I am going to be 35 next month…this has been giving me a lot of feelings. 35 is an age where I thought I would have achieved more than I actually have. But at the same time, I have achieved more than I ever thought I would by this age. I am going to share with you 6 ways I’m improving my health in this time of my life.
As I prepare for next month, I felt like the Lord highlighted some things for me to focus on. I am usually quite a healthy person. After spending some time writing down some new health goals, I realized God wasn’t just wanting me to focus on my physical body.
My mental, emotional and spiritual health are areas that I want to put more attention towards. So I thought I’d share with you 6 ways that I am improving my health. These aren’t just for your physical body either!
***This post may contain affiliate links, but only to products I genuinely love. It won’t cost you anything extra. You can read the full disclosure here.***
Dandelion Tea + Lemon and Apple Cider Vinegar in AM
This one is for my body. Since I started doing this I feel like my body is having some wake up time in the morning. I usually work out first thing in the morning. Then I drink my Dandelion Tea and after that, lemon and ACV in warm water. Then half an hour after that I eat breakfast.
This routine has pushed my breakfast time back. It’s later than usual, but because I am giving myself a lot more liquid. I am not hungry until later and I feel like my digestive system can have a gradual start. Rather than an abrupt start in the morning.
The reason I start my day with Dandelion Tea and then Lemon and ACV is because the benefits of them are just amazing. Barbara O’neil is an Australian nurse who had a severe problem with her first child that was not responding to mainstream treatment. She then went on a journey learning about natural remedies. She believes that the body was designed to heal itself, and will do so given the right conditions. Barbara is a believer and loves the way God has created our bodies to respond and heal. She is 70 now, so she has many years of knowledge and you can read more about her here. Otherwise, I will recap what she says about the Dandelion herb and lemon water in the morning.
She says that the liver is the only organ in our body that has the ability to regrow or recover. Dandelion herb, is the Lion of the herb jungle and actually helps stimulate the liver. She also states that cancer can not get a hold of the body if the liver is working in optimum performance (wow!). The dandelion herb and lemon juice both work as a ‘liver tonic’ to enhance your liver’s performance.
With Barbara’s teaching on the liver, I decided to start adding her suggestions to my daily life. I drink dandelion tea first. Then warm lemon water which I sometimes add Apple Cider Vinegar to. (Sometimes I have the ACV later in the day because it can make me feel like gagging in the morning). I also look for Dandelion leaves when I can and add them into my salad!
13,000 steps non-negotiable, 5km run 3x a week, 5 minimum home workouts
When I have a routine and structure I am pretty good at sticking to it. However, living in Germany now and not being able to work has left me feeling somewhat unmotivated to keep a routine.
I decided this was not going to do, so I made a few non-negotiables for myself. I would complete a minimum of 13,000 steps daily, run 5km 3 times a week, and do a minimum of 5 home workouts a week. The workouts are 30 minutes minimum. If I am not running that day I will usually do around 45-60 minute workouts.
It can be so easy to go days without walking more than 3,000 steps and hardly burning any calories from activity. I know that there are so many benefits to being active, so I am creating this goal for myself. I know that I prefer getting my workouts done in the morning. However, if I sleep in and feel like a slower morning I have been allowing myself to do that. As long as I still get my goals for the day met.
Having Rocky, my dog, has definitely helped me get out and complete my steps. But even if you don’t have anything to motivate you, invite a friend, or listen to music or a podcast. Use it as your time of prayer and reflection with Jesus. It will not be a waste of your time!
Socially connecting with someone outside of my home everyday
Aldrin, my husband, is my best friend. We talk all the time and tell eachother how we are feeling, and we laugh a lot together. However, I know how important it is to connect socially with people outside of your home. It can be a quick video call or sending voice messages back and forth, but do something to connect with others.
I love to send friends something encouraging and to just let them know that I am thinking and praying for them. It’s these little connections which make people feel known, loved and appreciated and they will make you feel a part of something bigger.
Meditating and spending time with the Lord
If we don’t do this daily we can feel off, or disconnected. Being intune with the Lord and spending time with Him, helps me to keep Him as the main thing – my priority for that day. The enemy is constantly working to steal, kill and destroy and so we need to keep our head in the game, by reminding ourselves of what the word of God says, and invite Him to come close.
