About the Author:
Brooke Rozmenoski, owner of Beets and Babes, focuses on real women wellness. Brooke is a mama to a 16-month old baby girl, nutrition coach and personal trainer with over 10 years experience in various realms of the industry from corporate program management to one on one client work. Currently, she works with clients virtually and focuses on an educational blog and social media platform primarily focused on women.
In the decade of time that she has been in the health and fitness industry, Brooke has discovered that in order to focus on long-term results, we need to focus on our daily lifestyle habits first.
Through Brooke's experience, she has narrowed down the top five daily habits that she believes are the biggest difference maker in achieving long term optimal health and sustainable results.
Below you will find the five daily habits to incorporate into your lifestyle. These are great starting points for anyone looking to make changes in their daily habits.
1. Move Your Body
…and lift weights, often. As more and more research comes out with the benefits and importance of strength training for all age groups or goals, it is clear that everyone needs to be on a strength training program. Strength training supports hormonal function, increases metabolism, and has been shown to decrease the effects of aging and all-cause mortality.
Walk at least 10,000 steps a day. In today’s age, we are significantly less active than in the past due to new technologies and the conveniences we have grown to. While these are great advancements, we have lost the importance of NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) and the value of an active lifestyle. Hearing 10,000 steps a day to someone who sits at a desk all day can be intimidating, so start where you are and make small movements (see what I did there) towards it.
- Park in the farthest parking spot
- Take the stairs
- Get up from your desk and move for at least 2 minutes every hour
Whether physical or mental, having recovery and stress
reduction techniques in your program is vital.
— Brooke R.
2. Prioritize Sleep
Heard this before? There is a reason why… the importance isn’t going anywhere. Getting 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep nightly is crucial to:
- Decrease inflammation
- Promote recovery
- Support adrenal function and cortisol levels
- Reduce anxiety/depression
- Support weight loss/weight maintenance
- Support optimal hormonal function
- …and SO many more.
Few tips:
- Turn off electronics at least an hour before bed and read, meditate, do yoga, take a bath.
- Support full sleep cycles by using essential oils or if needed, specific supplements you may be lacking for the short term until consistent sleep is conquered.
Always seek the advice of a profession prior to adding supplementation into your program.
3. Reduce Stressors
Simply put, stress is stress. Whether physical or mental, having recovery and stress reduction techniques in your program is vital. You should not do HIIT style workouts 5x/week just as much as you wouldn’t want to work 12-14 hour days every day at a demanding job. Both cause stress to the body and mind that can be detrimental to your health, both require recovery. It is not to say HIIT workouts are bad, but individuality and a well rounded program that considers all stressors in your life (physical and mental) is critical.
Implementing weekly yoga, meditation, epsom salt baths, foam rolling, massage, or any other technique that allows you to mentally and physically de-load is crucial to any program. There is no such thing as over training, just under recovering or the inability to recover from the demands you're placing on your body.
4. Nourish Your Body.
Don’t overthink your nutrition. Before you focus on specific macros, calories, etc. these are some priorities to get down:
Focus on real food-
- Lean proteins (think grass fed beef, organic chicken, pasture raised eggs…)
- 7-9 servings of vegetables daily (think half your plate each meal)
- Quality fats like avocado, grass fed butter/ghee, coconut, nuts/seeds…
- Nutrient dense carbs as needed. Overall, we over-consume in this category more than others. *I am not necessarily an advocate for “low carb” but an advocate for carbs based off your energy demands in the day.
Example: Sat all day and didn’t workout? Probably doesn’t warrant the need for a sleeve of oreos at night ;)
- Hydrate. Aim for a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of water daily
- Implement supplementation where needed to fill the gaps.
Supplements are a billion-dollar industry and can get overused. They are meant to do just as they are titled: supplement.
Like most things in life, you get what you pay for, quality is crucial with supplementation and this is not where we should be discount shopping.
*Always work with a professional before implementing this into your program.
5. Get Outside
We often underestimate the importance of getting outside and experiencing new
things as it relates to our health.
Adding a 10-30 minute walk into your day will not only help accomplish your movement goals but it will also help you get some of the best options of Vitamin D, can be mindfully calming, and even offer a chance to connect with a
spouse if you choose to take a walk together.
Try adding a walk 3x/weekly into your routine and focus on being present with what is around you, ditch the phone, and take some deep breaths.
Maybe you will even get a tan if we ever see the sun consistently in Michigan ;)
Keep in mind, habit change does not immediately happen and results are not linear. Some weeks are great, and others feel like you have taken two steps back. That is LIFE, keep going! Habit change will take time, I always suggest starting with 1-2 at a time and mastering them before trying to take on everything at once. This process may seem slow in a society that demands quick results, but if a year from now you mastered 1-2 of these every other week vs. quitting because life got in the way and you took on too much at once, which one would get you better results?
If you are ready to individualize your program or nutrition, I would love to connect with
you further! You can find me at @beetsandbabes on Instagram.