How to live a healthy lifestyle
Hello, and welcome to my first post on my new blog. In this post, I will be sharing with you my basic philosophy on how to live a healthy lifestyle which is how I live my life and what I recommend. I will be expanding on all of these topics in upcoming posts.
The influences that shaped my philosophy around how to live a healthy lifestyle came from what I learned from my parents growing up, what I learned in school studying nutrition and other healthy living therapies such as hypnotherapy and massage, studying the work of Julia Ross, Weston Price, Dr. Mercola, Jose Silva, and Esther Hicks and from the hundreds of books I have read on nutrition, healthy living, and mind body healing over the last 25 years.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 1. Follow a Low Carb and/or Paleo Diet.
The Paleo diet is a low to moderate carb healthy living diet that focuses on protein, healthy fats, non-starchy vegetables, berries and fruits. It eliminates all grains, gluten, most dairy, processed food, and processed sugar. Because this diet is high in protein and healthy fats, it is very satiating, you don’t get as hungry, your blood sugar is more stable and it is very anti-inflammatory.
If you are a vegetarian, you can still follow this diet. You would want to replace the meat with eggs and dairy products. Dairy technically isn’t allowed on the Paleo diet, but if you are not sensitive or allergic to it, many Paleo experts believe that it is fine to include it. If you are a Pescetarian, you can follow this diet by just having fish, shellfish, eggs and cheese. I did this for quite a while and liked it, but because I am allergic to eggs and things made with cow’s milk, it was too limiting for me.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 2. Eat Organic Food.
I recommend eating organic as much as possible as part of your healthy living lifestyle. Organic foods are free of pesticides and GMOs, tend to be grown in more nutrient dense soil, are better for the environment and simply taste better.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 3. Avoid Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs).
GMOs are plants and animals that have been genetically modified by Biotech Companies to be completely different than how they occur in nature. The main purposes stated by these companies are to create plants that contain insecticides so they have more tolerance to pests, increase crop yield, and need less water. This has all come at a high price and a detriment to healthy living, as numerous studies have show that GMOs cause huge health problems. You can avoid GMOs by choosing organic foods, growing a lot of your own fruits and vegetables and avoiding processed foods. I’ll be talking about more about this in upcoming posts. To learn more about the dangers of GMOs, you should watch the documentary film, Food, Inc.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 4. Eliminate Processed Foods.
As mentioned above, I recommend sticking to whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible. Whole, organic foods are healthier and do not contain GMOs. The main sources of GMOs are corn, soy, canola and cottonseed which are in almost every single processed food that you buy. I will be posting easy, time saving healthy living recipes on this blog. This is a great article to help you get started eating real food.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 5. Eat Fermented Foods.
Fermented foods are a must for healthy living. These foods contain high levels of probiotics which are the healthy bacteria in your intestines. These bacteria can get depleted through modern living – taking antibiotics, antibiotics you unknowingly consume in foods, and sugar and gluten. Types of fermented foods are raw sauerkraut, kimchi, raw pickles, kombucha, fermented coconut water, homemade soda, as well as many others. I will be posting all kinds of recipes to make these yourself.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 6. Practice Stress Reduction Techniques.
Stress reduction is extremely important for healthy living. Many modern illnesses are caused by stress. Stress is also implicated in memory problems, accelerates the aging process, causes weight gain, weakens the immune system, and can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep. Great ways to reduce stress and enhance healthy living are meditation, self-hypnosis, exercise, massage, and EFT. I have a Stress Reducing Guided Imagery download of nature scenes available that you can order.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 7. Think Positive.
Negative thinking drains your energy and ruins your life. Negative thinking often leads to a viscous cycle – something bad happens, you think a negative thought about it, you think about all the other negative and bad things that have happened, this causes you to attract more bad things, and you think more negative thoughts about them, and on and on, leading you into a downward spiral. You can however, train your mind out of these patterns simply by continuously focusing on all of the good and positive things in your life. This is not about denying the negative. Denying your negative thoughts just pushes them into your subconscious where it becomes more difficult to deal with them. What you can do instead is when something bad happens, acknowledge it, trust you will find a way to resolve it, and also acknowledge all the other good things in your life. The more you do this the easier it will become, and you can actually go into an upward spiral. Some great healthy living ways to change negative thinking to positive are studying the principles of Abraham-Hicks in Ask and it is Given, limiting exposure to the news and using hypnosis and EFT.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 8. Release Limiting Beliefs.
