This Tuesday my tips are 7 small + easy steps you can take to be healthier. Steps that I take every day for a healthy life. So many of you have told me that you just don’t know where to start. Getting back on track or starting a new habit can feel difficult at first. Easy, small changes make it seem not so overwhelming. I am going to show you exactly how to become healthier in 7 easy steps, let’s go!
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
How to Become Healthier in 7 Easy Steps
Step 1:
answer this question – what is health?
You must define what healthy means to YOU. The absence of disease? Having meaningful relationships? Feeding your body with nutritionally dense foods? Being free of financial worry? If I asked every reader of this blog to define what health is, I am sure I would get a variety of answers. What is your answer?
Step 2:
schedule the appointment
Stop cancelling the appointment! Screenings save lives. Routine blood work also saves lives. Before you spend time + money on one more pill or cream or gadget to make you thinner or live longer, get the real stuff done.
Step 3:
work on your sleep hygiene
Nope, I did not make that phrase up. Yep, I believe in it so much that it made it to top 3 of my list. Getting good sleep is a big deal when it comes to your health. Consistently getting poor quality sleep messes up your mood, energy, and concentration in the short term. Long term, it can contribute to a whole host of chronic conditions from obesity to dementia. If you are new to this term, start by sticking to a consistent wake-sleep schedule, limit your screen time close to bed time, and be sure to keep your sleep environment cool + dark.
Step 4:
minimum daily movement
The minimum amount of purposeful movement you MUST do each day to feel good. ANY movement! You pick the amount + you decide the terms. Research shows that adding as little as 11 minutes of purposeful movement per day can improve mood + ward off long term health conditions. Purposeful movement is anything you do to move your body. Dance, run, go up and down stairs, jump, paddle, swim. Do something that gets your heart pumping + hopefully you break a sweat too. Some of my other articles might help get you started: Eat, Move, Live, Repeat, Tara’s Tips For Plant-Powered Athletes, New Year’s Resolutions Worth Fighting For.
Step 5:
be prepared
If you have been stopping by my little blog for a while, you know this is something I say a lot! It applies to all facets of your life, but especially your food! I have spent many years at ideal body weight, in good health, have been a successful plant-powered athlete, and I have raised two beautiful vegetarian children. The only way I can manage all of that is being prepared! Meal prep, grocery shopping, stocking the pantry, packing the lunches, making breakfast foods easy, carrying a snack bag + a water bottle, I could go on and on! If you want optimal health, this is essential! Check out these tips to help you get started: 10 Things To Do On Weekends To Make Weeknight Cooking Easier, Go-To Lazy Vegetarian Meals, 10 Things On My Grocery List Every Week, What’s In My Pantry.
Step 6:
put more plants on your plate
Seriously, you didn’t think I was going to make a list of how to become healthier and not put eat more plants on the list?!?! When you put more plants on your plate or in your bowl, you crowd out some of the other unnecessary things. Then, a magical thing happens. As you eat more colorful fruits, vegetables, and legumes, you crave them more, they taste better, you eat more of them, and your improved health naturally follows. Not sure where to start? Start with these: Easy Ways To Eat More Plants, How To Go Plant-Based In 7 Easy Steps, Tips To Make Going Plant-Based Easier, What Is Plant-Forward Eating?, Signs That You Should Go Plant-Based.
Step 7:
don’t underestimate the power of small changes
This can work in your favor or quite the opposite. If you aren’t careful, small changes can add up and before you know it, your pants are too tight + your blood pressure is so high you have a headache. These are sneaky small changes we ignore until they are written in neon lights (eating out of boredom, enjoying a sweetened beverage a few times per day, consuming large volumes of alcohol on weekends, ordering Uber eats food instead of cooking). Conversely, tiny + painless changes can stack up to hugely positive results.
Pick an area of your life that needs some attention, identify one change you can make, and watch it evolve. For example, swapping out a sugary beverage for water a few days per week, packing your lunch instead of the drive-thru, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. These articles might help: Food Swaps For Weight Loss, What To Do After Overeating, Guide To Plant-Based Meat Alternatives, 10 Easy Food Substitutions For Plant-Based Eating.
Food For Thought
You can’t arrive at your destination if you don’t know where you are going. Be intentional with this list. If you made it this far in this post, you clearly have an interest in improving your health. First, define health. What is it to you? Pick your destination. Look for any distractions that might detour you from getting to your destination, make yourself a road map, set the course, and go. Get the blood work, once you have it, do something about it. Inertia: the tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged. Don’t let this be you. From this day forward, don’t ignore things. Small changes add up – good or bad! Get good sleep, pile your plate with plants first, find purposeful movement that makes you happy, prepare for your day/week/month/life, stick with the small changes and there you have it! See? Easy!
All the best,
Tara 💚
⭐Do you have any steps to add to my list? Leave a comment below!
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