10 Healthy Habits to Smash Your 2019 Health Goals

I recently checked in with my 2019 goals and did some reevaluating after a few aspects of my life didn't quite go to plan... Life hey. This got me thinking about other peoples goals and how health seems to be a pretty consistent goal people incorporate each year into their goals and that I'm more than likely not the only person to have lost sight of, or needed to alter some of my initial goals as we head into April. So I thought this was the perfect time to hand out some helpful tips to keep you on, or get you back on track with your health goals. 

Being ‘healthy’ means different things for different people. We all have different bodies. We all have different goals. We all have different genetics; things we’re predisposed to and things we love and hate. With this beautiful diversity and individuality, I wanted to give unique health tips that every person can use at least some of. None of these stock standard ‘drink 8 glasses of water and exercise 30 minutes a day’ type tips. So here are ten* (actually 11 because I give a little bonus tip at the end) healthy habits that you can incorporate into your daily/weekly/monthly routines to help smash your 2019 health goals.

1. Don’t walk down every aisle of the super market
   
   I’ve been living religiously off this tip for the past few years and it’s honestly made transitioning to a healthy lifestyle so much easier! The super scientific* theory behind it (*the thing I made up) is that if you don’t see/have the chance to buy highly processed and unhealthy foods, then you are *insert a really high percentage* more likely to not buy those products. Makes perfect sense really!
   
   I usually buy my fruit and vegetables from the markets, but when I don’t I do all my shopping at the grocery store. I stick the the perimeter (fruit, veg, deli, cold stuff) and only go down the aisles I need to go down for things like tinned tomatoes, the asian food section (aka my life) and then toiletries and household products.
   
   It’s pretty much an out of sight, out of mind thing which is just what you need if you’re trying to get over a sugar addiction or breaking habits of buying more packaged food than whole foods, or whatever your health goal is.
   
   
2. Learn how to read the backs of packets - but not super over the top and only what is important to you
   
   Yes, I am that person that looks at the backs of all the packets of things before I buy them but I’m not dissecting every. single. word. on the back; I’m only looking at a few things that are important to me.
   
   If you want to focus on sugar content alone, work out what exactly you should be looking for on packets that relate directly to sugar and read that. Don’t worry about the sodium, emulsifiers and calories if they’re not a focus of yours because that’s when its a bit OTT and very overwhelming.
   
   Ps. There is a bonus tip relating to this tip so keep reading to find out what it is.
   
   
3. Know your personal health goals and educate yourself accordingly
   
   This ties into point 2 perfectly - almost like I planned it that way…
   
   Working out your health values and goals will help you work out what you need to focus on. Everyone is different and we all have different health goals, genetics, intolerances and things we like. Therefor, your health goals and education about how to best achieve those goals should be tailored exactly to you, by you. If we use myself and processed foods for an example, here’s what I mean:
   
   When I buy anything from a packet, I pretty much look at four things - the ingredients list (to see what ingredients are in it and what order they are listed in), how much sugar per 100g is in it (while still factoring in if it is natural or refined sugar), what oil is used and finally just generally how processed it is (by looking at the number of ingredients that I have no idea what they are or are listed with numbers like ‘flavour 143, 310 and 670’).
   
   I don’t ever really look at anything else because those four things align with my current health goals so they’re all I focus on. They are what’s important to me.
   
   Work out for you what you really want to focus on (for all health goals, not just packet reading) and educate yourself about those things so you’re a mini expert on what you are and aren’t putting in your body/doing to your body. The same goes for exercise; if your goal is to work on flexibility but all you’re doing is weights because that’s what other people are doing, you’re probably not going to reach your health goals. Learn about flexibility exercises. Do some research. Become a mini expert. Smash your health goals. Done.
   
   
4. Don’t be so hard on yourself
   
   It’s sadly so easy for us to beat ourselves up about a million things, even though we’ve been trying really hard and actually succeeding way more than we think. So if you have a day, week, month or year where you aren’t super on your game about kicking your health goals, that’s okay. Honestly, who cares. As I once said to Lenny (my 2.5 year old niece); it’s not about falling off your bike, its about getting back on. Have your goals, make them as big as you can imagine and work at them every day, but don’t be too hard on yourself through this whole process. Life is way too short to be mad at yourself for not being perfect 100% of the time.
   
   
5. Have/prepare easy whole food/non-processed snacks
   
   Convenience is probably the thing that kills peoples healthy eating goals the fastest and trust me, I know what it’s like to be super busy, overworked, running late, tired and not wanting to think about what you’re going to eat. The thing you want is to just be able to grab something from the fridge/cupboard, not have to think about it, eat it and move on. I feel ya sister, don’t worry.
   
   My best tip for keeping to your healthy eating goals as much as possible in these busy/tiring/overworked times is to have/prepare a few healthy meals/snacks that are just in the fridge ready to be grabbed as you rush out the door.
   
