HEALTHY HABITS: 10 daily habits that changed my life (science-backed) Good daily habits can make such a big difference to your overall health and your life. In this video, I'm going to share 10 daily habits that have changed my life in many different ways. If you're interested keep watching.
Halo halo..!
Welcome back to the whole happy life. My name is Ria and I'm a holistic nutritionist with a food engineering background. For today's video, we're going to talk about 10 daily habits that have made a really big difference to my life in different areas such as physical health, emotional health and brain health.
Before we dive in I wanted to say a few things so you know the context. The first thing is these daily habits have been the result of gradual habit-forming over the last five years- it's not something that happened overnight. It is difficult to form habits and it does take time. The second thing - although these habits are daily habits I don't put pressure on myself to do them every day especially when things get too busy or things are too overwhelming. Sometimes things slide a little and that's okay. When you're making lifestyle changes it's not about perfection it's about doing what you can and generally, I do try to do these habits at least three to five times a week in the times that I'm really stressed out because I feel that they do help me stay on track and they do help reduce stress. Anyway enough with the introduction let's get into the habits.
The first daily habit is that I drink a glass of water as soon as I get up. Well not as soon as I get up -I brush my teeth, I go to the bathroom and then I have a glass of water. I find that this has made a big difference in energy levels in the morning. When we're sleeping we're not taking it any water and when we wake up we can be mildly dehydrated and when we're dehydrated our fatigue levels go up. There is some science behind this - I'll put it in the description box. So a good thing to do is start your morning by getting enough hydration. I drink a glass of filtered water. If I feel like it, I'll add some lemon to it I don't always do that and it's usually at room temperature but if you like warm water that can work too. It really is about personal preference but drinking some water in the morning is a great thing to do for your energy levels.
Number two I meditate for 10 minutes every day. I used to be very sceptical about meditation when I first started. I didn't really believe in it I didn't think that there was science behind it but there is actually quite a bit of science. It can do things like reducing anxiety, it can help you improve your immune function, it can help reduce pain. There's a lot that it can do I have a few links in the description box but for me the biggest change is mental clarity and I feel much calmer. I am not naturally a calm person I may appear calm on YouTube but I am not naturally a calm person.
Meditation - years of meditation has gotten me to this point and I really do think that there are a lot of benefits to trying it out. Now if you're a beginner, meditation can seem very daunting and I have two tips to provide. So the first one is to try to just be very open about meditation in the beginning. The first 10 to 15 sessions for me were very difficult. I didn't know what I was doing and I felt overwhelmed and I felt like I was doing it the wrong way. It wasn't until the 15th or 16th session that I really got into it and I started to see the benefit. So give it time.
The second thing is if you are starting out try guided meditation versus meditation where you're just doing it on your own. Guided meditation can really help you stay on track and can really guide you through the process. I use an app called Calm - I highly recommend it. I love it. There is also another app called Headspace which you could try out.
Number three I go for a brisk walk outside the house every day. Now I have to say I live in Canada, so a daily brisk walk doesn't happen all year round! It doesn't happen in winter but for the rest of the year, I try to go outside because I think it's a mood booster to get some fresh air ..., to get sunshine and get out on the greenery and there is research showing that plant exposure green is good for your health. As usual, everything is in the description box.
For me, brisk walking isn't just for improving my mood - it's also the way I exercise. I'm NOT a gym person I've never been in a gym. I just don't enjoy it. Who knows who enjoy the gym. I would love to do it but, I can't. I don't like it. So for me to exercise has to be something that is part of my lifestyle and I like to go for a walk. So I started walking now.
The World Health Organization recommends that we do about 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity or 75 minutes of cardiovascular activity. The walk can count if your heart rate is high enough so when I walk I test mine. I have an app on my phone samsung health is the app I use and my heart rate is usually between the moderate and thicker zones. So my walking actually counts as exercise, it counts as water and activity. So that's how I get 150 minutes of exercise per week through the road.
Number four, apart from my walking exercise exercises so walking is great for cardiovascular activity .. if you are doing brisk walking or if they are jogging or running but a comprehensive exercise regimen should include more than just cardio. I like to include some weight training and yoga but I specifically want to talk about weeds. There are many women who shy away from him mainly because they think they will look a certain way if they train with weights.
The World Health Organization recommends the average adult have at least two sessions a week. Why is it so important as we get older we tend to lose muscle mass? The Normal Part of Aging Another normal part of aging is that loss of bone density occurs but, we can slow down the process with one thing and that one thing is weight training. So no matter how old you are, it could be in your 20s or 30s, it's never too early to start maintaining muscle mass and maintaining bone density if you are a beginner, you should always talk to a professional to learn. The right moves You can do the lifting or free weights but, always talk to someone who knows what they are doing, so that you don't get hurt and in the end when you know what you are doing you can always work at home, that's what I do. I am NOT a gym like I mentioned earlier. So I'm not going to the gym, but I'm going to use weightlifting. And body weight training at home if you're interested in the training channel I'm following, I have it in the description box below.
Get variety, so I try to cut at least two to three servings of fruit and vegetables from different groups if you're interested in learning more about eating the rainbow I have a link in the description box below.
Number seven I listen to relaxing music every night as a way to cool off so music has many different health benefits, science is still emerging but what I find really interesting is that nature sounds and calming music can help reduce stress, it can help reduce hormones a stress called cortisol if you're interested in science is in the description box.
So I try to listen to something really soothing maybe some sound of nature sounds rustling with the leaves things like that waterfall it's all really nice to hear at the end of the day as a way to relax.
Number eight I try to read or learn something new every day and I like to do this because it's something I really enjoy but there are other benefits of it, especially when it comes to brain health so as we get older there is a natural decline in our memory that happens but, mental stimulation can slow it down.
So for me, reading that I want to learn new things for you can be whatever works for you. If you are a person who likes to read reading fiction and nonfiction books both have their benefits if you don't like reading learning a new language in an app like duolingo can work or you can watch something every day like a short snippet about Ted Ed to learn something new, It's its all about keeping your brain engaged and stimulated.
Number-9 I try to spend quality time with loved ones every day. And I want to underline the word quality time because many of us end up spending time with our loved ones but, we use our cell phones and we don't really engage with them, they don't really talk to them. This is not good communication and it happens to everyone. It's just a digital age where we used to live on my cell phone, my husband and I felt like I was spending time with him but, it wasn't really time-consuming. So now no phone actually talks to him.
I spend time with my cat - I find that cuddling with pets or humans - can help you release oxytocin, known as the cuddle hormone or the love hormone and can help reduce stress.
Number 10 I avoid calling within an hour of bedtime. So I usually use my phone right before bed. And I find it really hard to fall asleep because my brain is everywhere, it's very stimulated mentally. And the phone also emits something known as blue light. And that blue light is something your brain thinks they like. When you use the phone and that blue light enters your brain. I don't think it's time to sleep so it won't produce melatonin properly and it becomes harder to sleep.
I've actually talked about this in another video about sleep which I will link to in the description box below but, what I'm trying to do is I switch my phone off an hour or a half hour before going to sleep like flight mode. So I don't see any notifications. I saw nothing and that way I could actually sleep better.
Hopefully this video was useful to you and you enjoyed it if you liked it, give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe because I create videos like this every week and before you go let me know in the comment box below what is the one habit that has changed your life I will see you in the next video bye...
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