1. Stand up and walk
For those with jobs that require a lot of sitting in front of a screen for long periods of time, it’s important you get up and move around. According to the NHS, there’s increasing evidence that sitting down too much can be a risk to our health. To keep healthy, as well as 150 minutes of exercise per week, it’s advised we reduce our sitting time too. Some simple ways to sit down less are: standing on public transport, walking up stairs/escalators, swapping your work chair for a standing desk, taking a quick walking break every hour, standing up and walking around whilst you’re on the phone or swapping evening TV time for more active tasks or hobbies.
2. Prioritise your sleep routine
Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life and yet it’s often overlooked when it comes to our health. Prioritise your sleep by creating an evening wind-down routine. This could be committing to not looking at your phone for an hour before bed, avoiding alcohol and caffeine to improve sleep quality or going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. The optimal number of hours we should aim for is somewhere between 7-9, so if you need to set your alarm for 7am, try going to bed around 10-11pm for a week and see how it makes you feel.
3. Manage your stress
Breathing comes naturally to most of us but did you know that we can improve our health by improving our breathing? How? Breathing exercises can help you relax; in fact, deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body because it sends a message to your brain to calm down. Try some breathing or meditation exercises when you wake up in the morning, before or after a meeting and work or just before you settle down for some shuteye.
4. Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated can help physical performance, energy levels and brain function, hangovers and even aid weight loss. Our bodies can supposedly survive weeks without food, but only days without water, which makes sense when you realise our bodies are 60% made of water - being dehydrated can be detrimental to both physical and mental health. Whilst there is little evidence to suggest the optimal amount, health experts commonly recommend around 8 glasses per day so that’s a good number to aim for.
5. Cut back on alcohol
Over time, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to an array of chronic health issues. The recommended weekly limit of 14 units is equivalent to 6 pints of beer or 10 small glasses of wine and according to the NHS, it’s now thought that the evidence on a protective effect from moderate drinking is less strong than previously thought. Alcohol alternatives such as CBD drinks could be a great option for those looking to cut down on booze.
6. Eat the rainbow
Plants play a hugely important role when it comes to our health as they provide us with essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water. The Western diet is lacking in fibre, important for digestion, reducing blood pressure and inflammation, and ensuring you’re getting plenty of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds amounting to at least 30g fibre per day is vital for our gut health and overall health. And it’s the diversity of the plants, rather than the quantity of the same plants, that makes the biggest impact.
7. Try CBD
If you’ve been hearing about the potential benefits of CBD recently, it’s for a good reason. More and more people are beginning to recognise the power of the plant and adding CBD to their daily routine. Try it for yourself and see how you feel. If it’s your first time, we recommend Discover CBD - My First TRIP which includes our CBD drinks and CBD oils, made in the UK and third party lab tested to ensure the highest quality and purity.
8. Take Vitamin D
Sunshine has many health benefits but the question is, are you getting enough? In the UK, our climate means we don’t, and so taking a vitamin D supplement throughout the winter months, from October to March is vital. Sunshine allows our body to synthesise vitamin D, involved in regulating calcium and phosphate in the body, needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy.
The good news is, you don’t have to change everything at the same time. In fact, the trick to a healthy living is making small changes - taking more steps each day, adding fruit to your cereal, and having an extra glass of water at lunch. Remember, no-one is perfect and it’s completely normal to have days where you lose motivation but each day is a new day and living a healthy lifestyle it’s much more about long-term sustainable changes than quick wins.
