Health Tips

Health Tips

5 HEALTH TIPS YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK

TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

Thinking about improving our health can be a daunting process.  How do we do it? When do we start? Will it cost more money? Do we have to change everything we are currently doing?!

Even the smallest changes can make a big difference.  Introducing small habits that don’t cost money can make a long-lasting positive effect on our health.  Here are 5 cost-effective health tips to improve your health this week.

DRINK MORE WATER

Do you ever get to the end of the day and realise you haven’t had any water?  Do you then try to drink your recommended 1.5-2L of water for the day in one go?  It is best to drink water throughout your day.  Enough water impacts on our ability to detox, keeps us regular and helps our kidneys do their job.  Try starting your day with a big glass of water.  Make it a warm glass of water if you find it difficult to drink in the morning or squeeze in some lemon.  Carry a water bottle in your car or sit one on your desk.  Phone apps are also a great way to get you into a new water drinking habit.  Some of them set off an alarm every hour to remind you to drink your water.  Some examples of free phone apps are: ‘Daily Water’, ‘Hydro Coach’ and ‘Gulp’.

TAKE THE STAIRS

In winter time many of us tend to steer away from exercise and we slow down, opting to stay indoors.  So we need to find other ways of getting some extra movement into our day. Our bodies are designed to move and the benefits of exercise and movement have been well documented.  If you take the elevator to your floor, try to take the stairs.  Even try to walk up one level via the stairs and the rest of the way using the lift or escalator.  If you sit at a desk for the majority of your day, take a short walk on your tea or lunch break.  If you take public transport to work, try getting off a stop earlier to get a short walk in before or after work or if you drive, park a little further away from your destination.

KEEP A FOOD DIARY

If your goal is to lose weight or just improve your eating habits, filling out a food diary for a week can be a great exercise.  In a food diary you fill out everything you eat and drink.  If you have symptoms such as bloating or indigestion you can also fill that into your diary to try and establish a pattern.  A food diary can be useful as it can show if you are snacking on that sneaky chocolate too much or if you are perhaps eating too much bread or eating too late.  There are plenty of free downloadable food diary PDFs online.

MEAL PLAN YOUR WEEK

Meal planning is a great way to stay on track!  It does take some time to organise and figure out what you will be eating for the week, but it saves you time in the long run. Meal planning also is a great money saving strategy.  As your food is ready for you at home, take-away doesn’t need to be an option.  You also only buy the food you need for those meals for that week, thus reducing over-buying and food wastage.  Like with food diaries, there are plenty of free downloadable meal-planners online.

GO TO SLEEP EARLIER

Sleep and allowing our body to rest is essential for our health.  Even better it doesn’t cost a thing!  Whilst we sleep our body detoxes, makes hormones and regenerates.  The recommended sleep time is 7-8 hours per night.  We all know how it feels to not get a good night’s sleep.  We wake up groggy and we are more likely to make poor food choices for the day (think sugar and caffeine).  Aim to create healthy sleep habits to ensure a restful, regenerating sleep.  Read our previous blog on Insomnia to get some extra tips on how to get to sleep and to maintain sleep throughout the night.

 

For more helpful heath tips or for a more in depth health analysis, make an appointment online with our Naturopath, Magda today!

Call (03) 9570 3388