Today I’m sharing with you 3 easy everyday health habits to help decrease fatigue, balance blood sugar, regulate hormone health, optimize thyroid function, and promote metabolic health (yes, these three things can help with ALL of it!)
Reaching your health and fitness goals doesn’t have to be intimidating. It’s easy to look at social media and think you have to do all the things to get to where you want to be. The BEST thing you can do is small, actionable changes that are sustainable over time. And once you get one habit in, stacking another on top is them much more doable and attainable.
So where do you start?
Here are 3 easy every day habits to start NOW that will benefit your long term health, regardless of what your goals are.
1.Drink a glass of water with minerals in it before you drink your morning coffee.
Even if you don’t drink coffee, you want a glass of water with minerals first thing in the morning to start your day. This also makes an excellent pre-workout for anyone who likes to workout first thing in the morning, and is my go-to choice over specialty pre-workout mixes.
Drinking coffee first thing in the morning keeps our morning cortisol levels high. Especially when we drink it before breakfast or instead of breakfast. And usually if we’re drinking coffee in the morning, we’re then NOT drinking water and can easily end up dehydrated. Starting your day with water first helps set the day off with what our bodies need for the day. And since minerals are the “spark plugs” that kick off every reaction in our body, drinking minerals first thing helps to set our bodies up to function at their best.
What minerals should you be adding to your water? Focus on electrolytes – sodium, potassium, and magnesium – along with whole food vitamin C to help our bodies absorb and use them. An adrenal cocktail is an excellent option, as well as numerous electrolyte mixes (just avoid any with ascorbic acid). An easy starting point is coconut water, Redmond’s real salt or Celtic sea salt, and citrus juice (orange, lemon, lime). Don’t worry about measuring, mix up what tastes good to you!
2. Take a walk every day.
Walking is the most underrated form of activity. It helps to mitigate stress, reduce cortisol, improve mood and cognition, regulate blood sugar, support metabolism, and increase TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Getting outside in the morning also helps set our circadian rhythm for the day, so swapping that high intensity workout for a morning walk can be a great choice.
Ideally, we want to be moving throughout the day. If you have a sedentary job, try to find ways to get up and move every hour, even for just five minutes. It can be easy to get caught up in step counts or step goals, but regardless of how much you move overall each day, you want to be moving throughout your day in some capacity.
Even just 10 minutes of walking a day has major benefits. And bonus if you can get that in first thing in the morning to also get some morning sunlight, your body will thank you come bedtime.
3. Set an alarm to put screens down 1 hour before bed.
So many of my clients struggle with sleep. Whether it’s because they are just too wound up from the day, or the don’t have a consistent bedtime, or they aren’t eating enough during the day, sending those 3 am low blood sugar signals, sleep is always something we work on.
One of the easiest ways to help wind down for the night and get your body and brain primed for a restful and restorative night of sleep is to put down the phone. Turn off the TV. Close the laptop. Dim the lights, turn down the temperature, and build a calming bedtime routine. So many of us don’t realize how late we are staying up, or we’re watching tv to wind down, or we just have to send those last work emails. Setting an alarm to remind you to put everything away for the night can help build that needed routine to prioritize rest. And since ideally we’re also going to bed and getting up for the day at the same time every single day (even weekends), setting an alarm can help establish that set bed time we need to ensure we’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
Interested in all of my top habits for optimal health? Download my Habits for Optimal Health checklist here.
