Do these 8 things in the next 30 days to improve your health
Another year is around the corner and quite a few of us are lamenting about not accomplishing the health goals of 2023 (again). This is a common occurrence and even a bit normal. Ups and downs are part of the journey. It is not over as long as you don’t stop trying.
Instead of falling into the trap of looking for shortcuts, look at making lifestyle changes. I adopt a habit-based, lifestyle change approach in my coaching and I want to share some strategies with you today.
I have listed 8 strategies that will improve your health, and you can start all, if not some of them, today. They will help you move closer to your health and wellness goal and I have tried to make them as actionable as possible.
I want to remind you, however, that health is a lifelong pursuit so it is not just for 30 days. These practices will help you start and tick some boxes before the year gets over to give you some momentum and inspiration and a starting place. Tere is always nuance and personalisation when we adapt these kinds of steps, do keep that in mind. Be safe and sensible.
8 things that will improve your health in the next 30 days
- Use the plating method: The plating method is the way of arranging food on our plate and it helps to manage portions and also reminds us what to add to our plate. This is relatively simple as seen in the picture. Half your plate should be non-starchy vegetables, the other half should be divided between carbs (rice, roti, pasta, appam, bread, potatoes, tapioca) and protein (chicken, fish, meat, eggs, chickpeas, tofu, paneer, legume and lentils, greek yoghurt).
This plate is in stark contrast to the way most people eat, which usually looks like a 3/4th of carbs and some side dishes or very small portions and skipping of food and nutrients. We do not need to skip or avoid food groups for health, we need to balance the ratios of nutrients. This is a good place to start.
2. Limit or avoid processed foods/snacks/takeouts: While eating out might not be a thing, snacking on hyper-palatable processed snacks is a thing in most Indian households. I get it, I love my tea and like some snacks with it. However, I have realised how easy it is to form a habit of just munching on something. And, before you know it you end up eating more than your body needs. If you have fat loss as a goal, avoiding ultra-processed foods and snacks can help you get some results.
Quite often the caloric intake from snacks is almost equal to that from a meal and without none/a negligible amount of nutrients. This can sneak up and lead to weight/fat gain and aggravate conditions like IR, prediabetes, NAFLD/MAFLD, PCOS etc. The goal should be to get full on our meals and use snacks as the occasional indulgence or an emergency necessity. It is also important to note the things we tend to snack on tend to be high in calories, sugar, fats and salt. These foods are highly palatable, made for taste and so that “no one can eat just one”and make it difficult to stop eating once you form a habit or develop a taste.
3. Walk. And walk a bit more: Walking is the most easily accessible physical activity for the majority of the population. It helps manage blood sugar, improves insulin resistance (IR), improves mobility, and agility, keeps joints healthy, and improves cardiovascular health and mental health. It improves circulation, aids in digestion, reduces inflammation, strengthens muscles and bones, helps with weight management and adds to overall health. Walking works its magic on the brain and stimulates BDNF, helps with brain fog, provides mental clarity and increases focus. Needless to say, it is good for you.
Start with 20–30 minutes of walking a day or 10 minutes after each meal. And then increase it by 10 mins or 500–1000 steps every week. I recommend getting about 8000–10000 steps per day along with other activities. If you walk already, you can still use this metric to progress. Progression is important because our body adapts.
4. Start resistance training: You probably would have heard about this a lot and possibly even tried it at some point. Resistance training also called strength training is moving your body against a resistance/weight, and that leads to muscle building.
Muscle is an extremely protective tissue and adds to your health and longevity. You will get stronger, increase muscle and bone mass, reduce chances of falling, improve insulin sensitivity, and immunity, reduce body fat and reduce aches and pains. These are always important and become even more so as we age. If you are not currently doing resistance/strength training, consider this a sign to start. The returns are profound.
