More Short & Simple Wellness Tips

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“It seems every time we turn around they’re telling us what they thought they knew about how to get healthy is wrong.” We were watching the news, and they were reporting on yet another ‘magic’ diet that didn’t produce the promised results long-term, and definitely didn’t improve health. In our quest to be healthier, sometimes we overcomplicate things.

The truth is, it doesn’t have to be complicated. The basics are there for a reason — they work!

Here are some more short & simple wellness tips to remind you that taking care of your wellness doesn’t have to be complicated.

Eating Well

Trying to eat well can seem so confusing when we look at all those diet books out there, but it really doesn’t have to be such a chore to figure out what to eat. Here’s a simple way to structure your meals so you get the nutrients you need without the extra calories you don’t.

Plate of healthy food, with text: How to make a healthy plate: Make half of your plate fruits and veggies. They’re packed with fiber and antioxidants.; Eat fruits of all colors. Go fruit instead of juice, which has more fiber and fewer calories.;Eat mostly whole grains. Refined grains, like white bread and white rice, have less nutrition. Whole grains have more fiber, iron and B vitamins.;A palm-sized amount of protein at each meal is probably sufficient for most people. Beans, nuts, fish and chicken are some good lean choices.

Now if you’re like me, the half a plate of fruits and veggies might not happen every meal. Many of us find it hard to eat that much first thing in the morning. The nice thing is that you get to choose what to eat – and when – so you could always snack on some veggies or fruit later on when you can tolerate them.

Go Ahead – Eat That Occasional Treat

When we’re trying to improve our health, lose weight, etc., we often feel we have to do everything perfectly. Guess what? Nobody’s perfect! We don’t have to do everything perfectly in order to make progress.

We just have to make good choices most of the time, and leaving a little room for treats in our dietary budget can help us not feel deprived. As we talked about in Good Foods Bad Foods, looking at our foods on a continuum can help us include all the foods we love without guilt.

Piece of Tiramisu with text: Be Practical, Not Perfect: There are some specific foods that, realistically, you know you will not live without. So, work with that. Limit that food instead of banning it. That's MUCH more sustainable than trying to completely eliminate it from your diet. Rather than looking at certain foods as off-limits, a better option might be to use the green-light, yellow-light, red light foods approach, where we look at foods on a continuum of eat more, eat some, or eat less. This keeps us from setting ourselves up for feelings of failure when we can't stick to a super-restrictive eating plan.

Just Get Moving

Just as we do with our diet, we can overcomplicate exercise, looking for that perfect workout. As we’ve talked about before, the best type of exercise is the one you’ll actually do. When you haven’t exercised for awhile, walking can get you moving again. It’s simple to do, can be done almost anywhere, and best of all, it’s free!

Person walking down a path, back to camera, with text: Just Get Moving: If you haven’t worked out in a while, start by simply taking a walk and do this consistently until you build up your fitness. The more you move, the more fit you'll become, and start to actually enjoy how moving your body makes you feel. This will motivate you to make fitness a part of your daily routine.

Put Systems In Place

What do we mean by systems? It’s those things that are going to help make it easy to stick with your healthy habits. When our healthy behaviors are easy for us to do, we’re much more likely to stick with them.

Food that's been portioned for meal prep, and workout gear, with text: Put Systems in Place: Why is it so important to set up 'systems' (pre-packing healthy foods, putting workout gear by the door, etc.) when you're trying to lose weight? Sometimes choosing healthier options (healthy foods, working out or skipping it) can come down to not having to make a decision about it. When we have to make too many choices during the day, we can experience something called decision fatigue. The result is that we may choose the simplest option rather than the healthiest. Setting up our systems can help us avoid decision fatigue.

For some more tips on making things easier on yourself, check out 8 Ways to Make Healthy Behaviors Convenient.

Taking Care of YOU

We often think of our wellness in terms of just what we eat and how we move, but true wellness is so much more!! Here are some simple things you can do to take care of your overall well-being.

Smaller text bubbles surrounding one larger, central one that reads: Tips for Well-Being. Smaller bubbles include:Set boundaries, Connect with nature, Get enough rest, Cultivate creativity, Stay active, Connect with others, Practice self-reflection, Find your purpose.

