fitness
6 Simple Tricks to Start Each Day Strong
For many people, easy, breezy mornings may sound like a fantasy.
(Family Features) Pressing snooze, finally waking up frazzled, rushing through the house to leave on time, skipping breakfast – if that sounds like a typical morning for you, creating a new routine to start days on a stronger note may help you feel more refreshed and accomplished.
For many people, easy, breezy mornings may sound like a fantasy. However, instituting these simple tips from the experts at Buddha Teas – creators of fresh, organic teas with high-quality ingredients to let you explore nature’s best qualities – can put you on a fast track toward less frantic beginnings to each day.
Begin a Bedtime Routine
A bright-eyed, bushy-tailed morning actually starts the night before. To help ensure you’re getting enough sleep each night (7 hours or more for adults, according to the National Institutes of Health), make sure you’re winding down both physically and mentally before heading to bed. This often means skipping caffeine, turning off devices and avoiding big meals close to bedtime.
Wake Up at the Same Time Each Day
As part of your fixed bedtime routine, try going to sleep and waking up at the same times each day – including weekends. This may help your body create a natural rhythm to make it easier for you to rise in the morning without pressing snooze.
Start with Something You Enjoy
Whether you’re a morning person or natural night owl, knowing you’ll start the day with something enjoyable can help you dread that ringing alarm clock a little less. For example, a steaming mug of Buddha Teas Turmeric Ginger blend offers a delicious and comforting way to wake up. Turmeric’s pungent flavor combined with delightfully sweet ginger warms with every sip to energize your morning.
Meditate and Move
While a meditation session may sound like a quicker way to put you back in bed than get your day going, it can actually be beneficial to harness positive energy first thing. Focus on deep breathing, calm your mind and slow your heart rate prior to taking on the day’s tasks. Once you’re mentally motivated, move on to physical preparation with 10-15 minutes of light stretching to energize your body and get your blood flowing.
Strengthen Your Body
Another key aspect to a successful morning includes strengthening yourself physically by eating and drinking foods and beverages that provide immunity-boosting ingredients. Consuming a powerful blend of healing, protecting and preventative herbs can be a productive way to defend your body from free radicals with a beverage like Buddha Teas Echinacea Elderberry, which is packed with organic and plant-based vitamin C, antioxidants and detoxifying herbs. Echinacea, used for centuries to heal and protect, is combined with elderberry’s high levels of vitamin C, which is essential for growth, development and reparation of the body.
Eat a Nutritious Breakfast
Everyone knows the common refrain: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Yet, many people choose to skip a morning meal or simply run out of time, despite the many benefits of refueling before heading off to work or school. In fact, a nutritious breakfast offers a multitude of health benefits for your body, according to the International Food Information Council Foundation, including a healthier heart, better digestion, stronger bones and improved metabolism. Plus, making time to eat in the morning can provide the energy you need to tackle your to-do list.
Find more beneficial ways to start your days strong by visiting BuddhaTeas.com.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images
SOURCE:
Buddha Teas
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health and wellness
6 Ways to Build Lasting Healthy Habits
Starting on a path toward healthy habits is often easier than maintaining them long term. This year, you can avoid a major pitfall of healthy resolutions and build healthy habits that stick by working small, positive steps into your daily life.
(Family Features) Starting on a path toward healthy habits is often easier than maintaining them long term. This year, you can avoid a major pitfall of healthy resolutions and build healthy habits that stick by working small, positive steps into your daily life.
In fact, healthy habits are the first suggested treatment strategy for people whose blood pressure and cholesterol levels are creeping higher than normal, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement.
“The current guidelines for managing high blood pressure and cholesterol recognize that otherwise healthy individuals with mildly or moderately elevated levels of these cardiovascular risk factors should actively attempt to reduce these risks, and increasing physical activity is a great place to start,” said Bethany Barone Gibbs, Ph.D., chair of the statement writing group and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at West Virginia University School of Public Health.
