Creating a Healthier (+ Happier) Life
15 things I have been doing for my health, how I have kept it up and why I am doing it:
Since about May 2022– about one year after having my first child— I have been focusing on how to take care of me better. Not only did I need to focus on my health so that I could prepare to have another baby, but I was also ready to acknowledge I had let myself go a bit. Now before you exit page, THIS IS NOT A BABY BOUNCE BACK POST. I just know from past experience, that an unhealthy me, is not my best me. My physical health impacts my emotional and mental health QUICKLY. I knew that if I wanted to be my best self and mom, I needed to start paying attention to my health again.
So I started focusing on some things to inspire and promote not just physical health, not just mental health, but FULL BODY HEALTH.
Here’s what I did:
Protein focused meals– this an awesome way to keep yourself full, fueled and balance your blood sugar to prevent crashes later. Check out @themetabolismmakeover on instagram for more information.
Focused on how the food I was eating was making me feel– Did I feel bloated after? A stomach ache? Lethargic? Did I break out? Its easy to reach for whole foods when those are what feel good inside your body.
Intentional movement– I listened to my body. For me that is less intense cardio and more heavy lifting. More walks outside. Don’t get it twisted— I worked out on days I wasn’t motivated but I did workouts that I knew I loved to do. If you want to use some of the workouts I do, you can check them out here.
Properly training my core– it is wild to me how little women focus on this. Poor core engagement has so many bad effects on our body— regardless of if we birth little humans (but especially if we do). Yet it isn’t talked about that much. So I made this a huge priority knowing I wanted to get pregnant again.
Drank more water– self explanatory.
Upped my dental care game– it is not that shocking that the microbiome in your mouth is super closely connected to the microbiome in your gut.
Made my skin care a priority– Dime, Nurst, guasha. Non-toxic and easy.
Decluttered my house and hired a house cleaner once a month– clear space is less to clean up, less to clutter my mind, and therefore more time to spend doing things I love with the people I love.
Dry brushing and moisturizing my skin 3x a week– I am not sure why this feels so darn bougie and amazing, but it’s about 3 minutes and it’s supposed to improve your lymphatic system and blah blah blah. I just love how relaxing the whole process is. Also my skin has never been so silky smooth so that is wonderful.
Intentional journaling with both free writing and prompts– You may be amazed at how much clearer your mind is after simply unloading onto a blank sheet of paper. If you want more about my thoughts on journaling be sure to check out THIS blog post.
High quality and intentional usage of vitamins, supplements and electrolytes— I currently use Ritual (I love that it is only two pills and super easy to change based on my stage of life), Liquid IV electrolytes, shakeology protein powder, and modere collagen.
Unfollowing or muting social accounts that made me feel less then and unsubscribing to any emails that really made me distracted from my goal— again pretty straightforward but I truly think we forget that WE curate that feed. If you don’t like the way it makes you feel, get off or remove them from you circle, or get it out of your inbox.
Embraced my natural curly hair– I am on a journey to be my purest and most authentic me.
Learning how to paint my own nails– Save money and makes me happy.
Embracing that I am not a high maintenance girly– I think we often feel like we need to keep up or try certain trends because everyone else is. But I am not a fake tan girl. I am not a false lashes lady. I don’t like heavy makeup or the center part. I have decided unless I want to do it for me, I am done trying trends because they are trends and the IT thing.
Here’s how I did it:
I focused on one thing a month. I habit stacked.
For example, guasha: I bought a $10 (AFFORDABLE) stone. I looked up a short massage routine. I began doing it in the evenings in the middle of my skin care routine (already something I am used to doing). Guasha is typically done in the morning to help reduce inflammation from sleeping, and I will sometimes do it if I have time or am feeling extra puffy, but I do it at night because that is when I have time (made it doable for me). And doing it my way is better then not doing it at all. Plus if you run it under hot water first it is the most relaxing facial massage. It adds 2 minutes to my evening routine but it feels AMAZING and I believe it has helped with wrinkles, skin texture and facial inflammation.
Another example is focusing on protein in my meals: I did not do this while also changing my whole diet to whole foods. I simply started focusing on protein first in my meals and paying attention to how much I was getting a day. How could I get more for each meal? How could I make my snacks more protein based. My non-protein focused snacks and food supplies ran out without being wasted or without a purge. And I was able to slowly do some research on the reasons this is so beneficial to the female body. I was already meal planning so I spent no extra time here, just replaced a very broad idea of eating “healthy” to eating protein heavy meals. Now over a year later, I don’t think much about it. I know my favorite meals and snacks and have them on hand all of the time.
I tried my best to really incorporate the new habit into my life so that it wasn’t stressful and I could get the most out of it. I gave myself grace and if I didn’t like it or it didnt fit, I stopped doing it. Yes. Really. It is that simple. Like chia seeds in my water. I just cannot. Or brewers yeast for milk production. Nope. Giving up caffeine. Sorry but hard pass. There is a line between being healthy and trying to be so healthy you stress yourself out to the point that the healthy habits you claim to be starting are now IRRELEVANT.
We need to stop pushing (others and ourselves) to do things in the name of health even if it kills us. Because um…. Doesn’t that defeat the freaking point.
My goal is to live a full and happy life.
I would like to be healthy so some of these things attribute to that.
Some of these things just make my heart happy.
Some may be what saves me from an untimely death (morbid but true).
Now it’s your turn to start making SMALL changes in your life to take you to a happier and healthier place. If you don’t know where to start, choose one of the things I did. If you don’t know which of the things you have in mind to start doing, then make a list in your phone and pick the one that excites you the most. Start tomorrow. Give it a month. If you don’t like it or it doesn’t work in your life right now, stop doing it. If it sticks and you like the way it improves your life, keep it up and choose the next one.
Slowly but surely (and without much stress) you’ll ne on track for to be the happy (and healthier) person you want to be.
