My Top Five Tips For Improving Your Health

It’s never too late to start taking charge of your own health whether it’s for your family, your kids or for yourself. So let me share with you my top five tips for improving your health and get you started on this journey.

Try NOT to make too many big changes all at once.

For example, you may have tried to do a massive overhaul on your diet, and at first you saw results. However did you reach a plateau after a short period of success and then give up.

You have got to change the way you do things.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results

Albert Einstein

Some of the tips I’m going to give you might seem obvious, however don’t underestimate the power of simplicity. There’s a difference between knowing something and doing it.

With the internet at your fingertips, it’s very easy to get overloaded with information. People know more but do less.

Here’s a Tip

You must think of this as a lifestyle change, so its got to be sustainable. Trust me, I have tried the all in approach, this approach leaves no room for mistakes. The trouble with this is, when you have a blip (and you will) you tend to be too hard on yourself and the guilt takes over.

Instead of focusing on getting back on track, you may get on a real downer on yourself for giving in to that slice of cake, or that extra hour in bed, and you end up forgetting how well you have done already, This can then cause you to throw in the towel and quit altogether.

So instead, every day is a new day. Whether you did good or not the day before, start from a clean slate in the morning and aim to do better.

Think This

Imagine, when you get a puncture in one tyre, is it logical to go and slash the rest of your 4 tyres? No, right! So next time when you have that cake when you shouldn’t have, just see it for what it is, one slice of cake, don’t let it spiral into something more. If you slept an hour longer than you wanted to, then honour it, your body thanks you for it.

Don’t be too strict on yourself. A change in lifestyle requires tweaks here and there. There will be times of trial and error.

It’s about finding out what works for you. We all have different tastes in food, and different daily routines, our work patterns may not be the same.

• Start being a detective of your own health.
• Start making smarter choices.
• Stop giving yourself a hard time, but don’t let that be excuse. It will require discipline, especially at the beginning.
• Honour the promises you make to yourself, eg. if you say you will not eat after 7pm, try your best to keep to it.
• However, be kind to yourself.

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So to get you started on a better “YOU”, here’s my five top tips for improving your health-

1. Drink more water

Aim to start drinking more water. Look at ways you can start adding it to your daily routine. Examples where you can do this –

• First thing in the morning
• 30 mins before you eat
• Carry a drinking bottle with you everywhere
• Have  bottle of water when you work out
• Carry a small bottle in your bag

Drinking more water is not only good for your body but also sometimes we mistaken our thirst signals for hunger as they are very similar. Next time you get that growl in your stomach, have a drink of water first instead of food, and see how you feel.

2. Fasting for at least 12 hours daily

If you have never tried fasting before, do not be alarmed. Fasting is not the same as starving yourself. Fasting is a choice, when starving is when there is a lack of food. That is not a problem for us, quite the contrary as there is an abundance of food and food choices.

Fasting allows our body time to rest, repair, rejuvenate and clean out the trash. If you are someone who constantly eats, your body will especially benefit from fasting, even if it’s for only 12 hours. Our bodies are made for times of feasting and famine, but with the abundance of food we are constantly feasting and our body can not perform the cleaning process.

So start by allowing your body this time to do it’s work. Our bodies are very clever in that it has a self cleaning system, however in order for it to work you must allow it time to do it’s thing. If it’s busy digesting food, it cannot perform it’s cleaning process. That’s when disease and all kinds of malfunctions begin to take over in your body.

You may even already fast for 12 hours. For example if you have dinner at 7pm in the evening and finish eating altogether at 8pm, and not eat till 8am the next morning, that’s 12 hours. However, remember to have nothing apart from water, green tea, black tea or black coffee for the real benefits.

Start with 12 hours and see if you can push it gradually an hour at a time, up to 14 or 16 hours. You can also vary it as well, which is known to be better for your body.

Read more in my article on fasting.

3. Eat your Greens

This one might seem obvious but I assure you I know many that usually give their greens a miss. If you don’t have these, you are missing out on vital nutrients. Greens are good in fibre and also can help to lower your glucose levels, and help aid weight loss. You can read more about this in a book called Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe.

If greens seem boring try dressing it up with some seasoning like sea salt and black pepper, or drizzle with some type of vinegar, or with a squeeze of lemon, or even all three. You have got to be willing to discover new tastes and experiment a little. No one else can do this for you.

If veggies or salads are not for you, try adding greens into a protein shake or a green smoothie. You can buy something called a greens powder and add to these instead and adjust to taste.

4. Exercise

Our bodies are designed to move. Lack of physical activity is a major cause of chronic diseases and decreases the number and quality years of life. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated, it’s best to keep it simple. What is something you can do consistently every day for this week? Something that gets you a little out of breath, and being on your feet all day at work does not constitute exercise. Schedule it into your daily routine. You can vary what you do every week. The key is to be consistent.

If you have never exercised before, here are a few examples to get you started:

• 10 or 15 minutes of brisk walking
• 10 to 15 Standing crunch each side
• 20 squats
• 10 or 15 step ups either side

Gradually increasing reps or intensity. As always, seek medical advice beforehand if you are under observation for any medical condition.

Exercise is not only good for the body but also good for the mind, improves mental wellbeing, focus and productivity. Also has anti-aging benefits and even improve longevity. So get moving!

5. Journaling

This has got to be my number one for improving health. I think all good health practices start in the mind. Your thoughts and feelings affects how your day pans out and can determine your performance in what you do. Journaling can reveal what’s going on.

I think journaling is like having a conversation with yourself. It enables you to highlight any pitfalls and only then can you look for solutions. It increases your awareness and helps you see what and why things are happening. I have been journaling for a couple of decades now, and it has taken different forms.

If you want to get started, try doing a daily morning or night time brain dump. Either will work, you can even go as far as doing both. When I brain dump I just write everything that is jamming my mind, this prevents overwhelm. Usually what is going on in my mind is not as bad as it seems, when it’s down on paper. I can then see what action needs to be taken.

Each day I write down a win, it can be anything, from managing to keep calm in a situation that normally would derail me, or something I had created. To move me forward I set 3 goal achieving activities, which gives me focus.

If you want to read more about journaling I have a blog post on it. Click here.

To Summarise

We all want to improve our health, but what is the reason why a lot of us don’t. The reason is not having a strong enough desire to. The truth is it takes a massive impact like a health scare or the death of a loved one to trigger people to take action on improving their health. However that seems illogical. Surely it’s better to take action now. Sooner is better than later.

The important thing is just to get started. There is no better time than now. No more excuses.

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once

Albert Einstein

So stop using time as an excuse. Let your health journey begin, start the car, get in gear, take off the handbrake and move forward. What are you waiting for! It’s up to you, it’s your responsibility!

Keep Living Agelessly

Kath xoxo

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