Our feelings often distract us and it can be easy to just give in to what we feel. We also don’t always know why or what we are feeling and that is important to know as well, so that we can go to God with our feelings, so that they don’t influence us more than God does.
If we are worried, or confused about something, the Holy Spirit is the answer. We must be comforted by ‘the’ Counselor – Holy Spirit otherwise we will never be fully comforted. If we disconnect our hearts from the Holy Spirit who promises to always be with us, we will start asking the wrong people our questions, we will live vicariously through others. What I have seen a lot too is where people are settling with listening to podcasts, or going to church, and they are not actually connecting with the ONE who can give them life, peace, freedom!
Prioritize the Lord, prioritize His Word. Then you will start living in alignment and you will experience a life that God made available for us.
90% of the food I eat is healthy (whole foods) and drinking water
This can seem really obvious and one to easily skip over, but I encourage you to read this section because even though we know we should eat like this, let me show you how to make it easier.
I love eating healthy, it actually makes me feel so alive and energized! After eating unhealthy for 3-4 days I can feel the difference in my body and jump back to eating healthy!
Although not everyone feels that type of motivation, I have some tips that I find helpful and hopefully they will help you too.
Helpful tips:
- Meal Prep! It’s not as difficult as it sounds and it eliminates eating something quick out of the freezer. It also will reduce the amount you spend on shopping.
- Save videos from Instagram or tik tok with healthy recipe ideas. I just recently saw a video with 1 cup of cottage cheese and 2 eggs mixed together in a blender and then spread out on a tray and then in the oven on medium heat for 30 minutes. Once done, let it cool down and then you use it as a wrap! I tried it and it worked sooo well, it’s my husband’s favorite go-to lunch now! Tik tok and Instagram make the recipes short and inspiring, so they are a great thing to save when you’re just scrolling!
- Have easy snacks. I always have fruit, nuts and healthy protein bars ready to grab. If you have left cooking a meal a bit too late and you’re ravenous you make bad decisions, so have a snack and then cook the healthy meal!
- Choosing whole foods is easy if you know what to make. Try to eliminate processed foods like sausages, desserts, bread, donuts, cakes etc. I know there are so many health gurus out there and so it can all be so overwhelming. However, one thing that Jennifer Aniston actually said one time simplified everything for me. She said “It’s easy to be healthy, just don’t eat crap.” I told you it was simple haha! but seriously that one statement took all the pressure off me.
Water can be tricky to keep up with but what I have found to help me is to drink 70% of my daily amount before lunch. This way I am focused and reach my goal early and then I don’t think about it for the rest of the day. I always reach my daily amount if I work at ensuring I have 70% of it before lunch, and naturally my body craves the other 30% throughout the afternoon and evening.
Keeping tabs on how long I am on my phone
I can get really dissatisfied when I think about how much we are all on our devices these days, myself included! However, being upset about it does nothing, so I knew I had to put a few things in place for me to find a good balance for me.
Firstly, what I have found helps is to have my phone charge in a different room at night. I know a good excuse for this is that your alarm is on your phone, but a battery operated alarm only costs around $10, and most watches have a way to schedule an alarm too. (So no excuses!)
The reason this helps is because I put it down to charge on silent at around 7pm and don’t look at it again until after I’ve worked out, gone outside on a walk and spent time with the Lord. I refuse to have my phone be the first thing that I look at in the morning.
Secondly, I put a timer on my phone every time I pick it up. Sometimes it will be 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour, depending on the reason I am on my phone. Sometimes I want to scroll instagram and see what my friends and family around the world are doing. But I don’t want to get stuck in the scroll and be wasting time, I have found 10 minutes is enough time to get up to date. However, if I know I will be checking all my emails, and posting something on social media I will give myself half an hour. I know that this might seem a little much, but it’s how I have chosen to be in control and not let my phone control me.
Lastly, I have 2 days a week where I do not go on social media at all.
To wrap this up I just want to say that you need to choose and prioritise what you want to do for your health in this season of life that you’re in! Use mine for inspiration, but at the end of the day, it’s your life and you know what you need 🙂
If you liked this post, you may also like:
-’Why a white t-shirt is your best Fashion Investment‘
-‘I created 5 Pinterest outfits with items I already owned’
Thank you!!!
