Who doesn’t want to get healthier these days? Fortunately, even small adjustments to your daily routine can create big results over time. Whether your goal is weight loss, improving muscle tone, heart health, or better performance at the gym, all it takes is one small step to get started. Smartphone applications make it especially easy to set goals, make adjustments, and track your progress over time. Here are five little things you can do today that will help maximize your health.
1. Get 10,000 Steps
If you use your phone or an activity tracker, you can see how many steps you walk and how many flights of stairs you climb each day. Increasing your daily steps is an easy way to get more active. Set a specific daily steps goal and track your progress so it will be easier to stick to your new wellness goal.
Another way to get more steps into your day is to park at the end of the parking lot every time you stop to run an errand. Also, when you get home at the end of a long day, you can go for a quick walk around the block to complete your daily goal.
2. Eliminate a Serving of Sugar
Calories from sugar are empty calories—as sugar doesn’t provide our bodies with essential nutrients. Make a goal to eliminate just one serving of sugar from your diet each day. Some people will need to reduce at least one cup of coffee, serving of chips or cookies, or a can of soda. Others will need to order no sugar in their coffee or skip dessert. Eliminating 100 calories of sugar a day and walking more can gradually lower your total weight over time.
3. Download a Guided Meditation
If you’re feeling stressed, then you can turn to your phone’s app store for help relaxing. You might listen to bedtime stories, do a guided meditation, or just breathe while you listen to music, nature sounds, or other sound patterns.
Meditation helps you to focus your breathing and inhale and exhale enough to truly release the body’s tension and stress. You can also use the bedtime stories to fall asleep and nature sounds for background noise throughout the night.
4. Get Enough Sleep
If you’re like most, your sleep “schedule” involves staying up late and waking up early for work, then sleeping in like crazy on the weekends. Are you really surprised that you feel so tired? Set your phone to Do Not Disturb, create morning alarms, and start a bedtime ritual. By keeping your sleep schedule regular, you train your body to stick to a consistent sleep schedule—which promotes better quality sleep. Keep track of the number of hours you sleep each night to ensure that you’re meeting you’re meeting your sleep goals.
If you find that you still have trouble sleeping, then you may want to look for a mattress that offers you better support. Did you know that a supportive mattress keeps your spine aligned? When your back is healthy, you get better sleep at night and experience less stiffness when you wake up. While comfort is important, an ultra-plush mattress with limited support will not give you the restorative sleep your body needs.
5. Talk to Someone Everyday
You need at least one friend, relative, or even a therapist who you can easily talk to in times of stress. Even if you’re not going through a difficult time, understand that social interaction is a basic human need. Your social life has a direct impact on your mental and physical health. So if you’ve been feeling antisocial, take more opportunities to talk to the people in your life—no matter how busy you are.
These small changes can make a big difference in your health. If you put your needs first, you will be in a better position to help others and meet your many personal and professional obligations.
