5 Simple Tips To A Happier & Healthier Life

I recently saw a meme that read “January was just a trial month”.  And I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.  I had, after all, been in residual holiday mode since well before Christmas and was stress eating over my list of untouched resolutions.  But despite the false start to the new year, I still desperately wanted to knock over those resolutions, and my top two priorities for this year are to be happier and healthier!  And I know I’m not the only one!

If your start to the year, like mine, was less than perfect, and you’re feeling deflated, I have some good news.  There’s 11 more months left in this year, and it’s time to make something of them.  A wise person once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  If you want to make this year different and focus on your health – and I mean your whole health and wellbeing, not just a number on a scale – then start shaking things up.

Here’s my 5 simple tips that you can start implementing today to make your life both happier and healthier.

1.     Create a healthy morning routine

Do you jump out of bed and straight onto social media?  Or do you hit the snooze button so many times you are rushing out the door without breakfast?  If so, it’s time to start implementing some healthy morning habits.  Your morning routine is the cornerstone to a productive and positive day.  Try implementing some or all of these into your morning routine:

•   Wake up at the same time every day (yes, even on weekends)
•   Meditate
•   Write a gratitude list
•   Eat breakfast with your family
•   Make your bed
•   Journal
•   Read
•   Plan out your day

2.     Meal prep

You don’t have to prepare your entire weeks’ worth of meals in a day to get the benefits of meal prep.  It can be as simple as making extra of whatever your having for dinner every night to portion out for the next day’s lunch.  Or cutting up some fresh fruit and vegetables to use in meals or as snacks.  Meal prep not only allows you to save time and money, but it also helps you stay on track with healthy eating!

3.     Make time for exercise

We all know we should be moving as much as possible to improve our health and wellbeing. But when push comes to shove, most of us tend to prioritise physical exercise the least.  Life gets busy and we put work / family / friends / sleep / EVERYTHING before taking some time out of our days to move.

Carve out time in your day to move, even if it is only for 15 minutes.

Book it in your calendar.

Smash it out immediately when you first wake up.

Exercise with a friend and motivate each other.

Just make sure you do whatever it is you need to do to make it happen!  Your mind and your body will thank you!     

4.     Detox your socials

Take back control over your social media.  Here is your permission to unfollow or unfriend anyone who makes you feel that you aren’t enough.  Or even just the people who make you roll your eyes every time you see a post from them.  There, I said it.  We all have a few of those people on our feed, am I right?  Get rid of them and replace with pages and people who inspire, motivate and energise you.  This will make your social experience a whole lot more positive!

Also consider limiting how much time you spend on social media.  Having quick access to social media apps on your phone means that you can easily fill any or all quiet moments in your day scrolling through feeds.  But should you?  Absolutely not.  Designate the times of day you will go on social media and don’t deviate.

5.     Practice Self-Care

Self-Care isn’t just a buzzword.  It’s essential!  When life gets busy we often forget to look after yourself in the rush to look after everyone else.  But you can’t pour from an empty cup.  Taking some time out for you means you’ll be able to give everyone else the best of you too!

Self-Care doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming or expensive.  We aren’t talking daily trips to the day spa here (if only).  Just write a list of things that make you feel amazing and do at least one thing from the list every day.  Yes, that’s right – every day!  It could be as simple as taking 5 minutes to sit outside in the sun and enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning.  Just do one thing for you.