Good morning, good morning…

Reading Craig’s simple top tips for long haul travel last week it reminded me of a conversation I had a with a client a while back about simple healthy living.

My client was a student at the time and was keen to find out what I thought were the cheapest things they could do for their health on a budget.

As per usual I started with “keep it simple and don’t get sucked in to thinking being healthy is more complicated than it really is.”

To that end here are my favourite healthy things we can do daily:

• Drink more water

  • you’re basically made of the stuff and most people are unknowingly chronically dehydrated

  • start with a pint first thing in the morning and keep a bottle you can refill with you throughout the day

  • staying hydrated has the benefit of keeping you moving during the day, either to fill up the bottle or go to the toilet

  • watch and read this

• Cold Showers

  • have a cold shower - boom!

  • or at least finish your shower with 1 min cold water

  • has been suggested to improve the muscle function in the lining of blood vessels

  • promotes blood movement to internal organs

  • will definitely wake you up!

  • read this or listen to this

• Walk at least an hour a day

  • have walking meetings - research suggests walking and talking stimulates mental performancetoo

• Get off the bus one stop earlier

  • take the stairs

  • this really is a minimum - when you have this dialled in aim for some form of “exercise” daily when you’re up to it!

  • read this

• More sleep

  • go to bed earlier - ie. don’t watch “just one more episode…"

  • give your body & brain more time to repair itself

  • read this or listen to this

• Eat real food

  • if it’s not in your fridge or cupboard its difficult to eat it - make better decisions when you’re food shopping

  • stay around the outside of a supermarket away from the processed stuff in the middle

• Eat mainly plants

  • read this (book), this (blog) or listen to this (language warning!)

• Eat less

  • research is suggesting that the single most effective thing we can do to improve longevity is some form of calorie restriction style of eating

  • read this or listen to this

Of course there’s almost an infinite number of other things we can do to help ourselves, but for those living a busy London lifestyle I think these few things are generally achievable on a consistent basis - and this is really where the magic kicks in - consistency.

Being healthier is honestly a series of seemingly small decisions that add up over time…

“No” to the cake, “yes” to the apple

“No” to another episode, “yes” to 30 mins more sleep

“No” to finishing the bottle, “yes” to a glass of water

Please ask your chiro for their favourite healthy habits and follow up with “why?”

Big love, guys. X

P.S. Don’t forget we’re just two-legged animals chasing sparkly objects on a rock in space, with only the memory of our chase… and even this memory is faulty… lol!