Gratitude to Movement: Simple Steps for a Healthy Life
If you’re looking to make positive changes in your health and wellness routine, you’re in the right place. I’ve put together a list of my top 10 game-changers that can have a profound impact on your overall well-being. These insights are my gift to you, offering practical and effective ways to enhance your health at any time of the year. Let’s dive in!
Gratitude
Experience Life has a long article all about Gratitude. The article clarifies that to receive the positive health benefits of gratitude, the gratitude has to come from the heart. So you can’t fake it. You gotta dig deep and get to it.
Rest
This is the prescription I write most often and is most often the hardest for women to do. It is an exquisitely simple remedy and so blessedly challenging. No supplement in the world that will afford the same health benefits as rest.
Probiotics
If you are only going to take one supplement in your life, let it be a probiotic. Probiotics reinforce the offensive line of your immune system. Yes, kefir, yogurt, and fermented foods are good. However, it is difficult to get enough probiotics from food to meet the demands of modern living.
Vegetables
The health benefits of eating lots of vegetables are extensive and irrefutable. Find a way to like them or at least get them in. Put spinach or kale in a smoothie. Take a greens supplement if you have to. Vegetables provide fiber and bulk to the diet, they promote healthy hormone metabolism, and they reduce the incidence of heart disease. Thanks to my Mom for the gift of Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy. Her recipes keep the vegetables interesting and tasty at my house. Another favorite veggie-centric cookbook of mine is Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Josh McFadden and Martha Holmberg.
Eat A Variety of Foods
I see lots of women who say “I have a bowl of oatmeal every morning.” This isn’t ideal for two reasons: One, a protein-centric breakfast is preferred over a carbohydrate-rich breakfast. Two, eating the same thing every day decreases your overall exposure to a variety of nutrients. No one food has all the nutrients you need. To get a variety of nutrients, you want to eat a variety of foods.
Check out my free guide on what to eat so you never have to diet again. Download it here.
Focus On Protein Intake
Protein is necessary to maintain and build muscle and as Gabrielle Lyon, MD says, “muscle is the organ of longevity.” Focusing on dietary protein can reverse insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, improve body composition, and help to balance hormones, for a start. Aim for approximately 30 grams per meal if you eat three meals a day, and more if you are strength training.
Chia Seeds
I love these little things and what they do! How they thicken liquids is heavenly! Kombucha with chia, smoothies with chia, mango chia pudding…They embellish breakfast and dessert, increase fiber, are a good plant-based source of protein, and are high in omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants. For more information, read this.
Movement
I am intentionally not using the word exercise because some women stop listening as soon as they hear it. But here’s what some research shows: You don’t have to change your clothes. You don’t have to have a gym membership. You do, however, HAVE to move. Dr. James Levine (no, he’s not a relative) from the Mayo Clinic conducted a study that showed a 15-minute walk after the 3 major meals in a day drastically decreases the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The work he’s done to pioneer moving classrooms to counter childhood obesity is revolutionary. Strength training for perimenopausal and menopausal women is crucial. The health benefits of strength training pick up where estrogen leaves off. So move it or lose it, preferably in a way that brings you joy. If movement flat isn’t joyful for you, then think of it as the medicine it is. Looking for more info? I recommend Roar if you are a menstruating women and Next Level if you are perimenopausal or menopausal, both by Stacey Sims, PhD.
Mental Discipline
Call it what you will – prayer, meditation, visualization. Whatever it is, when you practice a mental discipline you ground yourself spiritually, you practice the act of being present, and you focus on the positive. Positive thinking is a factor in having healthy cells. If you are looking for the research that supports this, read Candace Perts’ Molecules Of Emotion.
Spend Time Outside
Get out of your chair or off your couch. Breathe fresh air. Move a little. Or a lot. Get some vitamin D. Look at the stars. Feel the weather. Connect with what is happening in the season. Need inspiration? Check out the Nature of Wellness Podcast.
I hope you find this guidance helpful in your journey toward better health and wellness. These changes can be game-changers, all without having to see a practitioner or take a prescription.