My Top Ten Health Tips (Guest Post by Meg from My Wholefood Romance)

A couple of weeks ago I was “introduced” to Meg’s gorgeous blog and Meg herself through a mutual friend. Of course as soon as I checked out her site and had a few interactions with her I NEEDED her Top Ten Health Tips! Her blog is gorgeous and informative and the pictures of her food make me drool. You can check them out  here on her site. She also was featured on The Wellness Warrior’s site just last week. You can read what she had to say on Foodie Friday, here.

Without further ado I will pass you over to Meg, listen carefully, especially to the last point!

Hi! I’m Meg and I’m a naturopath, nutritionist, whole food lover, passionate cook, mother, wife and general student of the universe. I love sharing knowledge, which led me to start my blog My Wholefood Romance as a place to share, and hopefully inspire others on their journey to wellness. Drop in for a visit sometime, I’d love to ‘meet’ you in the comments or via facebook! In the mean time, I hope you will find some of these tips useful. x

 TOP 10 HEALTH TIPS

 1. Chew your food.

I know, it sounds completely simple, but I’m talking about really masticating up that bolus of love in your mouth! Chewing our food not only makes it easy to swallow (helpful!), the saliva starts to break down proteins to assist us in getting the maximum nutritional benefit from our food. If your digestion is not amazing, this is even more important!

 2.Make meal times relaxed, joyful and delicious!

This may not be possible every meal of every day, but aim to at least sit down for meals. Our digestion functions best when we are relaxed and calm, so give yourself that opportunity. Eating with others and sharing meals is fundamental to humans and has been forever. Recognise that eating is not just about consuming, but a change to refuel your body, connect with others, and enjoy delicious tastes!

 3. Exercise.

It doesn’t particularly matter what, but search out something that you enjoy. 150 minutes a week seems to be the magic number to receive the proper physiological benefits, and incidental exercise totally counts (walking to work, taking the stairs, etc).  Get moving!

 4. Take a personal time out every day.

This is often a difficult one to manage, but it is SO worth it. We often don’t realize we need it until it’s too late… Having small children around makes this one hard, but even more necessary. This may mean getting up 20 minutes earlier, and just sitting in the silence of the morning with a beautiful cup of tea (my favourite!), or finding an excuse for a late night trip to the shops and driving the long way without the radio on. Whatever way you can get it, seek out that silence and treasure it as often as you can.

 5.Green smoothies.

Anyone who is familiar with My Wholefood Romance is well aware of my love affair with these. Get on the bandwagon! They are alkalizing, energizing and replenishing. Start simple, perhaps with a handful of spinach leaves into your usual berry or banana style combo, and increase the green as much as you can handle. Check out my facebook page or blog for some recipe ideas.

 6. Hug someone everyday.

Be liberal with your “I love you”s.

 7.Sleep.

This is absolutely vital to every aspect of health. An adult needs approximately 8 hours to function properly. If you have trouble sleeping, get it sorted, as you will be chipping away at your physical and mental resilience the longer you let it go on. Easier said than done for sure, and at times in our life it’s unavoidable, but here are some basic tips to help a little. Think about your perfect sleep environment – try to create this in your bedroom (is it dark enough, is there a draught, is your bed comfortable, is it quiet enough, etc). Adopt a bedtime routine to give your body plenty of notice that it’s nearly bedtime. Some examples might be reading quietly, taking a bath with lavender oil, or meditation. Try to avoid electronic devices in the hour before bedtime, or if you must, turn the brightness down to the lowest setting. Looking at bright screens (phones, laptops) or having bright lights on inhibits your production of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone which helps control your sleep-wake cycle, and gradually increases from early evening, staying high throughout the night, and dropping again in the morning. Use lamps in the evening.

8 ‘Don’t eat anything that your Grandmother wouldn’t recognise’.

This is one of my favourite quotes from Michael Pollan. Keep food simple, eat as much wholefood as you can, and avoid packets and boxed foods where you can.

 9. Be 100% present wherever you are.

I have been focusing on this one lately. Look for the positive in situations. If you’re at work and you’re over it, be the best ‘you at work’ you can be while you’re there. If you are hanging out with your little one, be there with them as much as you can, and try not to think of the gazillion other things your ‘should’ be doing. I find this hard as half of my work is from home, so there is guilt flying all over the place. If I answer some emails or do a bit of research, I feel terrible for not playing with my daughter. If I am playing dirt tea parties, I am thinking of other things I could be getting ahead with. I don’t think there is one right answer for this one, but I do find it brings me peace to make a decision and just be there in the moment.

 10. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALL.

Perhaps the most important message. There is a large list of suggestions here, but don’t feel as though you need to implement them all today. Perhaps choose one. Focus on one thing that you can do today, or this week, that will contribute to your wellness and nourish your soul. Once you have that one mastered, you can choose the next thing.

I was smiling so hard when I finished reading these because I totally agree! What did you think of Meg’s tips? Leave a comment below, I love hearing from you xx