Defining a healthy you is a bit difficult in today’s society. All day we see what others define as healthy. But the real question is, “what makes you feel healthy?” And how you define health in your life.
Health doesn’t always mean fitting into a size 2, eating salads, spending several hours a day at the gym, or following the latest fad diet.
Instead, it could be about your mindset, practicing mindfulness, providing yourself with self-care, and so much more.
The only person that can really assess what it means to be healthy is you. Here are some habits that are easy to incorporate into your life to start defining your own healthy you. Maybe they all don’t resonate, so pick what does and build from there.
Cheers to your healthy you! Define yourself and live life on purpose!
Practicing Mindfulness
This is a great place to start when trying to understand what you want in your life and any changes you need to make. Mindfulness is all about you being aware of who you are, how things make you feel, and taking note of your surroundings and environment.
It’s about being in the present. Being in the present helps you understand your past and direct yourself to your future. When you are aware of the current moment you start to understand what makes you happy, what makes you feel good, and maybe those things that you want to adjust to find what you desire.
The more aware you are the more likely you’ll take control of yourself and your surroundings to ensure you’re happy.
Implementing Routines for a Healthy You
It is so easy to put things off. The more you include into a routine that you do every day the more likely you are to stick to it. Consider what you need to do in a day, especially the things you don’t love to do. Then add them to a routine.
Now, in that routine add a few things you love to do. Reward yourself with these additions to your routine and soon you’ll just love your routine.
Check out these articles on creating a morning routine, a sample morning routine, and an evening routine. They are great places to start when implementing routines.
Routines will contribute to a healthy you.
Eating Healthy
This is a big one, and if you’re not already eating healthy, now is a good time to start. There is no need to start with a crazy fad diet. It’s hard to completely change your diet and often not maintainable when you do.
Start slow and continue to build healthy habits over time. Maybe you start by reducing junk food, or making a healthy breakfast instead of stopping for a donut in the morning on your way to work. Or you just cut out sugary drinks for a few weeks before continuing to build from there.
The more you feed your body what it needs– healthy, whole foods, the more you will appreciate them and want to continue incorporating them into your day. It’s a huge adjustment, but absolutely doable. And you’ll start to feel the difference in your body and mind. That difference will be enough to encourage you to continue.
Be Social
Make time to enjoy life with friends and family. Get-togethers filled with laughter are good for the soul.
The more you connect and engage with others the better it is for you. It’s good for your mental health and gives you a feeling of belonging and security. Especially when you have someone that you can confide in.
Maybe you can share your journey on a healthy you. If you talk about it and your progress you’ll build even more confidence with the changes you’re implementing and want to continue making and seeing progress.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is such an important part of our life. If you sleep eight hours a night you are literally sleeping for a third of your life.
Prioritize sleep so you are both physically and mentally rested. Create an environment that you are comfortable in. That may mean hanging black-out curtains, getting a new pillow, or rotating your mattress.
Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. The best way to do this is to figure out how much time your body needs to sleep a night and then ensure you are in bed early enough to get that amount of sleep.
To do this, you will want to note what time you fall asleep and then what time you wake up without an alarm being set for several nights in a row. You should consistently be waking up after sleeping roughly the same amount of hours each night.
The key to this is to not keep dozing in and out in the morning. Identify when you wake up and know you’re rested. For some, this may be seven hours a night and for others, it may be 9 hours a night.
Once you know how much sleep you need set a regular bed and wakeup time and try to be as consistent as possible with it each night.
Check out our article if you’re looking for sleep solutions to improve your sleep health.
Make Time for Self Care
In order for us to be our best selves we have to take care of ourselves. And that means we need to take time for self-care. Many of the listed above items are considered self-care, the point here is that you make time for it.
Self-care allows you to give yourself, body and mind, what it needs. Whether it’s time for yourself to sit in quiet, or for you to improve a specific aspect of your life, self-care can comprise so many things.
Think about what it means for you and promise yourself to prioritize your own self-care. Your version of a healthy you will certainly appreciate it.
How else do you focus on a healthy you?
Tell us in the comments below!
