Use these habits to build the life you desire and revolutionize your health.
Welcome to the holistic health realm. It can be a very overwhelming world for those just starting out on their health journey. But fear not, I have made this simple list of health habits to help get you started step by step. Check out the first 10 of my 20 holistic habits for better health below. They changed my entire life, and it is my hope that they improve yours as well.
1: Eat Ancestrally
No, that does NOT mean to follow a paleo style diet. We do not do diets here, nor do we do restrictive eating. Curious yet? Eating ancestrally means to simply eat the foods that your great great great grandmother would recognize. It also means that we do not demonize protein, carbs or fat. These are ALL essential to your health. People have been profiting off demonizing either protein, fat or carbs for decades now. But you need to understand that this has been done simply to sell a diet, it is not in the best interest of your health.
If you would like more information on how to eat ancestrally, I recommend heading over to the Weston Price Foundation’s website. Dr. Weston Price was a dentist who traveled the world in the 1930s looking to the remaining primitive cultures to better understand why they had zero cavities and dental decay. But what he discovered was so much more. They had zero heart disease, zero cancer and zero chronic illnesses. So he documented each of their diets, and from his research we have found the healthiest way to eat and live. Check out his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration here.
Overview:
Simply put; eliminate seed oils, eliminate all processed food and eliminate food dyes. This is not restriction as these are not actually foods, they are man made byproducts. Focus on healthy fats such as butter, tallow, lard, olive oil, coconut oil and avocados. Consume lots of protein from animal based sources such as pasture raised meat, wild caught fish, eggs and unpasteurized dairy. Enjoy healthy sugars from organic fruit, raw honey, maple syrup and coconut sugar. Dive into fiber from sources such as organic root vegetables. Improve your gut by eating fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and kefir. Lastly, increase your nutrients through the addition of organ meats like liver, heart, and cod liver oil.
2: Balance your Blood Sugar
Balancing your blood sugar is a trendy topic, but it is very important. Especially for women’s health. When first starting out balancing your blood sugar, focus on eating frequently. Try to consume meals every 3-4 hours. Eat within 30 minutes of waking. And if you need a few snacks, go ahead. Next, increase your protein. If your blood sugar is out of whack, chances are you are not consuming enough protein. You should be eating around 100 grams a day, even more for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Eat your protein first, this should be your priority. Hydrate properly (with mineralized water, bone broth, milk, or non diuretic teas), exercise regularly, support gut health and optimize sleep and stress.
3: Take Supplements Appropriately
Supplements are another hot topic these days. It seems like everyone on the internet is pushing some sort of supplement. But depending on where your health is starting out, less is often more. There are only a few supplements I would recommend for everyone. I would recommend a multivitamin from whole food sources, cod liver oil and collagen. The best thing you can do for your health is to get your nutrients from whole food sources. Nutrient dense foods include organ meats, shellfish, meat, eggs and unpasteurized dairy. If your gut is in poor health, you may temporarily benefit from a proper probiotic. For fertility, I recommend vitamin E.
4: Filter your Water and Air
If you would like to know the quality of your water, check out the Environmental Working Groups Tap Water Database. Click here to access. It will tell you how many contaminants are found in your town’s water. From there, you can determine the best water filter to purchase that will remove all the contaminants from your home’s water. For your air, if you live in a city I definitely recommend an air filter like this one here. Many people are very particular about what air filters they endorse, often recommending the super expensive ones. But as a mechanical engineer, I know how these products are created. And you do not need to spend a ton to get the best. I chose this air filter here and it works great. Do not fall for the gimmicks.
5: Get Sunlight Daily
We have been taught to fear the sun our entire lives. Wear your sunscreen, put on long pants and sleeves, wear a hat and sunglasses we are told. This could not be worse for our health. Vitamin D is one of the most underrated vitamins. It is essential to our mental health. It’s why we have seasonal depression. And vitamin D supplements are not the same thing. They are a synthetic hormone that does not get properly absorbed by your body. So get outside, in as few clothes as possible during the summer season. Your body will store up Vitamin D for the winter.