   I’m talking carrot sticks with hummus, fruit (pre-cut up if you’ve got something like a big tasty watermelon), a few rice paper rolls, homemade sushi,  yogurts with berries, a stash of nuts. Pretty much anything that is convenient. Yes, you will have to spend some time prepping this stuff so that it’s then in its convenient form, but it’s worth it once you have a stash of healthy goodies just waiting to be eaten at any time, anywhere. 
   
   
6. Start your day with a big glass of water
   
   I’m confident you already know that we humans need water to survive and thrive, but this tip is more about using water in an easy way to help your body that little bit extra for free. Simply start your day with a glass of water (lets say roughly 300-400mls).
   
   You can still have your morning coffee, green tea or whatever you like in the morning; but make the very first thing you have water (so you’re drinking it on an empty stomach) and your body will love you.
   
   It helps digestion, aids in absorption of nutrients in your gut, hydrates you (duh), helps with getting rid of toxins, kickstarts your metabolism and works to balance your lymphatic system to boost your immune system. Admittedly, drinking water at any time will help with all these things and more, but having a glass first thing in the morning will give you the most benefits. Plus, its free and a really easy habit to build, so why not incorporate it into living a healthy, happy lifestyle?
   
   
7. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
   
   I much prefer this to ‘go to bed early’ or ‘wake up at 4:30am’ or ‘always get your eight hours’ because your body doesn’t know what time it is… What your body does know is day time, night time, routine and consistency so give that baby what it wants!
   
   I try and go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday, within about 30-45 minutes of difference.
   
   
8. Encourage the shit out of yourself
   
   This is probably my favourite tip! However you want to, whether its in your head, out loud, singing, in the shower, on the train, whatever, whenever and however; encourage the absolute sh*t out of yourself!
   
   Practicing positive thinking and self-love, and being the person you can rely on for that is such an empowering, motivating and super healthy way to live! Why wait for someone else to tell you that they’re really f’ing proud that you’ve not had any refined sugar for four days or ran an extra kilometer today…? You tell you that you’re proud! After all, you’re doing all this health-stuff for you, so get used to encouraging yourself every damn day and you’ll be unstoppable before you know it!
   
   
9. Swap unhealthy drinks for kombucha
   
   I think we’ve established now that I am obsessed with kombucha, but let’s put that tiny little bias aside for a second and look at this from a health and practical point of view - if you swapped all the non-healthy drinks (I’m talking soft drink, fruit juice and alcohol mainly, but anything else unhealthy fits here) for kombucha, you will notice an incredible change in how you feel in a few short days! Trust me!
   
   You’re essentially swapping something unhealthy for something that is without a doubt healthy, all while still hitting all the right spots we’re trying to hit when we have a cold, sweet beverage (fizzy, refreshing, sweet, cooling, tasty, all those things).
   
   A little tip with buying kombucha - look on the packets/labels and make sure the ingredients are predominantly tea, sugar, water, SCOBY - although SCOBY may not be listed - natural flavours (if any) and maybe a secondary natural sweetener like Stevia (although, it bothers me personally when companies do this because kombucha is naturally sweet without ‘sweeteners’ but that’s a story *rant* for another time).
   
   
10. Move your body in different ways on most days
    
    If your goal is to holistically live as healthy as possible, this is a super important tip… Our bodies love regular exercise, but what they love more is variety of movements, intensity and time. I truly believe that aiming for 3-5 days of different kinds of physical activity is much better for our bodies and much easier to attain than to try and do the exact same exercise/s day in, day out.
    
    For me, I walk a lot as a nurse. All day, everyday, power walking for a full 8-hour shift. So when it comes to ‘actually exercising’ I try and do other kinds of things like yoga, HIIT, weights and so on. Not because I don’t like walking, but because my body already gets its fair share of that and not of the other things.
    
    
11. Bonus tip - Do not pay attention to buzz words, health star ratings or advertising
    
    Everything on the front of packets of foods is purely there to make you buy the product. Buzzwords, ‘health star ratings’, colours, pictures, everything is there solely to lure you in so you buy the product. My number one advice with these fancy looking, pseudo ‘health labels’ is to ignore them completely.
    
    Do not buy something because it says ‘organic’.
    Do not buy something because it says ‘natural’.
    Do not buy something because it has a ‘5-star health rating’.
    They’re all marketing techniques and quite often are total and utter BS. Read the backs of the packets and work out for yourself how healthy/organic/natural/whatever that product is for you and your health goals.
    
    I have full faith that these tips will help set you up for living your healthiest life that you will sustain for life - none of those fad diets or anything here! Let me know what your favourite health tip/hack is, especially if it’s not on this list because I loooove finding new ways to better look after my health and I’m sure others would love to hear some more tips too!
    
    Until next time,
    
    Keep finding your happy.
    
    Georgia x