5 tips for physical wellness
How to look and feel your best.
Want to look and feel your best this new year? Here are five tips to take note of.
Nutrition and lifestyle coach Sarah Hopkins tips include:
1. Eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods – Nutrition is 80 per cent of the equation when it comes to physical health. Look at where hidden sugars and toxic oils might be getting into the system through refined convenience foods like your muesli or protein bars, maybe even a takeaway lunch or something obvious like chocolate post-dinner that has crept into most nights. Eliminating these foods will significantly improve metabolic function.
2. Embrace movement – Make movement an hourly priority. One of the easiest ways to improve health is to encourage more incidental moving every day. Investing in a Fitbit is a great way to keep track of your daily steps, which should be over 10,000.
3. Manage stress – The biggest cause of unwanted belly fat is high cortisol (it also has a negative effect on the immune system and causes inflammation), so factor in adequate rest and relaxation, and activities such as meditation, yoga or tai chi, which calm the nervous system.
4. Drink good-quality filtered water – The human body is 70 per cent water while the brain is 80 per cent, so hydrating plays a big role in long-term wellness. Make it filtered water, which removes toxins including chlorine. Chlorine kills the bacteria in water but also kills the good bacteria in the large intestine that keep us healthy.
5. Reduce toxins in personal care products – Every product we put on our body (skincare, hair products, toothpaste, etc) has to be processed by the liver, which plays a critical role in metabolism. So invest in non-toxic, natural and organic personal care products to see a boost in metabolic health and energy.
NEXT: Looking for more strategies that will have you healthier and happier this year? Grab the February-March 2017 edition for more.
