Midlife Makeover: Easy Health Tips for Beginners

Things are going along just fine. You are busy raising your kids and focusing on your career. Your workout routine consists of chasing after your kids and their 1,000,000 activities. Your diet primarily consists of goldfish crackers, a couple chicken nuggets, and the occasional glass (or three) of wine. Your sleeping habits can best be described as sporadic. Some nights you sleep great but then you will go through week-long stretches where your kids wake you up, the dog’s snoring keeps you awake, and your sleep is more like a nap than actually sleeping.

Your gut health may also be making it harder for you to maintain a healthy weight. Learn more about gut health here!

You skate by this way for years, surviving on coffee and dry shampoo until one day you look in the mirror and you no longer recognize the person looking back at you. Certainly that person with the bags under her eyes and the extra 30 pounds can’t be you. 

At this point you feel embarrassed you let things get this bad but you have no idea where to start. 

Does this sound familiar? I can’t tell you the number of clients I have worked with who have lived through this scenario. It is all too common and it is not your fault. The way our current lives are designed makes it incredibly hard to be healthy. You have to make a conscious effort to be healthy.

The good news is that it is never too late to change. And the changes are actually more simple (they are not easy) than you think.

I have broken things down into categories and created a couple of simple things to start with in each category. 

Nutrition

1. Add before you remove- Add more protein and vegetables to each meal before you try taking anything away. If you fill up on protein and vegetables first, you will want to eat less of the unhealthy things you typically crave. Want some protein suggestions? Check out this blog post for 7 ways to boost your protein intake.
2. Eat three, well balanced meals a day- Stop snacking mindlessly throughout the day. Adding more protein to your meals will help you feel full and not want to snack as much.
3. Plan your meals- Winging it is not going to work, sorry to say. I don’t love meal planning but it is absolutely necessary if you are trying to eat healthy. Here are some of my favorite meal planning strategies: Meal Planning Made Easy.

Exercise

1. Increasing your step count is a great starting place- Track your steps and gradually add more until you get to at least 8,000 a day (more if you can). Walking is highly underrated. Bonus points if you can do it after a meal.
2. Strength training is your friend-If you are intimidated by strength training, that is okay. You don’t have to go to a fancy gym. You can do it at home. When I first started strength training, I only had 5 pound weights. I found YouTube videos by searching “strength training for beginners” and got started. Read more about the benefits of strength training here.
3. Plan it out just like you plan any other important commitment in your life- Treat it like any other important meeting you have scheduled with your boss.You wouldn’t flake out on a meeting with your boss so don’t flake out on yourself.

Sleep

1. Take sleep hygiene seriously- No screens an hour before bed, sleep in a cool dark room, and no food 2-3 hours before bed. See all my best sleeping tips in one place here!
2. Get morning sunlight- this will help set your body’s circadian rhythms for the day which is basically your body’s internal clock. Morning sunlight will help your body register it is daytime which will help you sleep better at night.
3. Supplement with magnesium- Magnesium is a fantastic supplement for a variety of reasons. Magnesium Glycinate is what you want if sleep is your biggest concern.

Stress

1. Build a toolbox of stress relief strategies-You can’t avoid stress but you can give yourself some powerful tools for dealing with stress. Mediating, journaling, yoga, breath work, spending time with friends, hobbies are some places to start.
2. Say no- You don’t have to say yes to everything you are asked to do. Be realistic with what you can take on and eliminate as many extras as you can.
3. Set boundaries- You teach people how to treat you. People pleasing and letting people take advantage of you are hard habits to break but with a little practice it will get easier.

Toxins

1. Don’t throw out all of your personal care and cleaning products at once, gradually replace them with cleaner options as you need new ones. Check out ewg.org for great recommendations for cleaner products. Want to try clean beauty products that work? Visit https://www.beautycounter.com/katiedea?&goto=/en-us/ or email me [email protected] to learn more
2. Take your shoes off in your house and open windows as often as possible. Gradually reduce the amount of plastic you use (food storage, water bottles,etc). Replace with glass or stainless steel whenever possible.
3. Rebound, dry brush, use a sauna (or sweat) as often as you can- These things will help your body naturally remove toxins.

Start small. Pick one thing a week to focus on and go from there. Gradual change is the most sustainable change so be patient.

Links:

Join my Healthy, Happy Teachers Facebook Group

Get Wellness Inspiration sent straight to your inbox- sign up for my weekly newsletter

Follow me on Instagram!

Learn more about clean beauty through Beautycounter