If I were to tell you that you could change your life by following four simple steps, what would you say?
It might sound like complete BS but the truth is, you have full control over your life and you have the power and skills necessary to make it become what you’ve always wanted it to be. A lot of the times, it is the state of our health and well-being that we want to change for the better, and that often prevent us from doing efficient work, chasing our dreams and conserve our energy to use it throughout the entire day.
Often enough, our mental health is directly affected by the state of our physical health and the choices we make there. My personal experiences around mental health have taught me that making healthier choices for my body will improve how my mind feels and works. After several months of implementing these positive choices, I thought I would share them with you.
A quick disclaimer before we start changing our lives: health is an openly debatable topic. What would be healthy for someone, would not necessarily pass as ‘healthy’ by someone else. People’s health situations are also widely different from each other, and what worked for me might not work for somebody else. Finally, I am not a health expert. The best I can do with this post is make it as inclusive as possible with the knowledge that I have, and vouch solely for the things that worked for me.
With that, this is how I’ve changed my life.
1) Get more sleep.
No, maybe that’s not the right way to say it. Get enough sleep. Get better-quality sleep. Get the sleep that you need. Sleep is something we’re all tempted to neglect at times, just because it’s so easy to carry on working until late in the night or watch another episode on Netflix. The more sleep you lose, the more tired you’ll become, and there is no such thing as catching up on sleep over the weekend: exhaustion will build up if you continue to lose sleep after that.
What you’re looking to do is find a sleep routine that works for you. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Try going to bed and waking up early, as well as going to bed and waking up late, but sleep for the same number of hours – which routine works better for you? The number of hours of sleep you need may vary based on your age, overall physical and mental health and sleep health. Take your time to find what works best for you and stick to that.
Improve your sleep by implementing little changes in your evening and morning routines. Research has shown that avoiding the blue light of digital screens one hour before bed greatly improves quality of sleep. Opening the window to let some cold air come in ten minutes before bed will help you rest better, and a good mattress is worth investing in. There are so many ways to do it, but what you look to do is a relaxing pastime right before bed. Try reading or drawing or anything else that makes you feel calm and happy. If possible, avoid pushing work until bedtime.
My experience: I have strongly believed that I was a night owl for years. I would go to bed as late as possible, and wake up already drained for school and whatever else I was supposed to do early the following morning. Starting last July, I woke up earlier and earlier and went to bed in time to get my compulsory eight hours of sleep. I am now waking up at five or six AM every morning, and I do a lot of stretching right after I wake up as it fills me up with energy for the day ahead. I enjoy bullet journaling before bed, and it is one of the only activities that put me into a calm and serene mindset. I now have more energy, my mind feels a lot sharper and I can be intellectually active for a longer time than before.
2) Get more exercise.
Exercise should be a core component of everybody’s lifestyle, yet it’s something that we tend to neglect a lot. From an evolutionary point of view, the human body is built to take a fair amount of physical strain and effort, and throughout history our ancestors have done daily physical work to ensure their survival. Times are a lot more different now, and most of us no longer have to hunt for food, travel on foot or make an active physical effort to protect our homes. In fact, a big proportion of the jobs that we work in right now or will work in the future do not require moving around.
Exercise can be one delicate topic, and different people might think they need different amounts of it to stay healthy. Again, it’s a journey of finding what works best for you. You could be attending the gym regularly, doing yoga in your living room or just opting for the stairs rather than taking the elevator: just make sure that you move around enough! Exercise is now more accessible than ever. If you cannot afford taking up a sport or buying a gym membership, there is still so much you can do outside or in the space of your own home, to improve your health.
Not only is exercise great for your body, health and physical resistance, but it also greatly improves the state of your mind. Sport is an amazing way of taking a break from the stress and challenges of your everyday life, it improves your self-discipline and greatly decreases your anxiety and improves your mood. If you like it enough, it might even become a hobby!
My experience: I was never a big fan of sport, and for several years of my life, I had to practise medical sport for my back problems – it was anything but fun for me! In the final two years of sixth form, I started going to the gym more and I also took up yoga during my first year of university. Now exercise is a big part of my life, and hardly any day goes by without me either going to the gym or doing yoga or going for a run. Whenever I exercise, I can stop thinking about all of the things that stress me out, and developing this positive habit has also strengthened my self-discipline.
3) Drink more water.
Dehydration is probably one of the health problems people nowadays face the most, and the awful thing about it is that we hardly ever realise that we don’t drink enough water. In fact, it is more than often that our persistent hunger, headaches and drowsiness and low mood are tied to our daily water consumption. Fizzy drinks, coffee, tea and alcohol don’t count! To check whether you do drink enough water, get yourself two bottles of 1L and check how much of them you are actually consuming throughout the day. You will be surprised by what you will find.
A good point to start at for drinking more water is not waiting to become thirsty. It is when you finally get thirsty that you’ve already been dehydrated for a while. Drink a little bit often, and track your water consumption to see where you’re at. Do it on paper or in a note on your phone, or use an app for that. Preferably find an app that also has a water reminder, which should make a notification pop on your phone every time you should drink a bit of water. Be aware of your water consumption for several days, until you realise when it’s time to drink by yourself.
My experience: water is now as important as it can get for me. I carry a 0.75L bottle with me wherever I go, and always fill it up before I go anywhere. I can always get a refill whenever I am on campus, and I am trying to never get thirsty to begin with. Whenever I get too bored with the taste to carry on drinking, I add lemon for a bit of flavour! I noticed improvements in my skin and level of energy after several weeks of developing this habit. Probably the easiest way to improve your health!
4) Tweak your diet.
This particular argument needs its very own disclaimer: I am not a dietician. I cannot tell you any secrets to dieting or healthy eating because this is as subjective of a topic of conversation as it can be. Just like with pretty much every aspect I discussed above, not one thing works for two different people. It is important that you read in your body and decide what are the healthiest alternatives for what you need. Consult an expert if you’re not sure where to start! It is better to ask for the help of a professional if you’re not sure you can find your way on your own.
All I can do is share my own personal experience with eating a healthy diet, which has taught me that eating more fruits and vegetables will do me no harm. I am not a fan of either – with veggies, I’d go as far as to say that I dislike them – but I do incorporate at least one serving of each in my daily diet. I am also trying to cut down on fatty and sugar-loaded foods, and opt for the healthiest alternatives to my favourite snacks I can find. Finally, I get overwhelming cravings fairly often, so I am trying to take control of that as much as possible. I am also all about balancing my meals throughout the day and making sure that I eat enough without over-indulging. Also, finding time for home-cooking meals! Which as a student, it’s so tempting not to do.
My experience: food is a fairly sensitive topic for me, but it’s also something that I am actively trying to improve about my life every day. Cooking my own meals and making an active effort to follow a healthy diet have sharpened my self-discipline and self-esteem, as I find nothing harder than looking up and replicating recipes, and doing that for myself so often feels almost like a gift I give to myself regularly. Controlling my cravings has also helped me over-indulging into unhealthy food whenever I am anxious or stressed. Overall, healthy food is offering me a sense of general well-being, which I would highly recommend to anyone!
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How many of these positive habits do YOU practice in your everyday life? Feel free to share in the comments section down below! I would love to carry the discussion on with you, and maybe even hear some of your tips on how to live a healthier life for a healthier mind!
Feedback on this post is also more than welcome! I would truly love to hear if you want to read more health-related posts in the future!
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