Our minds are powerful and our entire lives are the sum of our beliefs. Unfortunately, many of our beliefs are not very empowering. If you believe that you are not good enough, not pretty enough, everyone in your family gains weight after 40 and there is nothing you can do, or that money is bad, these beliefs will affect your life in a profoundly negative way and will limit your potential. However, limiting beliefs can be changed, and once you know how, it isn’t even that hard. Ways to release limiting beliefs and enhance your healthy living lifestyle, are using the Emotional Freedom Technique, Hypnosis, The Sedona Method, and The Work by Byron Katie.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 9. Drink Spring or Filtered Water.
You should drink the highest quality water possible for healthy living. Our bodies are 70% water so it is extremely important to drink 8-10 a glasses a day of pure, healthy water. Almost all tap water contains fluoride which has been proven to be dangerous, as well as other pollutants and pharmaceutical drug residues. 40% of all bottled water is just tap water and many times the BPA from the plastic seeps into the water. I recommend drinking fresh spring water. You can find springs where you can collect fresh spring water at www.findaspring.com. I have been doing this for the past year and have noticed a big difference in my health and the water tastes much better. When my boyfriend and I travel, we stop at a health food store to buy a 3 gallon BPA jug and use this website to find local springs. If drinking fresh spring water isn’t an option for you, the best water filters are reverse osmosis which removes fluoride and a large amount of other contaminants.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 10. Exercise.
Exercise has numerous health benefits. Many experts believe that you should do a combination of low intensity exercise such as walking or yoga, high intensity exercise such as sprinting, and strength training. Studies have shown that regular exercise can be just as effective as taking anti-depressants. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better, reduce anxiety, improve your memory, increase your metabolism, help with weight loss, enhance healthy living, and so much more.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 11. Get healthy sun exposure.
The body needs the sun to create vitamin D which is critical for healthy living. As little as 10 minutes a day of sun exposure without sunscreen is usually enough. Vitamin D helps to protect against cancer, keeps your bones strong, and helps you to have a positive outlook.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 12. Spend time in nature.
Everything in nature is connected, in perfect balance and there is tremendous abundance, and being in nature helps you to bring all these elements into your life. Hiking through a forest or walking along a beach brings a deep sense of calm. Studies have shown that spending time in nature reduces stress and inspires happiness and optimism. I have a Guided Imagery Nature Scene Download that you can order for times when you are too busy to get out in nature.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 13. Get Plenty of Sleep.
Getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night is critical to health. Sleep deprivation can cause short-term memory problems, decreased immune functioning, difficulty concentrating and focusing, weight gain, food cravings, depression, lowered sex-drive, and less resilience in handling stress. Some healthy living tips to improve your sleep are sleeping in a completely darkened room, getting exercise and exposure to sunlight during the day, turning off your wifi at night, and minimizing stress levels during the day. I have created a Self-Hypnosis Sleep Recording to guide you into a deep, restful sleep which you can order here.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 14. Reduce exposure to EMF frequencies.
EMFs are frequencies are emitted from cellphones, wifi, and smart meters. Studies have shown that too much exposure can be dangerous to our health. Overexposure to EMF frequencies can disturb your sleep, deplete your body of minerals and other nutrients, cause skin rashes, decrease in immune functioning, and even cause brain tumors. There are many easy and inexpensive ways to minimize the danger and enhance your healthy living lifestyle. Steps that you can take are to unplug your wifi at night, get an Airtube headset for your cellphone, and reduce the amount of electrical devices in your bedroom.
How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle – Step 15. Eliminate Toxins.
We now unfortunately live in a very toxic world which is not very conducive to healthy living. New chemicals and toxins are constantly being added to our food, water and air supply every year without our knowledge or consent. A lot of these toxins can be eliminated as we discussed above through eating organic foods, drinking spring or filtered water and reducing exposure to EMF frequencies. Cleaning and personal care products are also huge sources of toxins, as well as the air we breathe. You can eliminate these by using natural cleaning products, natural skin care products, and by getting a good air filter for your home and office.
