In this article, we write a few simple and easy habits that have changed my life, and I hope that they can change your life too. Today we're writing about the Top 5 Best Habits to Change Your Life. Habits that don't take a lot of effort to start. Because I think those are the best habits to begin with. Habits can be hard to maintain, and when they're simpler and easier, you're more likely to do them. So let's get into it.
5 Habits to Change Your Life:
1- Taking More Movement Breaks
The first tip I wanted to talk about today is taking more movement breaks, not just exercise. So we all know that exercise is great and many of us aim to exercise between 30 minutes to an hour every day. And while that is good to get that activity, if you're just exercising for that portion of the day and you're not moving that much the rest of the day, you're not getting enough movement. And I've found that the days when I go for a walk, and even if it's a longer walk, I sit the entire day for the rest of the day. I don't feel great. So what's important is to get movement breaks throughout the day. Exercise is great, but you also need that additional movement just to, you know, move your body, and get the circulation going. On average an office worker sits about 10 to 15 hours a day, and that's a lot of sitting. So even if you get that workout in the morning before you go to the office if you're sitting for the rest of the day, that sitting is not doing your body any good. The problem with so much sitting is that it raises your risk of certain diseases such as heart disease, and stroke. I'm going to leave a few links in the description in case you're interested in understanding more about the science behind what sitting can do. But needless to say, it's not a great thing to be sitting for so long. So what can you do that's simple and easy, and allows you to get that movement throughout the day? So what I find helps me the most is putting on a pair of comfortable shoes that I can wear throughout the day, because if I don't have comfortable shoes, or if I'm at home and I'm in my slippers, I won't be able to walk around too much. So I put on a pair of comfortable shoes, and then I make sure that every hour I'm taking a break, go to the kitchen, grab some water, get some movement, get a few steps. I wear a Fitbit. You don't have to, but the Fitbit reminds me every hour to take 250 steps and it's not a lot. 250 steps per hour is not a lot, it's doable. But sometimes you just need that reminder. So if you don't have a Fitbit, maybe put a reminder on your phone that reminds you every hour to get a little bit of movement. And I find that the days I get enough movement every hour, now mind you, it doesn't happen every single hour. I would say it happens every hour to two hours, it helps. But if I don't get that movement and I'm sitting for multiple hours, I don't feel my best. So I think that it can make a big difference to move around every hour or so, or as much as you can if you're starting. Start with every couple of hours and then bring it to every hour.
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2- Brain Dump Before Bed
Moving on to tip number two, which is to do a brain dump before bed. And this is for people like me who have a hard time falling asleep. If you're someone who hits the bed and you're out in 10 minutes, this is not for you. But if you're someone who keeps thinking, you're thinking about your day, you're thinking about your to-do list. If you're just thinking about things, this is the tip for you. Before bed, I like to jot down a few items that I want to do or things that are on my mind. And once I have written everything down on paper, then at least I feel like I don't have to store it in my brain and I can give my mind some rest. And let me tell you, this works. The days I do this, the days I make that list before bed, it's so much easier to fall asleep. If I don't do this, then it takes me far too long to fall asleep. So if you are having some trouble falling asleep, try this out. Make a quick list. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Just make a quick list of all the things that you're thinking about. Just get it down on paper.
3- Make A New Dish
Tip number three is to make a new dish every week or every month. So when it comes to healthy eating, I think one of the best ways to stick to it, is to make things that you enjoy and change up the routine from time to time. I have gotten into a rut so many times where I start making the same things every single week and it kind of gets boring, and then I no longer want to make those things, and then I start to bring back some of my unhealthy eating habits. That's what I found in my experience. So the best thing that I have found is to try to make something new every week. It can be something from a cookbook, something from a blog that you've read, anything really - just trying out a new recipe. It's a creative process, which is great for your brain, and it just brings that joy back to cooking. Because you're trying new things, you're getting more variety, you're getting more variety in terms of ingredients as well. So I think it's a great habit. And lately, I've been trying to cook with different ingredients. Ingredients that I wouldn't normally cook with. For example, cabbage is something that I don't generally cook with. And a couple of weeks ago I got a whole head of cabbage and I was like, okay, I'm going to make a lot of different things with this. And that week I learned quite a few different recipes. So my suggestion to you is if you do feel that you're getting into a rut, make it a point to try something new every week or every month if every week is too difficult. And try new ingredients. Bring in ingredients that you wouldn't typically use, and who knows, you might find a new favorite.
4- Embrace Your Inner Creativity
Tip number four is to embrace your inner creativity, regularly. So if you ever look at kids, they're creative. They love to paint, draw, sing, dance, all of that stuff. And it brings them so much joy. And what I've noticed is as we grow older, we tend to forget about all of those little things that gave us joy. We don't make time to get in touch with our creative spirit. The vast majority of us do have a creative side, but we don't make the time for it. So my suggestion is to try to make it a habit. It doesn't have to be something you spend lots and lots of time on, especially if you don't have enough time. Maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes a week on a creative habit that you used to love. I got back into painting a couple of years ago. I found that painting traditionally was never going to work for me because it was just so difficult to lay out all my paints on my table, and I have two cats, so it's really hard to do any painting around them without them getting into the paint. So I started painting digitally on an iPad, and I found that to be such a game changer. I always wanted to do art as a regular hobby. I never got time to do that, but I got an iPad and now it's so much easier to paint. So find a habit or reacquaint yourself with an old creative habit and find ways to make it more convenient so that you can bring that habit back to your life and get some joy from it.
5- Stay Hydrated
Habit number five is to stay hydrated, but not just with water. Water is a bit boring - it's really hard to drink water all day, and it's not an exciting habit. So, here's the deal. You don't have to just get your hydration from water. You can get it from other things too. So the first thing you could do is just to have other beverages. I love to have herbal tea. I also love to have black tea. I have the decaffeinated ones, but I will drink my fluid intake in different ways, so it's not just water. I also like to have some lemon water, but if you're not interested in drinking so many fluids throughout the day, you can also get your hydration from food. And this is something that a lot of us forget about, that the water in your food also counts. So you can start to increase your intake of water-rich fruits and veggies. For example, something like cucumber or watermelon, those are high in water and they can count towards your hydration levels. So try to eat more foods like that. For example, if you're having a snack in the afternoon, it could be something like cucumber and carrots with some hummus, and that way you're getting some water intake too. The other thing that you could do as well is have soups. I think it's far more fun to drink soup and far more interesting, than to have a glass of water. And if you are struggling to hydrate, this is a great thing that you could do before a meal. Have a little bit of soup while you're cooking dinner. That's a great way to get your water intake up. So make it fun and make it something more sustainable. Putting down a habit on your list - "drink more water", is just really not that fun. So make it fun by trying out different things. You can also try out different natural flavored waters. For example, you could make a spa water. There are plenty of recipes, put cucumber slices, some ginger, or something like lemon in your water. Whatever makes your water more exciting for you so that you're going to drink more of it. Just do that. When it comes to lasting habits, you have to make them exciting. You have to make them fun. Something that you want to do. That's all for today. If you enjoyed this Top 5 Best Habits to Change Your Life article please drop a comment and follow us for more helpful news.
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