6: Eliminate Blue Light
I think we have all heard by now that blue light is not good for us. However, many of us have not taken the appropriate steps to eliminate it. This starts first by purchasing blue light blockers for those who work in front of screens. Be sure they are amber tinted. My favorite inexpensive ones are these here. Next, turn off the TV at night. I know this is so much harder than it sounds. I still struggle with it all the time. Head over to the library and find a few good books to have at your nightstand instead. Curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, a good book and light a fire. Make it special and perhaps you won’t want the TV or phone.
7: Get off Social Media
Social media is toxic. Period. It has demolished our attention spans, bombarded us with conflicting information, taught us to live life for photos and to constantly compare our lives to others. Just shut it down. You will feel such a sense of relief when you realize how much it doesn’t matter. The same goes for the news. Shut it down. Vote, do your part for our country. But turn off the news, it is not going to make you any more informed or intelligent by watching it. The news is simply a distraction. Much like the Roman colosseum with their games and events. Meant to distract you from living your life, getting healthy and strengthening your community.
8: Re-pattern your Thoughts
As much as we put value on nutrition and exercise, the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of health is mental. We have over 6,000 thoughts a day, yet we only eat 3 meals a day. Which do you think is more important? No person, job, house, car, vacation, etc. is going to save you. True happiness comes from within. Change your thoughts, and your life will follow. I can not tell you how powerful your thoughts are to your life. When we write words down we call it “spelling”, I believe this is because words themselves are spells.
Whatever we say or think, will come to fruition. So if you are constantly telling yourself, “I am sick and miserable” then you will stay sick and miserable no matter how much you change your health. This incredible example can be shown when we look at cancer survivors. Each person who survives cancer, especially those miracle cases where they are told there is no chance of survival, they all have one thing in common; they refuse to give up and they tell themselves every day that they are going to survive. And they do. That is the true power of your thoughts.
9: Find your Community
Get out there and search for the people who are meant to be in your life. Your soulmate is not going to just appear at your front door. Your children will not just arrive in your womb. And your community of likeminded friends and family will not just show up in your neighborhood. Get out there and make it happen. But remember, it is better to be alone than to be with the wrong people. People that tear you down to build themselves up, people constantly passing judgement, or people that drain your energy are simply not worth your time. Once you remove that negativity, your true community can be created.
10: Find Something to Believe in
Belief in a higher power is a non-negotiable. If this sentence makes you want to close out the blog, please bear with me. I was a self proclaimed agnostic my entire life. I am highly educated with a graduate degree and I always “believed in the science”. Then I discovered that everything popular is wrong and that everything the government tells me is healthy, is actually detrimental to my health. As I began practicing the above mentioned health habits, my internal world shifted and I realized the most powerful truth. We were not put on this floating rock with no purpose and no future. That when we die, there is nothing but darkness. I used to believe that was intelligent of me, that it was science. But now I know that is the most unintelligent thing you could believe.
But why?
There is a God. How God looks to me may be very different from how He looks to you. And that is ok. You just need to understand that there is something else out there besides darkness. Without a higher purpose in life, you will begin to worship false idols. Have you heard that diets are the new religion? Many people are actually worshipping doctors, nutritionists and diets. This is because humans have an innate desire to worship. So do not fall victim to worshipping a false idol. God (or whatever higher power you prefer) is real and the one true being we should worship. Who better to idolize than our creator, the one that gave us life and who loves us unconditionally?
Explore the sacred texts, read the history and find a religion that works for you. Pray or meditate daily. But do not pray from a place of suffering. Pray from love and strength, and good things will follow.
Stay Tuned for the next 10 Holistic Habits coming next week!
**This is not medical advice. Please seek out appropriate medical care when needed.
***Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through one of my links, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you.
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