It’s important to develop a head-to-toe health plan that can be implemented anytime and anywhere – from the office to the in-laws’ house and from spring through winter, but your home is your castle, and it’s where you spend the majority of your time. When it comes to living your everyday life in a healthy manner, you have to set your entire home up for success.
Without a proper home environment conducive to better health, you’ll be more likely to fall into unhealthy habits when it comes to food, exercise, and sleep.
You’ll eat what’s there
Healthy eating is tough for busy families. As work and school pressures mount, it’s easy for a proper diet to go by the wayside in favor of quick, pleasure bombs like fast food and pizza. In order to maintain your overall health, however, you have to fuel your body with the good stuff – not what’s convenient.
Unless the good stuff is what’s convenient.
Fill your kitchen with whole, healthy food and you’ll eat whole, healthy food. If you don’t have cookies and ice cream in the house, you’re less likely to take a trip all the way to the grocery when the cravings strike. It’s vital to fill your home with healthy snacks like nuts and fruits so that you won’t be tempted to eat unhealthy foods when you get a hunger pang.
Utilize the power of nature
Your physical health is dependent, in large part, on your mental health. And your mental health is dependent, in large part, on your environment.
Making your living space feel more natural and connected with the outside can boost your mood and can even help those suffering from seasonal mood disorders. Open your blinds or curtains. Let in some natural light. You’ll be shocked at how far that goes to boosting your general wellbeing.
Reclaim your bedroom
Nowadays we use our bedrooms for more than just sleeping. We watch Netflix in bed, stare at our smartphones in bed, and even catch up on work email in bed. Many of these common habits can in fact be detrimental to your sleep patterns. Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality can negatively affect your health in a multitude of ways.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make in their bedrooms is they try to cram too much in there,” Gary Zammit, PhD, director of the Sleep Disorders Institute tells Health.com. “They use it as an office and as an entertainment room right up until the clock strikes 10, and expect to just hit the lights and fall asleep. But the brain doesn’t work that way.”
Remove electronics from your bedroom. Reduce the amount of ambient noise and unnecessary light. Reclaim your bedroom as a sleep space only and you’ll find yourself getting better sleep and feeling more rested throughout the day.