Radiant health is dependent mostly on the three factors of balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, and adequate restorative sleep. There are many other factors that determine overall health. However, these three factors make the biggest difference. Mastering these factors will contribute to a rapid transformation.
Balanced Nutrition
Each individual human body requires different nutrition. What is healthy for one person can be harmful to another person. This is part of what makes nutrition so confusing and leads to articles that seem to contradict one another.
Your Unique Nutrition Needs
Part of your assignment in this life is to determine exactly what your unique body needs in order to thrive. Experimentation with different foods is the first step to unlocking the secret for yourself. Once you start paying attention to the foods you’re eating and listening to your body it becomes easier to figure out which foods make you feel amazing and which foods make you feel sluggish and sick. This is something you can do yourself with a simple elimination diet and food diary. Over time you will grow in confidence and knowledge regarding exactly what foods are best for you. A food sensitivity test is also helpful to determine any minor food sensitivities that can cause systemic inflammation but are not super obvious.
Once you know which foods work best for your individual body, it becomes easier to focus your efforts on getting adequate nutrition. Balanced nutrition includes vitamins and minerals as well as protein, fats, and carbohydrates. To make it simple you can focus on eating as much organic, fresh produce as possible with a focus on eating colorful foods. By crowding out heavily processed foods with real foods close to their natural state, you will no longer need to worry about counting calories. Once you find the perfect nutritional balance for your body, maintaining your optimal weight will be effortless.
Regular Physical Activity
We all require regular physical activity in order to maintain our health and daily quality of life. Our bodies are designed for movement and do require some sort of activity each day. Many of the internal systems in our body operate best when we are active throughout the day.
Going to the gym is a wonderful way to get your daily exercise, however, it is not necessary to go to a gym to move your body. Today’s technologically advanced society spends a large portion of the day sitting stationary and staring at a screen. Any increase in physical activity will provide health benefits and the more active you are the more benefits you will notice. Physical activity can be as simple as cleaning your home, walking to the mailbox, standing while working, or playing outside with your kids. Anytime you move your body it adds up.
Your Unique Exercise Needs
There are many different ways to exercise and it is best to experiment to find out what you like best and what works best for your body. Jogging can be a great way to get fresh air and clear your mind while taking in the scenery around you. However, jogging may not be the best option if you have bad knees or don’t have a safe area to be alone outside. Many gyms or exercise studios offer the first class for free so you can try it out and see if you like it before you sign a contract for classes that you won’t actually attend. Once you find the particular activity you love it will be easy to include the exercise into your weekly schedule. Once it’s in your weekly schedule it becomes a lifestyle and you will start to experience the benefits from regular exercise that is the perfect match for your unique body.
Adequate Restorative Sleep
We all require adequate restorative sleep to maintain optimal health and well-being. While sleeping, cells and vital organs have a chance to recover from the wear and tear of daily life. Important restorative bodily functions such as tissue repair, muscle growth, and protein synthesis occur almost exclusively during sleep. Also, lack of sleep has been proven to have a negative impact on immune function, appetite regulation, hormonal balance, and the ability to manage stress.
Each of our bodies is unique in the area of sleep and specifically how much sleep is necessary. As a general rule of thumb, 7-9 hours of sleep is considered to be optimal for most adults. If you are regularly getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night your body is not getting enough time in a restorative state. Inadequate sleep can increase weight gain, increase the risk for chronic diseases, increase the risk of accidents and injuries, impair cognitive function, and increase anxiety.
How to Improve Your Sleep Quality
There are many ways to increase the time spent sleeping. Creating an evening routine can help the body to relax and prepare for sleep. Some ideas for your evening routine include reducing screen usage 1-2 hours before bedtime, drinking a cup of warm tea, taking a bath, a skincare routine, and reading a book in bed. You may also want to consider making small adjustments to your schedule so you can get to bed 15 minutes earlier or wake up 15 minutes later. You can continue to add increments of 15 minutes until you reach a sleep time that leaves you feeling refreshed each morning and ready to take on the day.
Putting the Pieces Together
After some trial and error, you will find the perfect balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, and adequate restorative sleep for your own unique individual body. Once you figure out your own body requirements for this stage of life (yes, it will change as you age!) it is easy to put taking care of yourself on auto-pilot so you don’t have to continually think about it. Glowing and radiant health becomes effortless when these three pillars of health are in balance.
As a certified Health Coach, I am available for individual one-on-one coaching sessions to help you fine-tune your current daily routines and promote overall health and well-being. Together we can explore these three crucial factors and set a realistic plan to help you achieve those goals quickly.
