My 8 healthy lifestyle habits that you could follow too
Hey there!
Today I wanted to share some of my habits that are included in my lifestyle. Most of these habits have been in my life for many years, some of them I’ve added more recently or just trying to keep up with them lately more than before. So here are my 8 habits and recommendations for your healthier and better life!
🖤 Being active every day
Whether it’s exercising at the gym, going to a group training, going for a run or exercising at home. For me, it’s so necessary to be active. If I’m sitting all day, I get the feeling like I’m trapped or something. My body is craving for activity. Normally, I’m exercising 5 times a week. If I have a rest day, I still try to go for walks or do some other chores, where I can be active (cleaning for example).
My strength trainings at the gym are usually 1.5 hours (including warm up and cool down). Sometimes I go to a 45-55 minute group training or do some HIIT. You can check my workout posts on my Instagram. In spring and summer, I enjoy going for a run or do some bicycling. Overall, exercising or just being active is so important and once you make it your everyday habit, your body adapts and craves for it more and more.
My recommendation: if you’re just starting out, add some longer walks to your day. Try to get 10 000 steps per day! If you feel like you want to try exercising more, you can easily start at home by looking for some home workout routines. Later on, you could join a sports club or a gym or get a personal trainer!
🖤 Healthy eating every day
My menu consists of healthy and nutritious foods every day. I’ve “trained” my body to eat 4 times a day. I get my breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. I try to keep it balanced and get all my micronutrients and vitamins from the food I consume.
From time to time, I also insert my data into Myfitness Pal or use an app called Fitlap.It is to check, if my food portions are okay and if I get all the calories and micronutrients. I try not to drive myself crazy with it, because I used to be the obsessive kind, who had to track everything. Now I’ve learned that to have a healthy mindset you sometimes just have to let go a little and listen to your body more.
Also, I’m not trying to forget to drink water! I keep my bottle or my water glass near me at my desk in the office, on my nightstand and in my gym bag. I try to add some lemon or berries to make it more appealing to drink!
🖤 Sleep at least 7-8 hours every night
The fact is that normally a person needs about 7-9 hours of sleep. I’ve figured out that the best for me is if it stays between 7-8 hours. I’ve just learned that sometimes if I sleep a bit more than 8 hours, I’m already feeling a bit overslept. So, I always put an alarm for myself to get that 8 hours maximum. Even if I don’t have to wake up at a certain time the next day.
Everybody knows, that if you don’t get enough sleep, you’re not able to function as well as you should. Also, maybe you’ve felt, that if you sleep more than 9 hours, you feel more tired than before going to bed. Oversleeping isn’t good for your health either and it can cause concentration problems and even depression. Read more about that here.
🖤 Reading or learning something new every day
This is a habit which I basically rediscovered in the fall. I graduated from university in June and all my spare time since December 2017 until then had been going in writing my Master thesis. I didn’t have the time to learn or read other things that truly interested me. So, I promised myself, that every day I read a book, articles, blog posts or try to learn something new in other ways. This keeps my mind healthy and I can improve myself daily.
🖤 Using my time more wisely
This is also a thing I hadn’t thought about before. We all have these moments each day, where we could use our time more wisely. For example, if I’m running on a treadmill, instead of listening to music, I started listening to podcasts or watch educating Youtube videos. Same goes with taking a walk. Instead of scrolling on Instagram in the evening, I take a book or talk to my boyfriend about important stuff. That is also important, because looking at your phone screen is not healthy in the evening, because you might have trouble sleeping. Read more about it here.
Also, I used to be the kind of a person, who liked to take the weekends more casually – sleep late, watch TV shows, go shopping etc. Now, I’ve realised, that weekends are a great way to catch up on myself. To improve myself by learning, writing a blog post, doing a recipe video, reading a book or something else that is useful and for what I don’t have that much time in the middle of the week.
🖤 Less stressing and overthinking
This is a real struggle for me, but I’m improving. I’ve always been an overthinker. Consistently worrying about everything – the future, my skills, what others think of me, how I could be better etc. All this has been causing me a lot of stress. Previously it has led me to overtraining, overeating and not feeling the best in my own body. Last year has been a gamechanger for me. I wrote about it also in this 2018 highlight post.
I’ve managed to find a balance between my workouts and my eating, which has also helped me with my stress. I’m still struggling with my self-confidence. Right now I’m not in the point, where I want to be, but at least I know, I’m on the right way. I’ve had a lot of help from my boyfriend, who has boosted me with new energy and motivates me daily.
So, whenever I feel a bit down or start overthinking and stressing again, I try to think about the good things: what I like about myself, who is surrounding me, what good everyday has to offer and what great things I can still achieve. This really helps and keeps the “bad thoughts” away.
🖤 Spending quality time with your partner
Sometimes you could easily forget to have at least an hour a day for just talking to your partner. I think it’s crucial to share your everyday thoughts and feelings with your loved one and receive it back too. Also, once a week could be a date night and the two of you could do something fun and new. And not to forget about the little things like thanking your partner for being there for you.
🖤 Travel to expand your mind
For me, the best way to spend my vacation is travelling. Also, I love the planning of a trip, because it keeps you excited and you have something to look forward to. Some of you may think, how it’s related to healthy lifestyle? Well, it is.
Travelling keeps your mind healthy. You get to experience new things, meet new people, see new and interesting places and get out of your comfort zone. I think travelling is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. If you stay in the same place all the time, talk to the same people and do the same things daily, you’ll be missing out on all the amazing things the world has to offer.
In conclusion my recommendations for a healthier lifestyle are
Stay healthy by exercising & being active
Give your body healthy food & water
Get enough sleep & rest
Spend time with your loved ones
Travel & explore around
Improve yourself & use your time wisely
Stop overthinking & stressing
I hope this post was somehow useful to you! I want to know, what’s your healthy lifestyle habit that you would recommend? Let me know in the comments below.
Sincerely,
Melissa 🖤
