Mar 30, 2016
As a trainer of many very successful business people, I get to see how important it is to have a ‘foundation’ of healthy habits.
Consistency in applying basic principles of being healthy will help you feel great, perform at your best and provide long-term health.
The overriding concept: Stress
All pressures that affect you summate (add up) in your body. It’s the overall amount of stress that you’re under that determines your health and performance.
You can’t eliminate stress, so the goal is managing it. In following the tips below, start with what you believe will have the greatest overall benefit in reducing stress.
Sleep
Include at least an hour of wind-down time before you go to bed. We all know that you feel great after an early night (before 10pm). What we do in the hour or two before bed is also vital in getting restorative sleep. Turn off technology (t.v., phones, computers, bright lights etc.) and take a bath, read a book, listen to music, do some stretching or whatever winds you down.
You’ll sleep better and wake up much more refreshed.
Hydration
Add a pinch of sea salt to your drinking water. The brain is around 80% water. So we need plenty of water to function well. Filtered water is best and as a minimum, drink 0.033 x your body weight in kilos per day. i.e. 100kg person 3.3litres and a 50kg person 1.7litres. What we also need are electrolytes, to help us maintain internal balance in our bodies and increase absorption of the water that we drink. Adding a pinch of unprocessed sea salt, such as ‘Celtic Sea Salt’ can provide these and many other benefits. It’s cheap, easy and an effective way to stay healthy.
Exercise
Add in postural exercise to your training. We all know that the right level of exercise is very beneficial for our health and energy. It is essential need for everyone to include postural strengthening exercises into their training. For those who work at a desk or spend lots of time in front of a screen this is enormously important.
There are many examples but one great exercise is a prone cobra. With the head facing down and arms turned outwards, see if you can keep your chest up high for 3 mins!
Sunlight
Ensure you get adequate sun exposure – safely. There are enormous benefits to making sure that you get plenty of sun exposure, vitamin D optimization being the most obvious. Healthy vitamin D levels are associated with a plethora of health benefits and not least cancer prevention.
The right amount of time in the sun varies individually based on your skin type, time of day, season, altitude, etc.
As a rough guide 10-20mins between 10 am and 1 pm is the best and safest. What a great reason to leave your desk and have lunch outside.
Nutrition
Balance your macronutrients – protein, fat and carbohydrate. We all know that in terms of quality, limiting processed food and eating fresh produce, preferably organic, will provide health benefits. The majority of your diet should come from meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, some fruit and nut and seeds. That’s it – a very simple shopping list!
What often gets neglected is the balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate coming from these healthy sources. There are exceptions, but if you think about plants being carbohydrates and animal products being fat and protein this gives you a good starting point. Try balancing all meals and snacks 50% plants (carbohydrate) and 50% animals products (fat and protein) and see how you feel. If you feel hungry soon after, try increasing the animal component at your next meal. If you feel tired after, try increasing the proportion of plant food.
