It's the New Year and a time we often make resolutions around our health and wellbeing. Here are our top ten resolutions we think could be on your list.
Sleep....Nature's best beauty secret. Our bodies need time to repair, regenerate and recover and we need to get a good, quality, sleep to do this, aim to get 8 hours sleep a night and get into a routine. This is absolutely top of our list; it costs nothing! If you want to add a little bit of luxury to your sleep try The Physic Garden Sleep Balm or Sleep Essential Oils from Eco. Aroma.
Hydrate....Drink plenty of water and keep hydrated during the day. Water hydrates your cells and helps your body function properly. Your body is around 70% water so needs to be hydrated and your kidneys need water to function properly. Water is needed to transport waste out of the body; if you don't get enough your skin can suffer. You might have heard to drink eight glasses a day but the amount you need to drink depends on your activity level, how much you sweat, gender and lifestyle. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an adequate intake for men is approximately 13 cups (3 liters) a day. For women, an adequate intake is around 9 cups (2.2 liters). To help you drink water keep some on you at all times. We sell huge water bottles that can fit in over a litre of water so keep one to hand. See our stainless steel water bottles, glass water bottles and bottles with filters.
Eat Your Greens....Make sure you get plenty of fruit and vegetables, and ideally organic, or home grown fruit and veg. Veggies have plenty of vitamins and minerals and green, leafy, veg have lots of antioxidants so include enough in your diet. If you have the space for it put a veggie garden in; it's a great initiative to undertake and very satisfying when that first cucumber or tomato is ready to eat. If you don't have room Urban Greens have a great range of mini herbs and greens. You might also want to try Nuzest's Good Green Vitality with over 75 nutrient packed ingredients.
Check Your Nutritional Intake...Write a food diary for a week and have a look at your intake when it comes to calories, fat, protein, carbs, sugar, vitamins and minerals. Write down everything regardless of how insignificant you think it might be. Have a look at how your intake compares to recommended daily intake. To be exact you might want to see a nutritionist or dietician and they will advise you on nutrition specific to your activity, weight, lifestyle etc.
Are you getting enough protein?....Many of you are vegan and you might get enough protein but some of you don't. We have some delicious protein powders from Nuzest and Amazonia which are complete in terms of essential amino acids and give around 20g of protein per serve.
Get Active...We don't all need to become marathon runners but maybe you want to do a litle more which might be walking twice a week, going to that elusive yoga class, or signing up for a fun run later in the year. One thing we would suggest doing is strength and core work. Use weights in your workout which might be just lunges holding a bag of flour or two. Load bearing exercise is good for bone density and also helps build muscle which helps burn fat. A win win. Write a log of what you do or get yourself a Fit Bit or Apple Watch to monitor your progress.
Cut Down on Alcohol...Wine and beer, although lovely, are empty calories so you might want to cut down to just the weekend only. You'll reap the benefits by being brighter with much better sleep.
Treat Yourself...It's not all reduce and strip out; add some treats into your regime like a weekly face mask or date night (big fans of that one). Take time for you which could be a weekly bush walk, swim with your friends or a few hours off screen time.
Love Your Body.....We don't look after ourselves as much as we probably should. Grab a bath once a week with Magnesium. Tom, in the team, recently had a nasty fall which has left him with a very sore back. He's been having baths with Amazing Oils Recovery Bath Flakes and he immediately noticed an improvement. Magnesium is needed by almost 75% of the systems in the human body and the body needs it to function properly. It's ideally taken transdermally, so via the skin, and works a treat. See our Magnesium range.
Eat Less Rubbish...This is something many of us are guilty of so perhaps have one chocolate bar less a week, reduce your portion size or swap out the afternoon unhealthy snack with some fruit or nuts. We have a few books on healthy eating that may help.
In reality, unless you are very dedicated, you won't be able to do all of these so pick 2 or 3 and do them well. Set yourself small achievable goals, not big hairy ones that you'll struggle with. That's the sure fire way that those resolutions don't make it past week one. We'd love to hear how you are going so keep us posted.
