Now, ready to learn how to stay healthy so that in turn, your marriage is the best it can be? Let’s go!
Take Care of Yourself with Good Sleep
Ahh, sleep. The most important tip for how to stay healthy! It’s no wonder that this is one of the most important self-care tips for general health AND for improving your marriage! While sleep makes your body rest and recharge, it also does amazing things for your mind and attitude! Check out the different ways below that sleep is one of the optimal ways to take care of yourself. Then, consider analyzing your sleep habits! Could they be better?
Did you know that chronic sleep loss can contribute to health problems such as weight gain, a decrease in the immune system’s powers, and high blood pressure? It’s true! None of these problems sound good, right? If you don’t get a good night’s sleep, the energy needed for the rest of your day will be diminished, effecting your ability to make healthy choices. Now for the good news of getting more sleep! Sleep helps you learn and process new information to memory, helps to control your metabolism, stay safe and avoid mistakes, keeps you in a good mood, gives you increased productivity, is good for your cardiovascular health, AND keeps your immune system high. WOW! Getting enough sleep should definitely be one of your healthy goals to set year-round! Without a doubt, sleep is too important to short change. So, how much sleep do you actually need? According to the National Sleep Foundation, 7 to 9 hours of sleep is recommended per night. When you achieve this amount of sleep, you’re more fully rested and able to conquer your day’s tasks. Not to mention, you’re able to GIVE more to your spouse, which will ultimately lead to increased happiness and life satisfaction! See how this cycle of good sleep leads to a happier marriage? It’s SO important! Above all, take care of yourself and make getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night a priority!
Take Care of Yourself Through Food
Perhaps you saw this coming, but the second most important way to take care of yourself is by eating healthy. You may be surprised to hear that healthy eating is by FAR the area most adults struggle with when it comes to setting and achieving healthy goals. Usually, what we put in our bodies is thought first of what tastes delicious, then what is convenient, and lastly, what is actually healthy for us. However, as you likely know, when your body isn’t properly fueled by food, or you over-eat and feel sick, your attitude is typically worse, you may be irritable, OR you can’t accomplish what you need to get done. Can you see how this would have an effect on your marriage? Read on to see how to stay healthy through proper diet and nutrition, as well as why it is a great way to take care of yourself!
Without question, your eating habits are tremendously important to your health, figure, skin, and mood. When you eat healthy, or “clean”, you are filling your body with the best possible fuel. Additionally, it’s important to note that “clean” eating choices are not a “diet,” but a lifestyle that supplies the body with natural, healthy food. Living a healthy lifestyle includes having a diet consisting of natural foods that the body is designed to eat. Simply, it’s a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and plenty of water. Along with what you SHOULD eat, let’s touch on what you should avoid. The number one rule when eating “clean” is to stay away from packaged or processed foods. If your food label indicates that it can last a long time, chances are it probably isn’t something you should eat. In short, food is meant to be perishable. When you make “clean” eating choices, your body will ideally maintain a healthy weight. Additionally, you will have increased energy, giving you the strength you need to complete the tasks in your day. This energy comes from the complex carbohydrates in healthy food which take longer for your body to break down, giving you more energy. Another perk to eating “clean” is healthier-looking skin. Eating healthy and drinking plenty of fluids helps hydrate your body and flush out evil toxins that build up in your system and cause dreaded acne! Having a healthy diet makes you radiate from the inside out. If you want to know how to stay healthy when it comes to what you eat, check out Nisha and Jenny’s blogs. Nisha is over on Healthy Mom’s Kitchen, and she has some rockstar recipes that are super family-friendly! Then, you can find Jenny at Jen Fits Playground. She has clean eating recipes, ideas, and fitness tips as well! Long story short, what goes into your body affects every aspect of your health, including how much you can give to your marriage. So that being said, take care of yourself by eating healthy so that your marriage is healthy too!