It is advisable to get clearance from your physician if you have any health conditions and are above the age of 50. However I want to emphasise, this is beneficial for everyone, no matter your age or gender. Hiring a coach or trainer will be beneficial since training requires some expertise and skill.
You can start with my 3s workout or pick 1 exercise and do a set or two daily. However, this form of training has a huge impact on your health and improves blood markers and metabolic conditions.
5. Sleep 7–9 hours: Sleep is one of those things that we feel and learn the importance of when we miss it. We cannot function without it. Studies have shown people go near insane without it, having psychosis episodes. No wonder sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture and an unlawful interrogation technique. As Satchin Panda has pointed out, it is a very accessible thing for all of us. Just lie down. However, in today's we have so many distractions and the hustle cuts into our sleep. Sleep is when our body repairs and recovers. The glymphatic system in the brain kicks in during sleep — it is like a brain clean. All the green tea you drink will not help if you skip this actual ‘cleansing’ time of the body.
While you might have heard of sleep deficit (the backlog of sleep we have to catch up from days of poor sleep) as we age we lose the ability to manage this sleep deficit. This can easily catch up. Poor sleep has been linked with insulin resistance, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, poor mental health, lower immunity, brain fog etc. It increases your cravings the next day, makes you irritable, decreases productivity, reaction time, focus etc and increases cortisol. One night of poor sleep is shown to make you insulin-resistant like a prediabetic.
6. Focus on your sleep hygiene: Now that we have gone through the importance of sleep let us look at ways to improve it. Work, responsibilities, stress, distractions, interests and life happen always. We need to manage them or be managed by them. Sleep hygiene is about taking some measures to improve the quality of your sleep. Depending on what keeps you up at night and what your habit is you need to change things up. Some suggestions include
- eating 2–3 hours before bed
- going to bed at a reasonable hour (10–11 PM)
- Ensuring you get some/most sleep during that ‘money time’ (10 PM–5 AM)
- regulating temperature
- reducing the lights
- wearing blue light-blocking glasses
- avoiding use of electronic devices 1–2 hours before bed
- waking up and going to bed at the same time
- viewing early morning sunlight
- creating a winding down routine to help relax
- doing some tasks for the next day
- create a to-do list for the next day
- stress management techniques
What applies to you or is doable for you will depend on you and your life. The point is to start somewhere and improve from there.
7. Start a conscious destressing activity: This is exactly what it sounds like. Practice an activity that destresses you, and choose it, consciously. Why the consciously? Because we have to choose to do this, make time for it. It doesn't happen automatically and it can’t be just when you remember or feel good. Without managing our stress and mental health, we will struggle to manage our health. This pillar of health seeps into our overall well-being and how we cope, sleep, mood, energy and more. So we need to pay attention, we need to give our minds some time to settle, process, feel emotions and figure things out, accept and acknowledge etc.
Therapy is always a great tool. Breathwork, pranayama, yoga, journaling, thought flow/brain dump, meditation, quiet time etc are some other tools you can use here. The important part is we are giving space for our minds to speak, to be, not using distractions and drowning it. I will also emphasise start small and keep it simple. 3–5 rounds of inhale/exhale, 1 min meditation, 5 mins to yourself as you have a cup of tea or breathwork or meditation as you wake up/go to bed. Keep it very doable and build from there.
8. Be in nature: Fresh air, sunshine, resetting your biological clock (the circadian rhythm), Vitamin D, healthy microbes, mood boost, clarity of thought, grounding — I can list a lot of reasons for this. Unfortunately in today’s world, we do not do this enough. Visit a park, go to the beach, and walk barefoot on the grass, soil, rock or sand (this is called grounding). It will reset and refresh your mind and body. If you find it a bit overwhelming, take a book and read it in the park, have a cup of tea or listen to music, observe humanity, or invite your partner or friend. Bonus point if you do this around sunrise and sunset.
This is not a diagnostic tool or a treatment plan. Please consult with a registered physician for the same. This article is solely for education, entertainment and awareness.
