Episode 067 – six keys to better health you need to know now

Hello! I’m your host, Lorraine Stone, and on today’s episode I’m talking about the six keys to better health you need to know now.

There’s always those big times of the year when we are prodded to make changes towards better health, New Year and pending summer holidays being the two prominent ones. 

And so often we hear people say after they got sick that they took their health for granted. We don’t have to wait until then to be motivated to make a change.

In episode 65 I talk about how media plays on our weaknesses and insecurities. I forgot to mention how in the UK we banned the Protein World advert for their “are you beach body ready?” campaign selling diet protein powder. Us Brits took serious offence to the shaming of women, and into believing that they are not good enough and their powder is going to fix it. I for one am so pleased to see more and more around the backlash of “put on swimsuit, you’re beach ready”.

This episode isn’t about protein shakes, however I will say that if you can find one you can like, even on the days you can’t really stomach food, then it’s a great way of keeping up your protein levels, and that is super-important for maintaining muscle.
But it doesn’t have to be so hard. Sticking to a one-size-fits-all standard shake day in day out is actually pretty hard. For some of you, even outside of doing those shakes, it can’t be that hard. You just don’t have the energy. 

I have mostly normal days nowadays, and I can go to the gym, walk a few miles over the course of each day, but some days I struggle. Some days I sleep through the alarm, only to wake with a few minutes to spare to start work and I spend the whole day feeling like I’m on catch-up. And all that does for me is mess with my head and make me feel worse. 

So what are my six keys to better health you need to know now?

Lean into lazy days.

Sounds counter-intuitive yes? But, as I know many of you are like me and therefore one of the key reasons we have health issues in the first place is because of our all or nothing, perfectionist tendencies, never really learning that taking a break is a good thing. Ironically, when it comes to running, I know that taking rest days are huge for the effectiveness of the training days. Same with my current body goals. Every night we go to sleep, to rest, so that our body can heal itself. 

Sometimes we just need a break. Understanding the reason you’re lacking get-up-and-go will mean you’re less likely to beat yourself up. This clarity can come on the lazy days. Lazy days are not about doing nothing, because we can’t always do that. But they are about thinking ahead and limiting your plans so that you just do less.

Keep it simple.

Everything is already overcomplicated. I talk about batching and how it saved me in the early days of my illness in episode 47 and definitely take a listen to see how you can save so much time and energy by batching. 

There’s always a way to make things simpler. For instance, I’m eating several boiled eggs a day. I could waste my energy, and the electricity and water by cooking these eggs each day, or I can use a bigger pan and boil them all in one go. They keep for a few days in the fridge, so it’s fine.

Set a goal.

Say you want to declutter a room. Set the goal. Then, wok out how many drawers, cupboards, boxes etc there are in there, and that’s how many active days you need. It’s not about doing it all in one go and overwhelming yourself.

Or perhaps you want to eat better. Swap one crappy meal for one nutritious meal and try it every day for a week. Not necessarily the exact same meal, unless you’re like me and happily eat the same thing day in and day out because it saves on decision making. 

Commit to a regular routine.

One of the first things new parents get told is to get their kids into a routine as soon as possible. It’s absolutely no different for us.
I never feel better than the days when I get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time, eat at the same time, etc. I have alarms in my diary to remind me when to drink water, because without them I can get distracted by what I’m doing and a few hours go by and no water but a nice headache on its way.

Seek joy. 

Every single day have something that brings you joy. For me, that’s getting out for a walk at lunch, or listen to my favourite podcasts, sometimes I combine them both. It’s also for me, being able to eat cheese. Look for fun wherever and whenever you can find it. 

See it as self-care.

Because it’s not all about massages and manicures. Failing to look after yourself is self-abuse, looking after yourself is self-care. 

If you can get to the end of every day having done something for you, that’s beneficial for you, and that you enjoy, then you’re onto a winner.

So that’s my six keys to better health you need to know now.

I would love to know your key takeaway from this episode and if you enjoyed this episode please would you pop over to where you listen to podcasts and leave a review.

To find out more on how to take your life back from a chronic illness you can email me and you can also find me on Instagram. I’ve put a link to both in the shownotes.

Thanks for listening, and remember – you are worth it, and you get to choose.

Have a lovely day.