Simply Health

I’m going to be completely honest with you. I am not at my healthiest. Two years ago, I was cooking fresh meals and going to the gym daily and getting enough sleep… I was in my second year at university, so I had the time to do all that. Third year was when it went down the drain. I ditched gymming for libraries, and cooking for whatever was in the library shop. Then I graduated, and I found job hunting so stressful that I couldn’t get my motivation back. I’ve just started a new job, which is right next to a gym and is a good 9 – 5 routine so I’m regaining my fitness back thankfully!

Despite the fact that my fitness has fluctuated, I’ve always prevented myself from being full on unhealthy. I did that in first year (my diet was basically garlic bread and vodka…) and it was pretty minging. I’ve always kept a few habits to make sure I don’t reach full blown grossly unhealthy, no matter what stage of life I’ve been at!

Drink enough water

I actually think I probably drink too much water! I used to hate drinking water, and even now I only like it if it’s bottled (even if it’s bottled tap water, weird huh?). I basically refused to drink anything else for a month until I got used to it! Nowadays, I always carry a water bottle with me and sip on it through the day. Whenever I’ve eaten unhealthily or had a few too many drinks, keeping hydrated helps to flush out any bloating and help clear up my skin.

Add vegetables

No matter what I am eating, if it’s a meal I’ll add vegetables or a side salad. It helps to stop me over eating, means I’m getting fibre and vitamins, and means that even unhealthy meals have got a bit of goodness in. I want to start increasing the amount I have so it’s half veg/ salad, half whatever else. One great way of doing this is vegetable ‘carbs’ so cauliflower mash, cauliflower rice, courgetti (or even these courgette chips)… I really really want a spiraliser, so I can make spaghetti out of every vegetable ever. I think I might buy one in January.

I have also been trying to eat fruit as snacks rather than delicious toast. It’s a work in progress, but at least I’m trying eh!

Let things go

When I’m stressed, every little thing winds me up and makes me angry. Having studied stress and it’s effects on the immune system in my final year, I know how much it can affect your whole body so I’m trying to just let things go rather than dwell on them. It might be instant satisfaction to rage on about how you hate so and so, or how unfair your life is, but in the long term it can be really damaging. Personally, stress makes me grind my teeth at night and eat crap so trying to let go of things that either a) I can’t change or b) doesn’t really affect my life helps me to keep on top of my stress levels. I think I naturally am just a total stress head, but controlling it as much as I can has both short term and long term benefits!

Obviously none of these are ground breaking, but I think the most important part about looking after your health is that it’s realistic. I’d love to be one of those clean eating, yoga doing, vegans who lift and look insanely hot on Instagram, but I’d never keep up that lifestyle or enjoy it so it makes sense to do what I can to keep my health tip top. I am also trying to prepare meals in advance and get enough sleep, but I am not consistently great at these yet!

You might remember that a while back, I went to watch f.r.i.e.n.d.s. as party of Simply Health’s healthy smiles campaign? Well, they’re on it again by gathering bloggers top tips for staying healthy. They’ve compiled the list, which you can check out here if you need any ideas!

What are your healthy habits?

*I was gifted for this post, all opinions are my own as usual.