5 Healthy Habits for the Other 23 Hours Each Day

You’ve got your one-hour workout scheduled on your busy calendar most days, right? Good job! But what about the other 23 hours in your day? How are you ensuring you’re making the healthiest choices possible morning, noon and night? Here’s what I do, in case my healthy habits help inspire your daily decisions:

1. Sleep. Good sleep habits are really important to a restful night’s sleep. First, I make sure never to take my phone into the bedroom at night (I let it charge in another room) so that I’m not staring at melatonin-disrupting blue light before bed. I also make sure to wake up at the exact same time every day, even on weekends, to help maintain a sleep schedule my body relies on. 
2. Hydration. Right when the pandemic started, I decided to get a gallon water bottle to focus more on my hydration. And every day, no matter what, I make sure to drink that entire gallon of water. At first, it was honestly really, really hard. But now it’s super easy. Oh, and I make sure to drink all my water before 7 p.m. so that I’m not waking up in the middle of the night. If a gallon sounds too intense for you, then at least commit to drink more water by setting reminders in your phone. And if you don’t enjoy plain water, try adding some electrolytes or lemon juice to help entice you to drink some more. 
3. Dance break. Sometimes you just need to dance it out! I love putting on a favorite song and just using the lyrics, rhythm and vibe to get my mind right. Oh, and I’m not a good dancer. But hey, nobody sees me when I’m dancing at home, so who cares?
4. Meditation. I’m not talking about meditating for hours on end here — just five to 10 minutes a day will do wonders. I like to use the app Headspace, but there are a ton of different ways to get in some sort of mindfulness practice throughout your day. Sometimes I’ll do this before I go to bed, too, because it helps relax me.
5. Get outside. Remember the great outdoors? The place with fresh air and sunshine? You need a little bit of that every day. Try taking a 10-minute walk during your midafternoon slump instead of grabbing more coffee or food. It’s so good for your mental health, too. Speaking of mental health, if you don’t enjoy just walking by yourself, FaceTime a friend on the go to help stay connected to your loved ones. 

If these healthy habits are new to you, you definitely don’t need to take them all on at once. Just pick one to focus on for a month or so until it feels like second nature. Then add another and so on. Trust me, the effort will be worth the reward!

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