This is a guest post by Qudsiyah Remtulla from The Visual Age.
There’s a lot of tips out there on how to start caring for your wellbeing, and I remember making the intention to “be healthy!” all of a sudden but the hype never sustained itself for more than just a couple of days, leaving me so demoralized.
I only discovered the problem recently. I was trying to jump to being healthy all at one go and that of course, didn’t work. What you really want the intention to be is that “I’m going to try and make better decisions in regards to my wellbeing.” No strong NO’s, just better decisions; you’ve got to ease yourself in. The biggest mistake I made was trying to do it all at once. Small steps become a part of you fairly quickly so you can gradually adopt one decision after the other.
These are some of the very little steps that I have taken to making better decisions within the last five months. I used to think that it was super difficult but today I’m here to tell you that it’s not; as long as you don’t try to take it all in at one go. We’re still learning the secrets of being healthier, but this is where we are right now;
Purchase products that are actually good for you. There’s a lot of porridge and cereals out there but try to look for those that have more goodness instead of sugars. I currently love Jordan’s and the Power Omega 3 porridge by QuakerOats. (I add a bunch of fruits, peanut butter with seeds by Whole Earth, coconut flakes and I complete it with a drizzle of honey)
Add superfoods to boost your meals. Chia seeds and Flaxseeds are our current favourites. We add a teaspoon of each to smoothies, porridge, overnight oats and cereal to add to the nutritional value. There are so many others that you can pick from as well!
Support the local markets and buy more fresh fruit and veg and get that goodness into your system to boost your immunity.
Eat when you’re hungry; Stop when you’re not. When you stop eating at the point where you’re not hungry anymore, you feel energized and less lethargic than when you eat until you’re full up.
Get some sports in. If you’re something like me and struggle to exercise at home or go for a run, find local sports centers that you can join during the week. If you can, get someone to join you as well!
Drink more water. Have a bottle next to you. If I don’t have a bottle next to where I’m working, I’ll forget water even exists, especially in the winter when you don’t get particularly thirsty in the day.
Resort to smoothies or homemade snacks instead of store bought junk. I’m still exploring this area, but Pinterest has the best stuff! We recently made some 15-minute chunky cookies that had peanut butter with pumpkin, sunflower and flaxseeds, some of the Omega 3 Protein Oats to that and some chocolate which were really good to snack on at 10.30pm. It feels great to snack on something that’s good for you!
Using coconut oil. Coconut oil can be used for so many beneficial purposes such as oil pulling, skincare, haircare, and internal body care too! I just put a little bit of it in my morning coffee! Read the benefits here.
Author: Qudsiyah Remtulla is a visual illustrator and the founder of “The Visual Age”; a platform that passionately exists to enhance personal growth and development through graphic design and creative illustrations.
About Her Blog: My blog is primarily directed towards personal growth; inspiring productivity, sharing lessons and experiences that inspire inner peace, happiness, contentment and a more meaningful way to live our lives thereby learning and growing together.
Check out her blog: www.thevisualage.com
Social Media: INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK
Great post! I will have to try adding chia seeds to my foods more often I have heard they are very good for you. These were great tips that I need to put into practice.
Hi there! Thank you so much for your encouraging response. Chia seeds are awesome – they have so much protein! 🙂 All the best!
I am a junk food junkie and I had to decide not to buy it at the store so I would’t eat it! Its made a big difference
Same! My husband and I love our chocolate snacks and potato crisps – we made a conscious decision to reduce the amount we purchase so that’s really made a huge difference, especially since we’re trying to make more homemade snacks now 🙂
I love these ideas. I try to do most of them except get some sports in :'( The easiest one for me is to drink a lot of water because I am always thirsty haha 🙂 I love making smoothies and include superfoods in it 🙂 It is so easy 😀
Your comment warms my soul 🙂
Haha I wish I could say the same. Most days I just have to make myself drink water until i’m happy with the amount. Smoothies are just the best! Our favourite is a peanut butter, dates & chocolate one. Yum!
Lovely and helpful ideas! I really need to drink more water.
Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂
It’s such a simple thing to do but can be quite the task to maintain! We’ll get there though, one gulp at a time.
These are all great idea! I am starting to get back to eating better, and fixing healthier meals for myself and my daughter. This is a great encouragement for me. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you! 🙂
That’s such a great initiative, all the best! 🙂
Wonderful and inspiring post! I started make little changes in my eating habits now like drinking more water or repleacing more stuff from white to wheat or adding chia seeds 🙂 now I just need to add some sport 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment! 🙂
Oh yes! It really works to make little and gradual changes, they become a longer lasting habit don’t they? Hope you find some good sports that you enjoy 🙂
Quinoa is one of my favourite superfoods. Makes a great substitute for rice with meals such as curry and chilli. Plenty of protein and fiber, lower carbs and easy to cook.
Oooo I haven’t experimented with Quinoa just yet but this really makes me want to! 😀 Can’t wait!
I love coconut oil and always drink water now! There are a couple of things on this list I dont always stick to so will definitely work on that in weeks to come!
Foirell | http://www.citygirlrell.com
My husband and I absolutely love coconut oil as well! We use it for everything really. Thank you so much for you comment! 🙂
I love quinoa! I really need to look into adding chia into my diet. I’m bad at drinking water and need to really improve on that. Great post, thanks for sharing.
Im going to try and experiment with Quinoa! I can really struggle to drink water too, so I always try to have a bottle next to me and have a sticky note to remind me to drink more water! 🙂
Lovely!
Thank you so much! 🙂
All these things on this list are foods I love.
Yay! 🙂
So true about the water! I forget it exists too! I put coconut oil on my face every day – big fan!
I can really struggle to drink water too, I have sticky notes to remind me 🙂 Its unbelievable how much coconut oil is so good for you. I put it on my face every night too, and use it for oil pulling first thing in the morning 🙂
Not sure which tip I like best! The chia seeds, coconut oil or sports! Super helpful and will stick with me for sure!
Ah thank you so much for your lovely comment! :))
These are all fab tips – I just really need to start drinking more water, I’m absolutely terrible. Don’t think I’ve had a glass yet and it’s almost 2pm ugh x
Thank you for your lovely comment! I’m terrible as well. I just have a bottle next to me at all times and sticky notes to remind me to keep drinking! It’s a hard one to maintain!
Loved the post! Everything you say makes sense and sometimes I completelly forget to do some of them. Probably the most difficult for me is drinking more water. When I’m at the office I have the bottle in front of me and I’m so focused on working that I don’t drink enough. I should put an alarm to drink every x minutes haha
thanks for sharing 😉
Thank you for your encouraging comment! 🙂
That’s the same with me sometimes as well, when you’re in the flow of work it’s so easy to forget. An alarm is a great idea! 🙂
I cut down by making more smoothie and by drinking more water.
That’s so good already, exactly what i’m trying to maintain! 🙂
Love this! Thanks for posting, I stumbled upon this at the right time as I’m going through a stage in my life where I get discouraged and stressed and need to make better choices for my health and wellbeing! Great tips!! Thank you so much
You cannot imagine how happy that makes my soul! <3
Hang in there and take it literally one step at a time and you'll get there 🙂 X
Love this! This month I’m trying to drink more water. I have to keep a bottle of water on my desk otherwise I wont drink anything!
Laura // http://www.thosepositivethoughts.com