Many times, when people hear the term “self-care,” they associate that term with activities that are self-pampering or activities we do for pleasure. But self-care can also be the umbrella term for the focus on the prevention and maintenance of good health over time.
And there are 5 different aspects of health – your physical health, your mental health, your emotional health, your spiritual health, and your social health. But today we’re going to examine seven strategy areas to help improve your physical health. And if we choose just one tactic to work on for each strategy, it will be a small and easy step to being heathier.
Think of this as taking control of your future self.
And full disclosure – I am not a medical professional, but these are some commonly held and well-known strategies to help you be healthier, with some ideas or “action steps” to help you achieve these goals.
And although I kept seniors in mind when I was researching this, these strategies apply to anyone of any age. And I tried to find some tactics that you may not have heard about, or thought about before, are a little unusual, or are easy to implement.
- Don’t smoke. Enough said.
- Make healthy food/drink choices. Although there are many, many ways to achieve this strategy, some that we may not have thought of before may include:
- Avoid processed foods.
- Read nutrition labels. It’s sometimes surprising to see the ingredients listed in what you thought was healthy.
- Limit alcohol.
- Stay hydrated. Experts say you should have a goal of drinking water equal to half your body weight in ounces every day.
- And here’s an easy one – before you go out to eat, promise yourself that you will take half of your restaurant meal home with you.
- Be more active – move your body. I prefer thinking of it this way, as I think I’m allergic to the word “exercise!”
- Walking every day – get outdoors in nature.
- Lift weights to help build muscle mass and boost your metabolism.
- Reduce sitting time and get out of your chair frequently.
- Practice improving your balance. Try tai chi, yoga, or just standing on one foot.
- Maintain good posture – when you slouch, your abdominal organs will begin to compress, and you put more weight on your pelvic floor.
- Vacuum with gusto. There actually is a term for this. It’s called “non-exercise activity thermogenesis” or the acronym NEAT and it means those movements that are part of your daily activities can result in burning up to 2000 calories per day.
- Get enough sleep. Sleep helps repair tissue through the body and detoxes metabolic waste products.
- Set a caffeine cut off time.
- Stop eating 3 hours before bed.
- Sleep in a cool room – 65 degrees is recommended.
- Limit screen time before bed.
- Wake up at the same time every morning –some say it’s even more important than going to bed at the same time.
- Here’s one thing you may not have thought about – set aside a time during the day to worry. Make lists, write down what you need to worry about tomorrow. Get it out of your head on onto paper before you go to sleep.
- Get regular medical checkups. This really can make a difference because it helps you be aware of anything that may become a problem.
- Be purposeful about scheduling medical screening tests like mammograms and colonoscopies, hearing and bone density tests.
- Be purposeful about scheduling dental checkups and eye doctor appointments.
- And here’s the easy one – brush your teeth twice a day and floss daily. In addition to avoiding dental and gum disease, bacteria from your mouth can make its way into your bloodstream and increase your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
- Reduce stress. Reducing stress can lower your risk for conditions like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal disorders, and depression.
- Meditate or journal.
- Take a break from the news or social media.
- Utilize the 5×5 rule – will the issue you are stressing about matter in 5 years? If not, don’t let yourself stress over it for more than 5 minutes.
- Chew (sugarless) gum – There are numerous studies supporting the idea that chewing gum can relieve stress.
- And here’s the easy one – curse! Cursing causes a surge of adrenaline and can have a calming and liberating effect, per Dr. Raffaello Antonino, a counseling psychologist and the clinical director and founder of Therapy Central.
- Keep your brain active. We also need to keep our brain active to help maintain brain function and to prevent memory loss.
- Take a class or participate in continual learning.
- Regularly stretch your brain with a puzzle or word game.
- Be purposeful about maintaining strong social connections. High social engagement has been proven to help promote brain health.
- Learn something new – if it feels like play or brings you joy, you’re more likely to stick with it.
- And here’s the easy one – brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand.