A while ago Jared wrote about how small changes were what helped him start his health journey. I get DMs pretty regularly asking for some ideas on where to start a health journey if you’re totally new to the idea so I wanted to jot down a few really small and simple ways that you can make a change. And you can read his initial small steps and philosophy for change HERE.

 

1) Clean up your coffee. 

Try going one step better on your coffee. I’m not anti the odd (daily) coffee but I’m less keen on the stuff we put in it. Try going for one less pump of syrup, or go without sugar, maybe take it black, or cut down the number of cups, or perhaps go organic. Any of those is a great health step. If you’re drinking decaf consider switching to a cleaner swiss water process decaf. (THIS is the brand we drink.)

2) Say no to that birthday cake at work.

Our office is often full of things we wouldn’t choose to eat but sometimes they woo us so well. It’s birthday cake, you should celebrate right? Where Jared works it’s someone’s birthday every day so if we celebrated everyone by eating their cake… You get the picture. Determining to say no is a lot easier when he takes our own healthy treats with him, trying packing lunch and snacks to help you say no to the unhealthy free food and yes to loving your body.  So don’t think you have to go without a treat, just make it one step cleaner.

3) Cut the refined sugar.

It creeps into everything. Try cutting it out and sticking to more natural sweeteners; fruit, raw honey, dates – they are still sugar but they come with real nutrition as well. I have lots of recipes on here if you need helping though with refined sugar sweet treats just hit up the RECIPES page HERE! And one of our fave chocolatey treats that has zero sugar in it is THIS chocolate bark, it really can curb a sugar craving!

4) Go wholegrain.

If cutting refined sugars feels too daunting, you could try just making the switch to whole grain. Anything ‘white’, be it bread, rice or flour, it probably isn’t loving your body. Try eating the whole grain option instead. Most places will have good whole grain options when you’re eating out and it’s easy to fill your home and switch to the whole grain alternatives. Give your body the fiber it loves and needs and go brown. Brown rice, brown flour, brown whole grain bread etc etc. Grains get bad press sometimes in the health world with the paleo diet, and they’re not what everyone thrives on but we love them in our home, and if you’re starting out and you eat a lot of the white version going wholegrain is a cheap and easy switch. (If you’re already eating wholegrain try doing an even more nutritious version like sprouted spelt or einkorn. They come at a higher price but it’s another great even better option in my book.)

5) Hydrate! 

It’s amazing what simply drinking water will do for you, upping your water intake will give you more energy and help your body is so many ways, so switch out those other drinks for just the good pure stuff. I add lemon to mine, make organic herbal tea or drink it carbonated to help me when plain feels boring.

6) Get moving.

 Get your metabolism going and find five minutes to move. You could use your work breaks for a walk, get up early and workout, take the stairs, leave the car, meet for a walk instead of a coffee. Find a small way that you can work with your schedule to be more active this week than last week! (Obviously, only do what’s safe for you. For me post partum I can’t do everything – I’ve been loving some post pregnancy safe workouts by Becky from Good For The Swole paired with running. You can read more about that in my update post HERE.)

7) Eat breakfast. 

So many people skip breakfast, and it’s so important for you! It gives you energy and nutrition for the day, gets your metabolism going, stops you from snacking on less good food and being hangry for lunch and then making bad choices… Just. Eat. Something ? So many people who struggle to lose weight don’t eat breakfast to save calories but actually, starting your day with a good healthy meal can help some people lose weight. One of my fave’s is THIS balanced and low sugar smoothie bowl but for something even more simple try a bowl or oatmeal, a banana with nut butter, a slice of whole grain toast with avocado or even just blending your coffee with some homemade nutritious cashew milk and cinnamon!

8) Go organic and/or local.

Try getting more of your fruit or veggies, meat or dairy (or everything!) organic and if you can, local. Added nutrition, fewer food miles, it’s better for you and the environment. Oh and the taste is unrivaled. If you want to start small, look at the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen to guide which things you should start buying organic and which you can save on.

9) Sleep.  

I’m finding a new value for sleep so this is my goal, valuing sleep and getting my 8 hours   as much as I can manage with babies. Know what you need and build it in to your schedule as best you can. Sleep is NOT a waste of time (…that’s my own personal mantra!)

10) Love yourself!

This alone will change your life. Before you set out for the day, look in the mirror and tell yourself 3 things you love about you! If the way you think about and treat yourself is the only thing you change, I promise it will change your LIFE.?

If you’re wanting to branch our into other areas, I wrote a post on how food affected other areas of our life HERE. Then I talked about:

• cleaning up my cosmetics in a very manageable way HERE.
• and you’ll find a few ways we started to make our home a bit more eco conscious HERE.
• and some of our Zero Waste living essential are on THIS post (and they’re all under $20.)

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