8 Things Healthy, Happy Women do Daily

Being a healthy woman consists of a lot more than just eating your veggies (although that is on the list).

We want our minds and lives to reflect the happy, healthy homemakers, lady-bosses and dream-achievers that we are.

What comprises a healthy, balanced life and what do truly healthy women do everyday to keep the balance?

Eat a balanced diet

This might seem like an obvious place to start, but healthy women eat a clean diet.

Getting enough variety in your food can mean the difference between being under-nourished and getting all of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

Try to get as much color in your meals as possible!

Each foods color is made up of different kinds of nutrients that you only get from eating that type of food, or supplementing with a vitamin.

Taco Salad is a surprisingly good representation of what a healthy color plate looks like.

Get enough sleep

Sleep isn’t just important when our bodies are growing, but all throughout our lives. Getting enough sleep is how our bodies recuperate, and heal themselves.

REM sleep is the most important kind to be getting, because that is when your body is in its deepest sleep.

If you often feel lethargic or tired after getting a full nights sleep, you may not be getting all of your rem cycles, or you may be waking up in the middle of a rem cycle.

A rem cycle typically takes 90 minutes to achieve, and takes 10 minutes once you are actually asleep.

That is the 1st cycle, proceeded by the 2nd and 3rd, which are both longer, and the 4th and last cycle lasting a full hour.

Waking up in the middle of a cycle can cause drowsiness during the day, and the feeling of not getting enough sleep.

Consult your physician or Doctor if you think you may have a sleep disorder, or you frequently notice having trouble sleeping.

Our skin absorbs everything we put on it.

There are so many good options that we have available to us these days. To keep our bodies and minds in top condition, we need to be using the best, most natural products we can find.

The all natural deodorant that I use is the Alaffia brand.

This deodorant takes a bit to get used to after using traditional deodorant, and you may detox, which wont smell lovely.

But once you are past that stage, it works great! The Lavender-Charcoal is a personal fave of mine.

Other things you may consider switching include:

• Soaps
• Shampoo and Conditioner
• Makeup
• Body Spray
• Lotion
• Any Kitchen/bathroom cleaners

Buying environmentally friendly, clean products is less toxic on your body, better for the earth and safer for our families.

Make time for Self-Care

A healthy mind comes from taking care of ourselves. Self-care is anything from a basic self-checkup to taking a nightly bath.

It’s easy to lose track of ourselves when we spend a lot of our time on our business’s, taking care of our families, or moving up in the business world.

Take time each week to reset.

Whether that means doing some window shopping by your self, getting a babysitter and spending some time at home to just relax and maybe clean, or going to see a movie with your spouse or friends.

Spend quality time

 

Healthy women spend quality time with their loved ones.

Again, its easy to lose track of time when you are busy managing your world.

But don’t get so caught up that you lose track of those girls that were in your wedding, or the siblings that drove you a little crazy growing up.

Something I used to do when I was in school was to make time once a month to take my mom to the movies. It was one of the most fun things to look forward to, and gave us a chance to stay connected.

Mark time on your calendar for the ones you love, and stay connected.

Drink enough water

Staying hydrated is important to having a healthy mind and healthy body!

Keeping a large thermos of water on hand during the work day, at the gym, or around the house as your’e doing chores is a great way to keep yourself in top notch condition.

Even if you don’t consistently exercise, you still need to be drinking at least half a gallon per day. But don’t be scared by that number! Its really not as much as it seems.

Half a gallon is the same as eight 8oz glasses of water.

An easy way to keep track of this is to buy a gallon of water, and mark the half way point. By the end of the day you should reach the half-way point, and once you run out you can fill it back up and start over.

You can also get water bottles that are 20oz, and drink a few of those per day.

Exercise

 

Getting enough exercise is just as important as getting enough sleep or water.

Our bodies have so many complex muscle systems that need to be worked, and since a lot of us work at desks or computers, or go to school at some point during the week, we sit more than is healthy.

Take any opportunity during the day to get up and stretch.

At College, this meant walking around the campus between classes instead of sitting in the library.

Walking is actually one of the best exercises for our bodies. We are perfectly designed for walking, and that alone can be a great way to lose weight and stay in shape.

Find ways to de-stress

Lastly, lets talk about stress.

Stress is something that the body naturally creates to keep you alive. Without it, we wouldn’t have a fight-or-flight reaction.

 

But too much stress on the body can be disastrous, and we put ourselves in unnecessary stressful situations all the time.

Do your best to be conscious of situations you put yourself in.

At work, if there is someone that stresses you out with their gossip train, as if you can wear headphones at your desk. Keep a stress ball handy in case of panic or nerves.

Whatever you can do to keep level and calm, be intentional about it. Make sure not to let yourself be thrown into conversations or situations that cause stress.