The world we live in today is constantly challenging our health. Think about the last time you talked to a friend, a coworker or your mother-in-law. Chances are they brought up a health struggle. The weight they can’t lose, the insomnia, the low thyroid problem, the lack of energy, and on and on. It seems like it is just about everywhere. The question seems to be “who doesn’t have a health problem?” The question should be “do we have to have health problems?”, or “how can we live naturally healthy?” The truth is we can live healthy, free of prescription medications, with no excess weight and plenty of sleep and energy. Add these 5 habits to immediately improve your health. Think just 5 little (or not so little for some) habits to your life, Â to start gaining the energy, body, health and wellness you need in your life.
 
1. Ditch the Sugar and the sugar substitute
It is true sugar is the precursor to tons of problems we face today. It is in almost all sodas, and if it’s not the evil twin, sugar substitute is. In fact there are not to many health conditions you can think of that reducing sugar wouldn’t greatly help the health concern. From hormonal issues to diabetes, to ADHD and everything else between, sugar never adds one positive aspect. The average American consumes more than 8 times more than we did 100 years ago, 8 times! That is huge.
Ok forget the sugar and go for the zero calor option sugar substitute right? Wrong!! Artificial sugar substitutes are worse that the sugar they are going to replace. In most cases your body sees artificial sweeteners as toxins, toxins are often stored in fat cells to protect our bodies from harm. So diet soda will help you lose weight right? Wrong, it will ensure those fat cells that are storing the toxins are locked down like Fort Knox. Not to mention the side effects of artificial sweeteners can include epilepsy, brain tumors, birth defects, mental retardation, fibromyalgia, lower red blood cell count, and that is just to name a few of the negative side effects.
Today decide to do your body and your health a huge favor and skip the sugar, and most defiantly the artificial sweeteners. Replace daily sweeteners with honey, maple syrup or agave. No those are not calorie free, but they are real and real is what your body craves.
Making a commitment to ditch sugar may mean you will have to start reading nutrition labels and ingredient list, before you buy. Keeping a keen eye out for not just sugar, but fructose corn syrup, saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. Ditching the sugar may mean you need to make more of your own food, coffee or snacks, but hey it’s healthier on your waistline and your wallet!
2. Drink more water
“DRINK WATER” is nothing new around here In fact if I have a bad mood, a headache or really any issue my husband tells me to drink more water. As anyone with a background in the military can tell you ‘drinking more water’ is supposed to cure every issue in life. Even though we all get a little sarcastic about it, water really is super important. So when my drill sergeant at basic training was yelling “drink water…” He was sharing with me a key to super health. Water really is essential to life. In fact most people are chronically dehydrated. Chronic dehydration leads to premature aging, brain fog, constipation, acne, and more.
Many people say they don’t like to drink water it tastes to plain. See the thing is we often ‘train’ our taste buds to expect something sweet or favored. You can also ‘train’ those same taste buds to expect, refreshing water. You see we are creatures of habit, and our habit becomes what we are used to. Drinking water is absolutely a habit, a habit that will dramatically change your life. Implement this habit to get healthier, happier and all around better wellness. So put you mouth to work for you instead of against you and stop letting the taste buds crave flavors, and instead drink only nourishing liquids, like water.
Start by knowing how much water to drink. Then make sure it is filtered, I recommend getting your own filtration system, you will save tons of money and often those store-bought brands are not nearly as clean as they claim. Ways to add more water (well other than just starting with water of course). Â Try herbal teas (not powder tea forms or liquid drops, that’s not tea). Look into infusing your water with organic (maybe even homegrown, wink-wink) fruits or veggies. Cucumber, lemons, limes and strawberries are all great options.
3. Detox regularly
As we talked about already toxins are overloading our systems. Many people are extremely overloaded with toxins and do not even realize it. Everything from the air we breath, to the water we drink, to the personal care items we use, to the fast & convenient foods are absolute loaded with health stealing toxins.
