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As many of you know, I have been faithfully working on improving my health for over 2 1/2 years now. Gaining health comes with many ups and downs, as I am sure that you have also found out.
You may be at a point where you are very discouraged and ready to just throw in the towel … please, do not! I know that it can be very discouraging at times, but whatever you do, DO NOT give up! I am on your side even if no one else is!
That is why I want to share a few simple things that I have found to boost my health, that you can easily incorporate as well. They are not supplements, shakes, etc … and they are VERY inexpensive to do! Yay!
First, drinking 10 glasses of water each day.
Water is so important for good health in so many ways. It is a great way to hydrate and is also an excellent tool in flushing out the garbage that tends to easily build up in our bodies. Not only that, but it is a very important tool for helping to regulate blood sugar as well and who does not need help with this?
The best rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in ounces every day. You can drink more, but I do not recommend drinking less! So, let us see how this works … a 200 pound person will drink 100 ounces per day; 100 oz divided by 8 oz (one cup) equals 12 1/2 glasses of water per day.
I find that marking a calendar beside our water cooler is my visual motivator and then I also do not lose track of how much I have drunk that day … nor can I cheat! 🙂 This may not work for you. The key here is to find something that does work well with your set up and schedule.
Second, walking 5,000 steps per day.
For those of you who are natural walkers or whose job requires being on your feet walking and moving all day, this is going to sound like a ridiculously low figure. For me, the queen of sedentary, this is a fair amount and one in which I get good results with.
I have a Fitbit that I use to keep track. I just have to make sure that it is charged up each morning and I let it do its thing of keeping track. Remember I said that I am THE queen of SEDENTARY, so I have to check it throughout the day to increase my walking opportunities to make sure that I meet that goal.
If you do not want to face the cost of a basic Fitbit, you can also set time goals for your walking (example: 30 minutes per day). If you have a treadmill, they usually have features that give you other options as well (examples: distance or calories).
Third, eat 5 cups of veggies each day.
Yes, you heard me right! I found that I did not eat many veggies. My meals would stack up with carbs like cereal or filled with other carbs like bread for sandwiches or potatoes, rice or pasta for supper. When I really started evaluating my daily diet, I realized that I was really skimping on the veggies … especially the fresh ones!
What really got me to thinking about this, was a video that I watched by Dr. Berg and he recommended 7-10 cups of salad per day! Yikes! I am also a “sedentary” veggie eater, so I set a more modest goal of 5 cups of veggies (not solely salad) each day. Again, I am modifying to meet my current needs and still get results.
Ugh! Do you hate it when people tell you what to do, but not how to do it? Well, I will not leave you hanging here. This is how I do it … for breakfast, I eat 3 eggs with 2-3 cups of veggies sauteed in coconut oil (I LOVE this!). The veggies are replacing my normal carb-loaded potato hash browns. I also like half a Roma tomato and at least half an avocado on top of that as well. I do not like salads every day, but when I eat them, I easily get in 3 cups of veggies … I LOVE lots of different veggies in my salad! On non-salad days, I LOVE fresh cauliflower rice. It makes an excellent side dish and can be seasoned according to what I am eating it with.
I have bought the pre-chopped cauliflower before, but nothing beats a fresh whole head that I chop myself. My favorite chopper makes quick work of it even though it is manually operated. Once chopped, I put it into quart freezer bags (raw; non-blanched) and freeze. When I need some, I put some coconut oil in my skillet and throw in however much of the frozen cauliflower rice that I want and saute it until it is cooked but still a bit crunchy (my FAVORITE way to eat it).
My Story
So, how do I know that these three simple things have changed my health for the better. Well, I will say this … I did not ask the bathroom scales. When I incorporated these three things into my health journey, I actually made them my primary foundation.
I try to visit my reflexologist at least 1-2 times per month. When I incorporated these three things, I had just visited the reflexologist. I was very consistent with them and when I went back to see my reflexologist in two weeks, she was so surprised by how well my body responded! She said, “Whatever you are doing, KEEP doing it!!”
I since am adding things here and there to enhance my health more … but that is a story for another day! I hope that you have found some help here today through my story! Stick around to catch more as I journey forth!