Are you planning on introducing healthy habits into your daily routine? Whether you’re looking to improve your physical health or are more focused on your mental wellbeing, swapping to healthier alternatives can be beneficial both physically and mentally.
You know yourself best, so think about which areas of your life you want to change and improve before deciding what new habits to incorporate into your routine.
It is also useful to note that building a habit takes time and changes don’t happen overnight, but making a conscious effort to try something new is the best first step you can take.
Movement
Regular, intentional movement can do wonders for both your physical and mental health. Exercise can be very intimidating, especially if you didn’t grow up doing sport.
The key to maintaining regular movement is to find something that you genuinely enjoy. If you hate burpees and squats, then it is unlikely that you’re going to be consistent with HIIT workouts. Any form of movement is good for you so take some time trying out different things to see what you like. Whether it’s a 20-minute walk around the block, listening to your favourite podcast or a 45-minute workout class at the gym, movement that you enjoy and look forward to is the best kind.
Prioritising sleep
Getting enough high-quality sleep has a direct impact on the way your whole body functions. With a busy lifestyle it can be hard to prioritise your sleep and you may find yourself up late looking at a screen until right before you try to fall asleep.
Put together a healthy evening routine for yourself that will help you wind down and fall asleep more easily. This could consist of relaxing with a book rather than your phone, taking a warm shower, creating a to-do list for the following day, and enjoying a caffeine-free drink such as camomile tea.
Water consumption
Keeping yourself hydrated is essential for good health, from impacting your mood to preventing constipation the benefits are endless.
Setting yourself the goal of drinking a minimum of 2 litres of water a day is a good place to start. If this is something that you typically struggle with, invest in a large, insulated water bottle and make sure to pre-fill it in the evening ready to start drinking as soon as you wake up the next day.
Increasing your water intake will typically require some trial and error so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it right straight away.
Meal planning
We can all be guilty of doing a last-minute dash into the supermarket after work. While doing this on the odd occasion can’t be avoided, doing it regularly may mean that you end up eating meals that lack nutrition while spending more money than necessary.
Meal planning is a great way to save time and money and gives you the perfect chance to try new recipes. Pick some dishes you’d like to taste and create a comprehensive list of everything you are going to need. If you want to save yourself even more time, you could opt for batch-cooking-recipes.
Offline time
Now more than ever, lots of us are spending an increased amount of time online. Whether your work requires you to be on a computer for most of the day, or you find yourself endlessly scrolling on Tik Tok every evening, you could likely benefit from spending some time offline.
It can be overwhelming to digest so much information constantly so having some time offline is a good way to help reset your mind and improve your focus. Try to have a digital detox day or even just a couple of hours screen-free occasionally.