Take Care of Yourself Through Exercise
You guessed it! The next thing on our list for how to take care of yourself properly is exercise! Exercise is a critical component of good health AND a great way to take care of yourself. Not only is exercise important for your overall health, but it’s also SO fun to do with your sweetheart, making it one of those self-care activities you don’t actually have to do just by yourself! For some, exercising can be daunting and physically challenging. However, we want to educate you on all your options for exercise that almost everyone can do! Check out our suggestions below, as well as why exercise is SO important when it comes to taking care of yourself.
We live in a time where society puts pressure on everybody to improve their physiques, regardless of gender and age. If you’ve been anywhere on social media, you’ve probably seen the millions of posts about how to look sizzling in your skinny jeans, tips for losing those 10 pounds, how to get bikini ready, and motivational quotes to get you moving. These posts aren’t necessarily evil. However, the true emphasis of exercise and healthy goals should be how it improves you as a person. Exercise is one of the best self-care tips for improving your mood, stamina, happiness, AND, of course, your marriage! Let’s first start by discussing how to choose a workout regimen. When choosing a workout routine, everyone has different needs and preferences. You can do what you feel comfortable with without worrying about what your neighbor (or sweetheart) is doing because they have a completely different body than you! Your focus should first be on self-care, then on improving muscle tone, losing weight, or strength training. For the best list of couples workout ideas (because who doesn’t love a good exercise date?) check out these Active Healthy Date Ideas! I, personally, have found great success with a workout program that was created by a physical therapist called the Mommy Tummy Fix. It is specifically designed for women who have had the blessing of carrying a child, but that blessing left their body in a different state than it was before. This program walks you through the WHY behind your changing body, and gives specific advice for how to workout the RIGHT way in order to help your body continue to heal! I love it because it’s simple, which means that it’s a lot more sustainable and easy to stick with. (Unlike other programs that you start and then quit after 1 week.) If you’re interested in trying it out, use the code MOMMY30 to save $30 on the program! Now, let’s talk about the different benefits exercise has on your daily life! Here are just a few of the MANY reasons exercise is not only part of living a healthy lifestyle, but will also make you feel better all around!
The strong muscles you gain will make everyday chores much easier and will reduce strains, pains, or pulled muscles. A regular workout, several times a week, will help you shed pounds and feel better about the way you look. Muscle building exercises will increase your metabolism rate, meaning you will burn more calories faster than ever before. Exercise reduces the risk of osteoporosis by strengthening the bones and increasing mineral density in the spinal column. Cardio workouts combined with weight training will reduce your weight and fight the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Exercise improves your mood, boosts your energy, promotes better sleep, up’s your self-confidence, and puts the spark back into your intimate life. When you exercise, you’re putting energy back into yourself, making it one of the best self-care activities for instantly improving your mood!
Wow! Exercise does A LOT for you, doesn’t it? Are you wondering how much exercise is recommended? We’ve got the answer! You should aim for at least 30 minutes a day to adequately take care of yourself and prevent health issues. When you take care of yourself through exercise, you are able to be a better wife, mother, and friend because you’re physically strong, mentally alert, and more confident! Lastly, not only will you look and feel better through regular exercise, but you can prevent many of the medical problems that adults face as they grow older. All in all, it just makes sense to prioritize exercise. You’ll be physically AND mentally healthier, translating to a healthier you AND a healthier marriage!
Learn Something New
Have you ever set a goal to learn something new? It’s actually one of the most common New Year goals set at the start of each year! We believe that you should always be looking to learn new things in this life. There’s so much out there, practically at our fingertips, that when learned, it can better our lives, our health, AND our marriages! All this to say, learning something new is one of our top self-care tips. It literally puts YOU in a position to be better, more knowledgable, or more talented, making YOU happier. Plus, learning something new is one of those healthy goals to set that can benefit more than just you. For more on why learning something new is a great way to take care of yourself, read on below!