Thinking for Change

I wanted to leave you with this quote because all true change really does start in the mind. We have to consciously make decisions every single day that will move us closer to where we want to be. In upcoming posts, we’ll explore mindset a little bit, and how it can help or hurt us when it comes to making a healthy lifestyle a way of life.

Background of forest and and mountains, with quote: "You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be." -Marianne Williamson

The Bottom Line

Change is hard – but it doesn’t have to be complicated. The simpler we can make things, the easier it will be for us to be successful in living the healthy lifestyle we want to live.

For more short & simple wellness tips, please head on over to the Olive Tree Saints Facebook page and hit that ‘follow’ button.

What helps you most when it comes to taking care of your wellness? Please share your favorite tips with us!

Blessings,

~Terri

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14 Comments

  1. It’s been interesting hosting people from a different cultural background. The Ukrainians we’ve met are mostly all thin and full of energy. They seldom eat three meals a day and cook all their food from scratch, choosing fatty meats and employing lots of sour cream, and/or mayonnaise. They also like sweets. Few drink water, preferring coffee or tea and sweet drinks. It makes me think we have been duped, not that I can eat the same. In fact, my bloodwork has indicated a decrease in potassium, which my doctor attributes to change in diet. Really makes me think, though

    1. Thanks so much for sharing these insights with us VJ! You bring up some interesting points. This is just thinking out loud, but I wonder if the biggest factor in their thinness and energy is that they’re cooking from scratch? So many of the foods we eat on this continent are far from their natural state, and a lot of them have been so processed that they have to be ‘enriched’ with spray-on nutrients to provide any nutrition at all. I suspect they’re using far fewer processed foods since they’re cooking from scratch. Of course, our bodies are all different, and as you’ve found out, unfortunately, what works for one person might not work for another. I hope you’re able to get your potassium back up quickly. Sending hugs your way!

      1. Cooking from scratch is definitely a key. Also, most only bought what they needed for a days meals – so no overeating.

    1. Thanks so much Mel! I’m doing well, and I hope you’re feeling better. I’ve been praying for you each morning. Sending hugs your way sweet friend!

      1. I can use all the prayers I can get. My therapist and I are talking about the dramatic experience I had while in the Psych Hospital. I need to make sure I’ve written about it. Luckily he has been talked to and that’s all I can ask.

  3. Such a timely post Terri as I’m in the process of trying to lower my LDL cholesterol and increase my HDL cholesterol levels. Learning about the benefits of such fruits like pomegranate, grapes, blueberries, bananas and apples as well as avocados, kale and spinach. Thanks for sharing an educational piece!

    1. Thank you Mark! You’ve given me an idea for another post – things we can do to help our cholesterol numbers. I think that’s an issue for a lot of us in our age range. I’m glad you’ve found some foods that can be helpful. And I hope you like them all. I just don’t seem to be able to make myself like kale.😁 Thankfully, we have LOTS of choices of fruits and veggies so we don’t have to eat the ones we don’t like. Thanks so much for reading, and thank you for the post idea! Blessings to you!

  4. Thank you Terri for posting. I agree it starts with the mind set. Does not have to be complicated. I needed to hear this today. I also agree about cooking from scratch. My grandma lived to be 98 1/2. Stayed in her own home. And grew so much food (veggies and fruits) plus had meats processed at the meat plant and straight to the freezer or smokehouse. Plus she hung out clothes (unless it was raining she might use dryer. They farmed and I remember my Grandaddy being up in the barn on hanging tobacco on sticks to dry. Active, good meals. They also are their biggest meals at lunch and early last meal with a snack or fruit (apple or orange) or popcorn or maybe ice cream or a shake later in evening. I agree so many foods are processed now. Quick and easy but not as healthy as fresh. I miss eating at grandma’s table.

    1. It’s so interesting that although we’ve made huge strides forward in medicine, we seem to have gone backward in one of the best ‘medicines’ of all time — fresh, healthy, food. And as you said, more people were active throughout the day. I love all the modern conveniences we have, but I know I could use a little more of that activity that used to be the norm. Sending hugs your way!

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