10 Easy Tricks for a Healthier Life

These are 10 ways to be healthier starting today!

1. Skip Getting Fast Food and Make Something From Home.

Of course, it’s easier and quicker to pick up fast food for you and your family but fast foods have excessive amounts of calories, salt, and saturated fats! Let’s look at something “healthy” from McDonald’s, one of the biggest fast-food chain restaurants in the nation.

The Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad is only 350 calories. That’s great if you only care about calories but let’s take a look at the other nutritional facts.

It contains, 11 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbs, 4.5 grams of saturated fat (22% of your daily value (DV), 110 mg of cholesterol (37% of DV) and 1070 mg of sodium (45% of DV!!!).

This is all VERY UNNECESSARY for a salad that you can easily make healthier at home! Restaurants have made it apparent that calories are the most important thing but ingredients are one that affects your health.

NOTE: make sure to always check the ingredients of foods because this McDonald’s grilled chicken is grilled with clarified butter (Pasteurized Milk [Butterfat]). 

The moral of the story, fast foods usually contain crazy amounts of unhealthy fats, sodium, ingredients, and cholesterol!

It’s best to meal plan on a Sunday to have dinner ready to heat up when you come home! This lets you control what you are eating and avoid unhealthy and unnecessary ingredients from fast-food restaurants.

 

2. Ditch the Soda and Drink Some Water, Please.

There is plenty of research that says soda is bad for your health but let’s talk about the major one.

Soda has high amounts of sugar that will not only make you gain weight, which then leads to obesity and type 2 diabetes, but it is also addicting.

According to Healthline.com, “…numerous studies suggest that sugar — and processed junk foods in general — affect your brain like hard drugs.” Furthermore, “Sugary drinks have powerful effects on your brain’s reward system, which may lead to addiction.”

 Diet Soda is no better. They contain artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and colors. 

Alternatives to soda?  Water infused with fruit, matcha green tea, black coffee, and black or herbal tea. Personally, I love drinking fruit tea when I want something with flavor and a little bit sweet (but contains no sugar!).

 

3. Instead of Watching Tv on the Couch, Watch It While Walking on the Treadmill.

I used to do this all the time! The only way I could watch an episode of a show on Netflix was if I was walking on the treadmill. I would prop up my Ipad or phone on my treadmill and walk until I reached 30 mins! Usually the same amount of time an episode is.

Don’t have a treadmill? Go for a walk and listen to a podcast! (I love effective multi-tasking)

 

4. Instead of Chips on the Side, Try Carrots and Apples, Still Crunchy!

I recently starting doing this. When I have a peanut butter sandwich or avocado toast, I have carrots or apples instead of chips on the side. I feel so much better when I do this because chips can be so oily and salty that I feel bloated and sluggish after I eat them. After switching, I noticed I felt more satisfied and not overly-full or tired afterwards! Also, it’s a great way to add more fruits and veggies to your diet!

 

 

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5. Meatless Mondays.

After reading How Not to Die by Micheal Greger M.D., I’m slowly starting to not eat as much meat.

Okay, mini book review. This book honestly changed my whole diet and perspective on health and wellness. It’s like the holy bible guide to REAL health/wellness based on scientific evidence. It talks about how not to die from chronic diseases, such as the #1 killer heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and even tells you how to reverse them! ★★★★★ 5/5! Definitely would recommend if you want to make the change to a healthier diet that saves your life!

I usually try to go four days without meat but starting with one day is perfectly fine! Meat, including chicken, shellfish and fish can cause major health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other major chronic diseases. So avoiding meat as much as possible can literally save your life! 

 6. Go Easy on the Creamer.

This is a hard one for me because I love my Nestle Vanilla Creamer! But once I read the nutritional facts I found out 1 tbsp has 35 calories and 5 g of added sugars. It didn’t sound bad until I realized I use about 3 tbsp, which equals 105 calories and 15 g of added sugar! I was surprised that was consuming that much sugar in my 12 oz coffee. Added sugars cause belly fat, a spike in insulin, and weight gain.

The best, healthiest option is just to drink black coffee (0 cals, 0 sugar). But, I understand that takes some getting used to. 

I recently tried the Matcha Green Tea Latte at Starbucks and OMG my life has changed! It’s just a matcha blend (sugar, and Japanese green tea) and almond milk! A tall only has 70 calories and 8 grams of sugar!