These six ideas from the American Heart Association’s Healthy for Good Habit Coach can help.
Bust Common Habit-Building Myths
You may be surprised to learn the truth about creating and sticking to healthy habits. One myth is getting healthy means doing things you don’t like. Research shows positive emotions make habits stick, so set your intentions on something you enjoy. Another misconception is big results require big changes, which may lead to overly ambitious habits. However, the simpler the routine is, the more likely it is to become habit.
Work with Your “Brain Loops”
Your brain creates “loops” for habits made up of three things: a cue, a routine and a reward. Each time the loop is repeated, it becomes more routine and may become automatic. Knowing this, you can design cues for developing new, healthy habits, such as setting walking shoes by the bed to start a walking habit. The routine is putting on the shoes and walking around the block, and the reward is the pleasant sensations and brighter mood from a morning stroll.
Create Cues That Work for You
Most successful health habits begin with a cue. The cue can be external in your environment or internal in terms of your mindset. The more consistent the cue, the more likely it is to trigger the habit. Hacking your brain’s reminder system can help you remember your cue. Some examples of visual cues are placing a sticky note where you’ll see it often, keeping a water bottle on your desk or refrigerating fresh veggies at eye level.
Build a Routine That Supports Your Goals
Positive and consistent habits are important to achieve your personal goals. Small habits done consistently can add up to big results. To create a new healthy habit, think through the steps that could lead to your desired outcome. Ask yourself whether you want to do it, if it’s easy and if it’s high impact. It’s important to choose habits that make a difference and move you closer to your goals.
For example, if one of your goals is improving your heart health, a meaningful habit might be to move more. Increasing physical activity can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol along with many other health benefits, Gibbs said.
“Every little bit of activity is better than none,” she said. “Even small initial increases of 5-10 minutes a day can yield health benefits.”
Use Rewards to Make Habits Stick
Start by choosing a habit you enjoy that’s rewarding by itself. If you’re more of a dancer than runner, increase your physical activity with an upbeat dance class. You might also look for a more enjoyable version of a new habit, such as getting more fruits and veggies by sipping on a delicious smoothie.
Understand Resets are Part of the Process
New habits are experiments. If they don’t stick, you haven’t failed. Instead, you’ve learned what doesn’t work, which is useful. Get curious and ask yourself which part of the habit didn’t work for you. Maybe the cue was ineffective. Maybe the steps of the routine were too ambitious and you need to split them into smaller, easier steps. If you realize you don’t enjoy the habit, stop doing it and try something else.
Find more inspiration and ideas to jumpstart healthy habits this year at heart.org/habits.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images
SOURCE:
American Heart Association
STM Daily News is a vibrant news blog dedicated to sharing the brighter side of human experiences. Emphasizing positive, uplifting stories, the site focuses on delivering inspiring, informative, and well-researched content. With a commitment to accurate, fair, and responsible journalism, STM Daily News aims to foster a community of readers passionate about positive change and engaged in meaningful conversations. Join the movement and explore stories that celebrate the positive impacts shaping our world.
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Lifestyle
6 Tips to Improve Sleep Quality for Overall Well-Being
(Family Features) Despite a rising number of people searching for the term “sleep” in 2023, nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults report not getting enough of it, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Quality of Sleep
As a foundation for overall well-being, getting quality sleep is key to achieving goals and being present in daily life. Without it, you’re more likely to lack the stamina and energy to follow through on your ambitions.
To help people realize the foundational role sleep plays in everyday successes, Natrol – a leading sleep, mood and stress supplement brand based on Nielsen data – alongside Dr. Jess Andrade are working together to help people improve their sleep quality and habits so they can conquer their wellness goals this year and beyond.
“From consistent exercise to eating healthy and even daily journaling, it may seem like all your priorities are in order, but without sleep, you won’t be able to reap the full benefits of your hard work,” Andrade said. “Often overlooked, getting quality sleep is a fundamental piece to improving overall wellness and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Creating small, achievable changes in our daily sleep routines can lead to long-lasting lifestyle habits for the better.”
