As personal trainer and health coach, surveying how lifestyle choices play out, I give you NEWSTART: tips and a checklist to inventory your health habits. If any vital tool is compromised, you will duly compromise your vitality, accelerate aging and experience an obvious or mysterious sink-hole of havoc.
Nutrition
Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, supper like a pauper. Not hungry for breakfast? Eat lighter at night, enabling you (and your gut) to sleep deeply and wake with anticipation to “break” your nightly "fast".
Stressed, tired, ill? Skip supper and go to bed early. You need sleep at night, not food.
Struggle with gut issues? Not snacking between meals aids digestion.
Exercise
Just Get Up! "Sitting Disease" is now a thing, as most of us sit 13 hours a day. To lose 10 pounds in a year, stand instead of sit for 2 hours a day (5 days a week). 30 minutes of movement is a must. See my blog, "How to Give Your Heart a Beach Body".
Each hour of jogging adds 7 hours to your life, other activities add years as well...Do the math!
Water
Drink water between meals, not with them. Water with meals dilutes digestive enzymes, slowing digestion. Stop a half hour before. Wait an hour after.
Encourage regular BMs by drinking 2 cups of warm water first thing each morning.
Rev up like a Red Bull rock-star, without caffeine - Finish showers with an exhilarating stream of cold water to neck, chest, armpits, and groin. This one-minute hydrotherapy fix supercharges your immune system.
Sunshine
Sunlight purifies. Let it in. From treating jaundice to S.A.D., we are drawn toward its healing properties. Take a 10 minute "sunbath" to face and arms daily.
Temperance
Overindulgence depletes us. Use moderation of what is good. Avoid what is harmful. What’s your vice? Something obvious like tobacco, alcohol, gambling, food? Or, a more discreet sink-hole such as Facebook, QVC, gaming or porn? Overkill on "good things" consumes us none-the-less, e.g., workaholics, exercise addicts, disordered eaters, and sun worshippers.
We use vices to comfort ourselves, to avoid pain and to replace the absence of TRUST and connection.
Air
Take fresh air breaks of electrically charged air produced in natural settings, around trees, moving water, in sunlight and after thunderstorms. Sit up straight and "walk tall" to allow your lungs to enlarge and work at full capacity.
Rest
Sleep, the athlete’s steroid, is the most effective tool to reset your brain and body. The New York Times calls sleep the new status symbol – a commodity to be cultivated as a human potential enhancer and life extender.
People who sleep 7 -8 hours each night have the lowest death rate.
"Early to bed, early to rise..." is wise. Each hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours after.
Trust
An intriguing article by Jonathan Davis states, "The erosion of trust results in isolation – leading to lack of connection. Connections immunise us against emotional distress." I encourage you to connect to your "Lifelines" of spiritual strength and relational support.
So there you have it: a checklist of vital tools for living longer, happier and healthier. Take personal inventory and make a plan to nurture yourself with a NEWSTART each day. If you find that you could use the extra support and encouragement of a personal wellness coach, it would be my pleasure to help you put your plan into action. Call me at (616) 394-3344 to learn more about personal training and wellness coaching services.
Here's to you!
Tina