Matcha is rich in antioxidants, it can reduce damage from free radicals, enhance brain function, and even prevent cancer!

To save me a BUNCH of money, I just make my own matcha iced latte from home now! You just need matcha powder, stevia, ice, and almond milk! 

I recommend using stevia as a sweetener because it is known to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels & it’s natural!

I currently use this matcha powder and I love it.

7. Get Active for At Least 40 Minutes Every Day.

40 minutes of activity a day can lead to weight loss, improve cognitive ability, boost your immune system, improve your mood, and help you sleep better!

Have a sit-down job? You may have a higher risk of developing arterial dysfunction diseases. An example of this disease is called endothelial dysfunction. It is the inability of the inner lining of blood vessels failing to function normally. This can cause a stroke or heart attack.

According to How Not to Die by Michael Greger M.D., an American Cancer Society study found that “men who sit for six or more per day have a 20 percent higher overall death rate compared to men who sit for three hours or less, while women who sit for more than six hours have a 40 percent higher death rate”.

But what if you REALLY have to sit all day? During your breaks try walking up and down the stairs! You can even try requesting a standing desk at work for better blood flow and improved work focus!

You can start off with 90 minutes each day of moderate activities such as walking (4mph), yoga, or housework (2 for 1!).

You can then move up to doing 40 minutes each day of vigorous exercises such as jogging, hiking uphill, or swimming laps! Either way, once you start getting up and moving you will see a difference in your energy levels, sleep patterns, and mood!

Read about how to stay motivated to workout every day here.

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8. Add Fruit and Veggies to Every Meal.

(All of the following information is from How Not to Die by Michael Greger M.D.)

Did you know the leading cause of death and disability in the United States is the American diet, followed by smoking? The worst part of the American diet is lack of fruit and veggies!

You should be eating at least 3 servings of fruits per day! A serving size is either 1 medium-sized fruit, 1 cup of cut-up fruit or ¼ cup of dried fruit. 

As for veggies, you should be eating 1 serving (½ cup chopped) of cruciferous vegetables, 2 servings (1 cup raw, ½ cup cooked) of greens, and 2 servings (1 cup raw leafy veggies, ½ cup raw or cooked non-leafy veggies or ½ cup vegetable juice) of other vegetables.

I highly recommend downloading the Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen app (iOS, Android) to keep track of your veggie and fruit intake! It tells you how much fruits and veggies you should eat in a day and allows you to check off how many you’ve eaten in a day. ???

9. Get 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night.

I feel like this one is obvious but not everyone knows that 8 hours is the optimal amount of sleep to get every night! And I mean EVERY night. This means that you shouldn’t sleep in on the weekends because then you confuse your body into thinking you need more time to sleep. This will then ruin your normal sleeping pattern for the next few days until you get back on track. This could be why it’s so hard to wake up on Mondays!

Sleep can affect your stress levels, immune system, and cardiovascular health. So, it’s important to train your body to sleep for 8 hours. I now automatically wake up after sleeping for 8 hours and I feel so rested when I wake up

Can’t fall asleep? Make sure to avoid caffeine and screen time before bed because this can disrupt your sleep pattern. Instead try meditation, deep-breathing exercises, or reading (not from a screen). This always makes me sleepy!

 

10. Drink A Glass of Water Right When You Wake Up and Don’t Skip Breakfast.

I’m not sure where I read this but it makes complete sense if you think about it! Every morning you should drink a glass of cold water right when you wake up. Although you just slept for 8 hours, you might still be waking up tired. Why is this? You’re probably dehydrated! You haven’t drunk any water since the night before, so it makes sense that when you wake up your body is craving water. I keep a glass of water by my bed every night to drink right when I wake up! It honestly makes me feel more awake and focused!

When I was in college, I would always skip breakfast because I was in a rush! I soon found out that skipping out on the most important meal of the day was making me sluggish, moody and hungrier (making me binge eat later during the day!). Essentially, you just fasted for 8 hours and when you eat in the morning you are breaking the fast. That’s why it’s called break–fast. Now, I wouldn’t even think of skipping breakfast! This helps with cravings, binge eating, and unhealthy eating later during the day.

My go-to breakfast is oatmeal topped with blueberries, almonds, and cinnamon with a banana on the side! Read about my favorite healthy meals here!

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Until next time,

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