This is where drinking more water will already help you. As you drink more clean (not tap) water you help your system to flush out those harmful contaminants. However if you are drinking soda, artificially sweetened water you are not helping your system to clear out the junk. When you are cleaning your house starting with a dirty rag isn’t helpful at cleaning much is it? In the same way starting with toxin filled drinks won’t help clean your body.
Drink Kombucha. Chances are you have seen pretty glass bottles in grocery stores and even in the gas station. They are almost always organic. Kombucha is the secret weapon of the extremely healthy, and there is a good reason for it too. It is very detoxifying, cleans the body as well as adds healthy probiotics into your system. Think of probiotics as your bodies defense system.
Detoxing your body is very important. However you don’t want to start detoxing if you haven’t first stopped adding so much toxins and started drinking much more water. Think of detoxing as cleaning house, your bodies house that is. We can’t really begin to clean house if we are letting more dirt in than we are getting out.
4. Eat real food
Skip the diets. No counting, categorizing or weird labels. Just eat real fresh from the earth foods. There is really no substitute for real food. Your body is smart, it knows real food from fake foods. Think no packages, no boxes. How did this item come from the earth? There is no Oreo tree, but there are apple trees. Make the real food items your main focus. A bowl of organic oatmeal and fruit make for a better breakfast than some diet shake or bacon loaded sandwich.
Read labels the longer the list of ingredients, the less like food it really is. Those items you can’t pronounce on the ingredient list, monoglycerides are not a food item, don’t eat them. A good rule to live by, if you can’t read it, don’t eat it.
Real foods are not complicated, they are simple. A shake from some “health company” isn’t the answer the apple, or salad or handful of nuts is the answer. Go for organic, your body and your health will think you. In fact the more and more organic we were able to eat the more everyone’s issues started to clear up, my daughters eczema, my husbands allergies, my thyroid struggles and that was just some of it.
 5. Get moving
With sugar gone, water increased, detoxing regularly and only real food, you will already see tons of changes. Changes like more energy, better skin, and better mental wellbeing. But now the last, but certainly not least key to pull this all together is to move that body. Have you ever noticed the less we use something the less it works right? Ever gone on a long vacation, just to come home and your water pipes are acting up? Perhaps you have that family member that keeps a really old car around “just in case” but every blue moon when they try to start it, it makes a lot of noise and you hear a lot of  4 letter words? That is because some things in life are meant to me used. Just like these items you, your heart, your lungs, your blood, your legs, your body was meant to move. Life begets life right? Movement is energy, energy is life, so get to moving.
Never skip the chance to move more. Park at the back of the parking lot and walk. You know what, get the shopping cart and run and swerve and ride it, your kids will love it, and your body will thank you for it. Take the stairs everywhere, in the mall, at work, in the movie theater. Hit the bike trail, the running path, the yoga mat or heck even the punching bag. The point, and I know you get it, is just to find ways to move more, and not just in actual exercise activities, just in life in general.
The New You
I know I have told you nothing new. This is old news right? The truth is the health, true health is nothing new it’s not the latest diet, hack or fad. Real health does not require you to “trick” your body, or starve you. In fact when you have health in your corner you can take cues from your body. Our bodies know what they need, sometimes they may get confused with a sugar addiction or to many toxins.
Removing those road blocks to your health, so that your body can work more efficiently may not seem easy at first, but man will you be shocked at how fast things can change once you get a few good habits established. When you change habits to really nourish your body weight will seem to melt off, your energy will increase, you can sleep better, your skin will be clearer and that’s just to start. That new rockin’ body and amazing health is just a few habits away. Trust me, if you can commit to these 5 little habits,  you will immediately improve your health. Then watch as your health gets better and better and better♡♡♡
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From our family to yours, thanks for stopping by
Beth is a mother of 6 living on a handful of acres in an old farmhouse in central Kansas. Beth has a background in the military and health and fitness however her passions come from her homestead life. Beth is an enthusiastic homeschooling mom, avid organic gardener, chicken & goat wrangler, who is obsessed with herbs and natural remedies and maintaining an all-around Do-It-Yourself lifestyle. Beth loves to share all she has learned about and sustainable living. While striving for a healthy, natural life, family-centered life.