Consider these tips from Andrade to help improve your sleep quality so you can achieve your goals.
1. Prioritize Movement and Light Exposure in the Morning
Whether you’re a yogi or prefer a simple stretch when your feet hit the floor, movement and light during the day can help stimulate quality sleep later that night.
2. Understand Sleep Gains are Just as if Not More Important Than Gym Gains
If you’re focusing on fitness goals, you’ll need adequate sleep to see successful results. If you’re a morning workout warrior, schedule earlier bedtimes to ensure you get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep. For evening workouts, aim to end your sweat session as early in the evening as possible; too much physical activity before bed can keep you up at night.
3. Make Your Bedroom a Sanctuary
Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary. Keep the room dark, noise-free, and comfortable with the thermostat set at 65-67 F for better sleep conditions.
4. Set Nightly Rituals to Unwind
Create nightly rituals that activate circadian rhythms and allow your body to unwind. Consider activities that relax you the most, like taking a bath, reading a book, journaling or sipping decaffeinated nighttime tea.
5. Try Incorporating a Drug-Free Sleep Aid
If you follow good bedtime habits but still occasionally struggle to fall or stay asleep, try a low-milligram melatonin supplement, like those from Natrol, that are designed to help you get a good night’s sleep so you wake up refreshed and ready to conquer your goals.†
6. Follow the 10-3-2-1-0 method
To help you fall asleep and wake up feeling revitalized, Andrade recommends the 10-3-2-1-0 method: Decrease caffeine intake at least 10 hours before bed. Avoid eating bothersome foods 3 hours prior to heading off to sleep. Engage in relaxing activities like reading at the 2-hour mark and cut out screentime with 1 hour to spare. Ultimately, these habits can lead to zero times hitting snooze the next morning.
Find more ways to improve sleep habits by visiting Natrol.com.
† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
SOURCE:
Natrol
Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.
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Health
10 Simple Changes You Can Make Today for Improved Health and Wellness
Improve your health and wellness with these simple changes to your daily routine.
Boost Your Wellbeing with These Easy Tips
Living a healthy lifestyle is important for our physical and mental well-being, but sometimes it can be overwhelming to know where to start. However, there are simple changes that we can make to our daily routines that can have a big impact on our health and wellness. Here are 10 simple changes you can make today to improve your health and wellness.
- Drink more water: Staying hydrated is key for our body’s systems to function properly. Aim for at least 8 glasses of water a day.
- Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet: Fruits and vegetables are packed with nutrients and antioxidants that can help protect against diseases. Aim for at least 5 servings a day.
- Move more: Regular exercise is important for maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress, and improving overall health. Find activities that you enjoy and aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
- Get enough sleep: Sleep is essential for our body to heal and regenerate. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
- Reduce stress: Chronic stress can have negative effects on our physical and mental health. Find activities that help you relax and reduce stress, like meditation or yoga.
- Practice good hygiene: Good hygiene practices like washing your hands regularly and showering daily can help prevent the spread of germs and illnesses.
- Limit alcohol intake: Drinking too much alcohol can have negative effects on our liver and overall health. Limit your intake to no more than 1-2 drinks per day.
- Quit smoking: Smoking is a major cause of many diseases and can have negative effects on our health. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.
- Wear sunscreen: Protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun by wearing sunscreen with at least SPF 30, especially when spending time outdoors.
- Connect with others: Social connections are important for our mental health and well-being. Make an effort to spend time with friends and family, or find a community group that interests you.
Making these simple changes to your daily routines can have a big impact on your health and wellness. Remember that small steps can lead to big changes. Start with one or two changes and gradually add more as you feel comfortable. With time, these habits will become a natural part of your daily routine, helping you to live a healthier and happier life.
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