without thinking about them, that improve your health.  You may have many daily habits that you don’t even consider because they are so much a part of your routine.  Some of these may help to improve your wellbeing, others might not.  Ultimately, your daily habits are a choice.  While it is not easy to change a less healthy habit, it is definitely possible. 

If you haven’t been feeling like the best possible version of yourself, you can change your behavior to choose actions that will make you feel better.  Start with small actions that get you closer to the habit you want to change. 

Healthy food habits:

It’s so easy to grab convenience food as we rush through our busy lives, without considering the impact this can have on our health.  Establishing healthy eating habits can give you more energy overall, as well as helping to make your exercises more effective. 

Carry a water bottle

Staying hydrated is important for your digestive health, your skin, and your fitness too.  If you carry a water bottle you’ll be reminded to drink regularly and you won’t be tempted to purchase a less healthy drink to satisfy your thirst.

Have healthy snacks on hand

When you’re exercising regularly, you may find that you get hungry more often.  Making sure you have a healthy snack like a handful of almonds or a piece of fruit to prevent you from heading for processed foods  It takes a small amount of planning to put healthy snacks at reach, but it’s totally worth it when you do get hungry.

Buy fruit and vegetables

It’s much easier to make a healthy choice when you have one in the fridge ready to go.  When you are at the supermarket, make a point of going to the fruit and vegetable section at every visit.  Even if you’ve just there to grab a few items, pick up a piece of fruit or a vegetable snack while you are there.  This means when you are hungry or preparing your next meal, you’ll have nutritious ingredients ready to include. 

Unable to prepare/have fresh produce available always?

Try Super Food Boost, Super Coffee or Easy Protein. You can find them on www.growyoungshop.com

Healthy sleep habits: 

Sleep is so essential for workout recovery but also for many other factors including your immunity, ability to concentrate and mental health.  You can create habits to improve the quality and amount of sleep you get each night.

Set an alarm to prepare for bed

It’s easy to get caught up finishing off tasks or watching a Netflix series and before you know it, it’s hours past the time you intended to get to bed.  Try making yourself accountable by setting an alarm to start preparing for bed.  This might sound counter-intuitive, but the time that you go to bed is just as important as the time that you want to get up.

Include exercise in your day

Getting exercise each day will help you to sleep better at night.  Exercise produces a range of hormones and endorphins that can improve your overall well-being, facilitating a better night of sleep. 

With Grow Young Fitness, you CAN do the workouts daily. (The rule of “one day on one day off” is something designed for heavy lifting.)

If you are having trouble sleeping, try relaxing with Grow Young Fitness Infused Zen an hour before bed time. You can find it on www.growyoungshop.com 

Healthy lifestyle habits:

Your thoughts shape your actions, so it’s also important to focus on how you can make healthy thinking part of your day. 

Practice discipline

While you won’t always feel motivated to do a workout or choose a healthy meal over a less healthy one.  You can use discipline to reinforce the choices that bring you closer to your larger goals.  Discipline isn’t willpower.  It involves setting up your choices in advance so that when motivation fails, the behaviors that you want to follow are automatic. 

Be grateful every day

Expressing gratitude can be an effective way to boost your mood and help you to maintain a positive mindset.  Practicing gratitude doesn’t take a lot of time or effort and it has been shown to positively affect relationships and overall wellbeing.

Start a mindfulness practice

A mindfulness practice can help to keep you grounded when life gets stressful.  There are lots of different ways that you can practice mindfulness and meditation, so try a few to see what suits you best. 

You can always turn to the Bonus Box of the Founders’ Club library to locate the Relaxations. :)

Maintain a positive mindset

It’s not always easy to stay positive when you experience a setback.  Treating setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow can help you to stay positive and bounce back faster. 

Healthy exercise habits:  

You don't have to put aside a lot of time to exercise.  A recent study found that moderate to vigorous exercise for just 30 minutes a day is one of the key habits that can improve your overall health and help to prevent lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.  Finding time for exercise when you lead a busy life can be challenging, but it’s worth it. Built it into your routine, and it will become second nature.

This 30 minutes is time for you to improve. Make it a priority.

Warm up and cool down

When you’re pressed for time, skipping your warm-up and cool down seems like a way to save time.  However, taking five minutes for your warm up and cool down is important to help reduce the risk of injury as well as ensure you body is ready for the workout ahead.  Your warm up prepares your neuro-muscular system for exercise, so it’s important not to skip it.  Cooling down is also important to return your body to its resting state gradually.  Your cool down helps to regulate blood flow as your heart rate slows and helps to prevent possible dizziness. 

Do not skip them in your workouts.

Just get started!  

No matter what health and fitness goals you set for yourself, there are healthy habits you will need to put in place to reach those goals.  To make a lifestyle change that sticks, you’ll need to make small, sustainable changes.  When you want to implement a new habit, connect it to a cue that already exists in your day, and make sure there is a reward that will help to reinforce that habit.

If you’ve decided to make a commitment to work towards a healthier lifestyle, you aren’t alone.  You can share your journey and find inspiration from other people with the same goals as you with the Grow Young Fitness community!