All Around Good Health
Usually when we think about getting healthy we think about food and exercise. However, in order to be in the best health possible we must address our entire lifestyle. We are multidimensional beings and everything we eat, do, think and believe has a direct impact on our health. For example, have you ever gotten a headache after a stressful day at work, or a cold from not getting enough rest? Those are 2 common examples that depict just how important it is to care for our health with a more holistic approach. People that follow the paleo diet understand this which is why it is often referred to as a way of life, rather than just a diet. In this article I will briefly discuss the four foundations of the paleo diet; food, exercise, sleep and stress.
You Are What You Eat
To achieve optimal health, we must re-educate ourselves on what it means to eat healthily. On the paleo diet we are encouraged to eat foods that are whole, natural and were available to humans before fast food and even modern day agriculture. These foods include meat, fish, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. What we put in our bodies each day plays a huge role in our overall health and wellness.
Use It Or Lose It
The second thing I want to address is exercise. Everyone, I mean everyone needs to exercise to achieve optimal health. Exercise helps us maintain muscle mass and bone density throughout all the stages of our lives. If you don't want sponge bones and deteriorating muscle mass by the time you are 40, you must get moving! On the paleo diet you are encouraged to incorporate a variety of movement types into your exercise routine including, power exercises like sprinting, weight training, interval work and movements that focus on flexibility.
Beauty Sleep
No matter how busy we are, we must make time to get adequate sleep each night. When we are sleep our bodies recover from our day and heals things that are out of balance. If you are looking for your fountain of youth... it's called sleep. I mean 8 - 9 hours each night. When we don't get enough sleep, our bodies produce more cortisone, and too much cortisone equals more wrinkles. So the phrase beauty sleep is a real thing. In addition to this, not getting enough sleep actually causes us to gain weight and inhibits the bodies ability to release access weight.
Carry Less Baggage
Now carrying around too much stress in our daily life causes us to age faster and gain weight weight, just like not getting enough sleep; these two lifestyle factors go hand and hand. It is so important as a life long lesson to be able to reduce your stress and learn healthy ways to manage it. For some people this may mean saying 'no' sometimes or learn how to ask help for when you need it. For others this may mean joining a supportive community or getting some counseling to talk things out and gain new perspective. Our daily stress levels is an aspect of our lives that is easily over-looked but it is one of the most important parts of our overall health and wellness.
Usually when we think about getting healthy we think about food and exercise. However, in order to be in the best health possible we must address our entire lifestyle. We are multidimensional beings and everything we eat, do, think and believe has a direct impact on our health. For example, have you ever gotten a headache after a stressful day at work, or a cold from not getting enough rest? Those are 2 common examples that depict just how important it is to care for our health with a more holistic approach. People that follow the paleo diet understand this which is why it is often referred to as a way of life, rather than just a diet. In this article I will briefly discuss the four foundations of the paleo diet; food, exercise, sleep and stress.
You Are What You Eat
To achieve optimal health, we must re-educate ourselves on what it means to eat healthily. On the paleo diet we are encouraged to eat foods that are whole, natural and were available to humans before fast food and even modern day agriculture. These foods include meat, fish, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. What we put in our bodies each day plays a huge role in our overall health and wellness.
Use It Or Lose It
The second thing I want to address is exercise. Everyone, I mean everyone needs to exercise to achieve optimal health. Exercise helps us maintain muscle mass and bone density throughout all the stages of our lives. If you don't want sponge bones and deteriorating muscle mass by the time you are 40, you must get moving! On the paleo diet you are encouraged to incorporate a variety of movement types into your exercise routine including, power exercises like sprinting, weight training, interval work and movements that focus on flexibility.
Beauty Sleep
No matter how busy we are, we must make time to get adequate sleep each night. When we are sleep our bodies recover from our day and heals things that are out of balance. If you are looking for your fountain of youth... it's called sleep. I mean 8 - 9 hours each night. When we don't get enough sleep, our bodies produce more cortisone, and too much cortisone equals more wrinkles. So the phrase beauty sleep is a real thing. In addition to this, not getting enough sleep actually causes us to gain weight and inhibits the bodies ability to release access weight.
Carry Less Baggage
Now carrying around too much stress in our daily life causes us to age faster and gain weight weight, just like not getting enough sleep; these two lifestyle factors go hand and hand. It is so important as a life long lesson to be able to reduce your stress and learn healthy ways to manage it. For some people this may mean saying 'no' sometimes or learn how to ask help for when you need it. For others this may mean joining a supportive community or getting some counseling to talk things out and gain new perspective. Our daily stress levels is an aspect of our lives that is easily over-looked but it is one of the most important parts of our overall health and wellness.