Healthy habits
Habits are the things that shape our lifestyle. They are the things we do everyday, or everyweek, that can directly impact our physical and mental health.
Good or bad, a habit is something that sticks, and is apart of our routines. All going well, you shouldn’t have to think too hard about whether or not to do something that is a habit.
Bad habits are hard to shake, and we see this in the form of smoking, poor spending decisions or staying up watching Netflix far too late every night.
Forming good habits is a key pillar to living a healthy life. If you can incorporate a few things you do every week that really benefit your wellbeing, then you will be on a good path to feeling your very best. Habits are incredibly powerful parts of our lives. Once we become more mindful of our habits and daily actions, we can make improvements where we see fit.
It doesn’t have to be all at once either, and often if we try completely change our lives in an instant it isn’t sustainable and we end up where we started.
Committing to sticking with a few healthy habits, and building on those is a great place to start. Here are a few ideas:
A balanced diet
Diet is a controversial topic as there are so many opinions from different experts on what is the optimal diet for everyone to follow. Whatever that looks like for you will be different to everyone else, but finding a good habit to form around food that works for you is a great start. It might be cooking your week-night dinners, having a meatless Monday each week, or drinking enough water throughout the day. The aim with whatever it is, should be to feel good after eating, and the food be a source of energy and fuel.
Movement
Any form of movement is a great habit to introduce into your life. Exercise is an amazing source of energy and endorphins, not to mention the mental clarity it gives as well. It can also be a really social and fun activity, when in the right environment. Whatever movement feels best for your body is the one that will stick as a good habit. Never force yourself to do something that doesn’t feel good, but try some different options and see what you love, and then commit to regularly doing that. Before long, it will become something you can really look forward to each week.
A mindful activity
Mindfulness has become more of a trendy word in recent years, but regular practice of mindful activities can have amazing effects on your wellbeing. So many of us spend our days just running from moment to moment and mindfulness allows us to slow right down and find some stillness in our days. While meditating isn’t for everyone, there are plenty of ways to practice mindfulness in the form of activities or hobbies. The key is to be fully focused on the task at hand, and not let all the usual distractions in. Examples of this might be drawing, painting, knitting, cooking, or forms of exercise too.
Less screen time
Good habits around screen time can be really beneficial, especially to our mental health. Too much time mindlessly scrolling is worrying for a few reasons. It can increase feelings of anxiety as well as negative feelings of self-worth due to the constant comparison and unrealistic, ‘highlight reel’ content. Having boundaries in place over screen time is a great way to develop better habits with the time you spend on your phone. Suggestions could be not going on social media first thing in the morning, or late at night. Not scrolling when eating meals, out with friends or when exercising. Iphones also have handy settings to control time limits on certain apps, as well as a downtime setting that schedules time where certain apps are unavailable.
Get out of your comfort zone
When we are in our comfort zone, our brains don’t want anything to change. With your needs being met, there is not much to stress about and your brain recognizes that the body is surviving. It’s a recipe for steady performance. Change and discomfort require so much more energy and increased feelings of stress, so no wonder we prefer to coast by in our comfort zone wherever possible. However, getting out of your comfort zone from time to time can create just enough good stress to ramp up your focus, creativity, pace, and drive, and it helps you respond to life stress when unexpected things happen. It will push you and challenge you, which is when we grow the most.