As the weeks, months and years stroll by it is easy and normal to get more health niggles and just accept them as part of getting older. Aches and pain, increased inflammation, poor sleep, increased weight and low energy are some of the common decreased health signals that we let creep in, settle in and then quietly accept.
Quite simply we don't have to accept any of these health issues.
The only reason they are associated with the ageing process is because the long term affects of a 21st Century diet and lifestyle means that for most people we slowly descend into poorer health without even noticing...to begin with.
And then one day you 'wake up' after another disrupted night's sleep, the day unfolds with caffeine to keep you going, the inevitable sugar craving at 3pm, takeaway food for dinner as you do not have the energy to cook and then a night in front of the TV with perhaps another sugar craving around 9pm and then you tip into bed at 10.30, wide awake and unable to sleep.
I am a yoga teacher and Reiki healer - so by no means a specialist in the intricacies of the human body. However, I have done really well at improving my health one small step at a time.
What can you do, right NOW, to improve your health?
Here are ten suggestions to get you started.
Limit caffeine consumption to the morning only! If you drink a lot of caffeine start by cutting out one cup a day for a week and then reduce further the second week and so on.
Eat you dinner at a regular time and make it early. Between 5 and 6pm is ideal. This means that your dinner is digested before you go to bed.
Reduce the window of time that you eat. This is not fasting! You choose to eat between 8am and 8pm. If this works for a couple of weeks, reduce it further to 8am to 7pm. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that giving your body a break from food helps regulate insulin levels.
Go to bed at the same time every night - preferably by 10pm! After 10pm you get a second wind and start to wake up again.
Choose 1 meal a day to eliminate carbs. That's right, no bread, no rice, no root vegetables.
Go for a walk after your lunch or dinner. If you move your body straight after eating, your muscles use the sugar in the food meaning that your liver does not have to work so hard.
Take a magnesium supplement. Your muscles and central nervous system will love you.
Take a vitamin D supplement. This one is worth researching. If you are indoors a lot, it is very hard to get enough vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D is essential for increased immunity.
Limit alcohol. If you drink a lot, reduce the number of nights you drink to begin with and then add another day after a week until you only drink at weekends. Then limit the amount you drink in one session.
Go to a yoga class!
The secret is to pick one thing at a time and make it stick and then add another.
I personally do all of the above. I drink my coffee in the morning, I go to bed at 10pm and am often in the bath by 9.30pm to begin the wind down period. I eat my dinner early and my breakfast late. I do not consume fast carbs or sugar. I walk the dog, take my vitamins, drink plenty of green tea and maybe one gin and soda water at the weekend.
It this boring? Yes and no. The pay off is that I sleep well, I have fewer migraines and definitely less inflammation in my joints. I do experience sugar highs and lows and I cannot remember the last time I was ill. Fingers crossed, I have remained Covid-19 free.
If you have any questions about any of the above or require even more ideas on how to improve your health one step at a time, send me a message.
Lisa