All that is required to learn something new is a desire to learn. It’s as simple as that. As long as a desire burns inside of you, you can literally conquer anything. Simply wanting to learn can unlock many doors for you in your personal, public, and professional life! Additionally, when you follow through with learning, you can become a teacher to others to help them learn as well. All of these benefits to learning something new contribute to doing something for YOU or taking care of yourself. This, as we’ve mentioned, helps make you a better person for everyone in your life, including your marriage! To start off, there are so many things you can learn about. So many, in fact, we can’t touch on them all here! However, we recommend you explore the VAST amount of resources out there for learning something new. Start by exploring potential hobbies that you’d like to learn more about. Check out this list of 100+ Awesome Hobbies to Try This Year. Maybe one of these can kickstart learning something new for you! Outside of hobbies, learning something new can come as easily as reading a new book, taking an online course, exploring your city or traveling internationally, or even watching a documentary series! You could take a karate class, go to a marriage seminar, or learn to cook fancy. Additionally, there are activities you could do like learn to scuba dive, take a couples massage course, attend a budgeting seminar, enroll in a college course, or take guitar lessons. Your options are limitless! As you learn, you will become well-rounded, find new talents, develop new skills, and make your mind healthy by building your brainpower. All of this contributes to a healthier YOU, which in turn, creates a healthier marriage. If you’re interested in focusing on creating a better marriage, we highly recommend these two books, Lists To Live By For Every Married Couple and Marriage Rules: A Manuel for the Married and Coupled Up.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
“Change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Roy T. Bennett. Doesn’t this quote just speak to you? In our opinion, change is a good thing, especially when it comes to embracing change throughout the many seasons of life. You may be in a phase of life that involves young kids, sleepless nights, and dirty diapers. Maybe you’re in the phase of life with older children, graduations, and celebrating new careers. Maybe you’re in the phase of life with grandchildren, enjoyable vacations, and quieter moments. Whatever phase you’re in, there’s room for positive change and getting out of your comfort zone, and that is an area of living a healthy lifestyle that we think is so important! Read on for more about getting out of your comfort zone and how that can affect YOU!
Most of us live in a world where we do the same thing day in and day out. That being said, life seems to be comfortable, easy-going, and peaceful that way. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not! However, most of us live in this bubble because we are afraid of stepping out of it. In order to stretch and reach our potential, we need to get out of our comfort zone, lean into new experiences, and face our fears. Similarly, expanding your comfort zone will make you grow, increase your confidence, and help you learn something new. Basically, as your knowledge grows, you will accomplish your goals quicker and receive new opportunities in your life. All of this translates to a happier and healthier YOU. What does getting out of your comfort zone look like? Maybe it involves traveling away from home and experiencing a new culture. Perhaps it involves reaching out to someone from your past. Maybe it involves sharing an experience with your sweetheart from your bucket list. (You can create your own couples bucket list using this awesome Date Night Bucket List Date.) Or, it could even involve doing extra self-care activities so you don’t forget about taking care of yourself. Any of these options, as well as hundreds of others, will help you expand your comfort zone, leaving yourself open for good and unexpected things to happen. In general, when it comes to getting out of your comfort zone, don’t overthink what will happen next. Take the leap of faith and afterward, celebrate and reflect on your accomplishments. If you want to accomplish significant things in your life, you will most likely be spending a lot of time out of your comfort zone. So you might as well get past your box and enjoy the ride outside your bubble of comfort! Woo! Go ahead and take a couple of breaths. That was a lot to take in. We suggest you pick the areas you need to focus on from this list, set a few goals, and set your mind to accomplish them! The time is NOW to make changes, seize the opportunity, and go for it. You owe it to yourself, and your marriage, to stick around for a very long time being as healthy as possible. Lastly, we know that none of these things can be achieved overnight. Give yourself grace and patience! Just remember that the benefits are beyond worth it! Living a healthy lifestyle will ensure that you are able to keep up with your kids AND able to improve your relationship with your spouse. Above all, it will help you be able to take on any obstacles that will come your way. You are the master of your fate, so take charge and take care of yourself so that you’re the healthiest version of you that you can be!
