5 of the Best Healthcare Routines of 2021 | Nothing ensures good health and wellness like daily habits that work to establish a firm and healthy foundation for your body and mind. Personal health can be a largely individual endeavour, and some healthy choices may work better for one person than they do for another, but a few of the daily decisions you make to boost your sense of wellbeing should be based on tried-and-true, science-backed principles. Read on to discover the best healthcare routines to adopt to look, feel and live your best.
- A Solid Morning Ritual
The beginning of each day can powerfully set the tone for how the rest of the day will proceed, so it’s important to get things started off on the right foot. Research has suggested that waking up a little earlier than you think you need to can jumpstart your body’s natural energy boosters.
Eat a healthy breakfast of whole grains and lean proteins, invest in a good skincare routine that incorporates a high-quality SPF, brush your teeth with a favorite fluoride free toothpaste and include a personal ritual, such as journaling, goal-setting, a cup of coffee or tea or a few minutes of reading in a quiet space.
- A Soothing Bedtime Routine
A good night’s rest can not only help you to feel refreshed and alert throughout the day, but it also serves as an important part of the groundwork for a healthy life. High-quality sleep, in which you achieve between seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep over a consistent period, can boost your immune system, increase your ability to focus, elevate your mood, help to keep your weight stable and facilitate cellular repair processes in your body.
To better ensure consistent sleep at night, set up a steady bedtime routine. Choose a bedtime that will allow you to get enough sleep before you have to get up in the morning and choose activities that you can do in the final hour before it’s time to climb into bed that will relax and soothe your system. Avoid the blue light from screens at least 30 minutes before bed, and instead try to wind down with a warm bath or hot shower, a good book, soft music, a podcast or audiobook and cosy blankets or calming candles or scents.
- A Consistent Exercise Schedule
Regular exercise is one of the most important things you can do for long, healthy life. Exercise helps you to maintain ideal weight for your height and body type, but it also contributes to better sleep, immune function, mood, joint and bone health and a host of other health factors. For best results, experts recommend at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week in which you elevate your heart rate and break a sweat.
Morning workouts have a large number of benefits, but exercise at nearly any time of the day is advantageous–just be certain to time it at least a few hours before bedtime so you don’t have trouble falling asleep at night.
- A Healthy Diet Plan
They say abs are made in the kitchen, but a healthy diet also establishes other aspects of wellness, too. Your body needs proper nutrients to perform its daily functions and not only survive, but to thrive as well. Your hair, skin, nails, joints, organs, muscles, brain, blood and tissues all require different nutrients to do their job, so it’s important that you consider food not only as a form of pleasure, but as a source of vital fuel.
Be intentional about the foods you eat and try to eat a well-rounded diet of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, lean proteins, healthy fats and limited amounts of processed, sugary and high-fat foods. The more you are able to plan your diet with your nutritional needs considered, the healthier you’re likely to be.
- A Mindfulness Practice
Stress can wreak havoc on your body in more ways than one, which is why it’s important to have a few stress-relieving rituals as a part of your routines. From meditation to yoga, try to find moments of stillness and calm so you can recenter yourself, regulate your nervous system and breathe deeply so you can tackle whatever life throws your way with a sense of stability and assurance.
