Are you ready? To create some healthy habits!

I was inspired to create this 90-day challenge by my Young Living team leaders who created a 90-day challenge at the beginning of the year. I designed this challenge to help you create healthy habits about exercise, sleep, nutrition, and self care without the need to buy anything. While some parts of our economy are thriving overall the COVID pandemic has taken a large financial toll on many of us and I wanted something that anyone could participate in. I do have supplements listed as one of daily goals and if you’re interested in learning more about them and purchasing them shoot me an email (contact info at the top of the page or click on ‘Contact’ under the ‘Work With Me’ tab).

The parameters of this challenge are easy, download the pdf document, fill out the healthy inventory, decide what habit or habits you want to work on, check off each habit every day that you practice it. Aim for a minimum of 50% compliance but 80% compliance is ideal. After 90 days retake the health inventory and measure what changed. I’ve included my personal goals, plus a blank calendar for you to fill out with your personal goals. Make sure you aim for daily habits that are reasonable and achievable for you, and don’t try to do too many at once. I see it often, people try to make too many changes at once and get overwhelmed then quit. If you successfully do the full 90 days you’ll be heading into November a healthier individual with some tools to help you navigate the holiday season. Holidays are typically stressful for many of us but who knows what to expect this year, I think it will feel good to have established healthy habits before then. Let’s dive a little deeper into the daily habits and I’ll explain why they are so important.

30-minutes of exercise a day is the bare minimum, I actually recommend 1-2 hours of regular exercise a day. Humans are biologically designed to move as hunter gatherers, the further away we move from that lifestyle the more unhealthy we become. Our modern lives offer so much comfort and convenience that it’s nearly impossible to get enough exercise to counteract the effects of sitting most of the day. It’s nearly impossible but it’s not totally impossible, for many of us time is a major constraint, for others exercise isn’t a priority they’re willing to make time for (yet). If you are already in the habit of daily exercise try to add to that in some way (increase the time you spend exercising, try a new type of exercise, spend more time stretching, or add in a daily walk after your last meal of the day). If you aren’t getting daily movement start with 30 minutes a day, I strongly recommend starting with walking (especially after a meal as walking aids in digestion).

1/2 gallon of water every day minimum, more if you’re active. We all know its important to stay hydrated but do you know why? Proper hydration helps your body regulate its temperature, prevent infections, aids organs in detoxing the body, improves sleep, improves brain function, improves mood and helps your joint tissue stay healthy, all of these things are tied to your immune system functioning optimally. Who doesn’t want to help their immune system stay strong right now? Negative effects of dehydration include headaches, nausea, low energy, brain fog, weight gain, build up of waste and toxins in the body and weakened immune function.

Getting enough sleep is so important, sleep effects nearly every aspect of health. I recommend getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night for most people. How much sleep you need varies depending on your lifestyle, age, and underlying health conditions. It’s especially important to get enough sleep if you’re under stress, sick, or very active (muscle recovery happens while we sleep). Positive effects of sleeping include better memory (our brains turn short term memory into long term memory while we sleep), better cognition and focus, fewer cravings, enhanced athletic performance, more energy, improved mood, improved immune function, better heart health, lower stress levels and improved ability to deal with stress. Negative side effects of sleep deprivation include brain fog, lack of focus, mood swings, depression, increased appetite, weight gain, low energy, increased risk of diabetes, increased risk of heart disease, poor immune function, more inflammation (the bad kind), increased risk of kidney disease, high blood pressure, increased risk of stroke. It’s very important to note that you can’t make up lack of sleep later, the effects of sleep deprivation are instant and can’t be undone. You can’t sleep extra tomorrow and “make up” for losing sleep last night.

Daily self-care activity can help us de-stress, recharge, and aids in our overall happiness. Self care looks different for everyone. Exercise might be your self care activity. It can also be getting a massage, going for a walk, meditation, working on a hobby, having some alone time to recharge, or doing self-improvement work. Increasing your happiness help improve the immune system and overall health. Studies have shown that happier people recover from illness quicker than people with poor moods.

Cold Showers stem from the practice of cold exposure which was popularized by Wim Hof and is now widely practiced by athletes and health and wellness professionals. It’s even prescribed to help manage symptoms of some diseases in functional medicine. Cold exposure also goes back to the idea that the further away we move from being human the less health we have. Our human bodies have amazing temperature regulation capabilities that we’ve lost because of the comforts of modern life. Cold exposure is linked to improve muscle and joint recovery, improved immune system function, better cognition, improved mood and lower levels of stress. It’s important to note there are good ways to do this and bad ways to do this, if you’d like more info on the science behind cold exposure and how to do it effectively check out this article by Kion.

For the sake of keeping this on the shorter side I won’t do an in depth explanation of the supplements I’ve chosen but I’ve chosen supplements that are going to aid in better nutrient absorption, digestion, recover, and more energy. If you want to learn more about the supplements I use shoot me an email (contact info at the top of the page or click on ‘Contact’ under the ‘Work With Me’ tab) and look for upcoming posts about supplements.