5 Foundational Habits for Better Health

At Alexandria Wellness, we often emphasize how small changes can lead to big results. Small changes – while they might seem so simple and basic – are foundational and easy to overlook, especially if you’re in a rush and want results fast.One of the mistakes we see over and over again is women getting sucked into trying the latest “hack” or trend that their friend/coworker/sister is doing. But, they do so without first dialing in on the basics that will get them the majority of their results.  With health and fitness, those basics include:

• • Feeding your body with whole, nourishing, healthy foods
• • Getting quality and adequate sleep
• • Intentionally moving your body
• • Drinking healthy amounts of water
• • Breathing in fresh air every day
• • Reducing stress

  Earlier this month, we ran a 5-Day Healthy Habits Challenge for Alexandria Wellness clients where we focused on just one habit each day.These 5 habits are:

1. Drink ½ your bodyweight in ounces of water. Start your day with water (think: hydrate before you caffeinate) and continue drinking water throughout the day. Example: if you’re 140 lbs, you should drink roughly half - 70 ounces of water.
2. Move for 5 minutes first thing in the morning. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or complicated. The goal is to just move your body and start your day off on the right foot. It can help with your energy, focus, and mood for the rest of the day. Simply repeat the movements for five minutes and head off for your day.
3. Eat without distractions. How you eat is just as important as what you eat. When we eat, our body should be in a “rest and digest” state, both mentally and physiologically.
4. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier. Consistent, adequate, and quality sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. This is one of the areas the majority of women struggle with, especially during this stressful time when our minds never turn off. If you need more help, you can sign up for Adrien’s virtual workshop: The Top 5 Ways Your Sleep Affects Your Fat Loss.
5. Change your language. Our language can have a lasting impact on our current and future behavior. What we say to others - and what we say to ourselves - influences our actions and success.

  Remember: you will get at least 90% (and maybe even 99%) of your results (sleep, stress relief, better food choices, etc.) from the basics! Not the fancy new trend – just the basics.Once you feel like these habits are second nature, then you can start to layer on other strategies and techniques to get even further results. But, you have to start by making these non-negotiable.We are excited to run our Healthy Habits Challenge again starting April 20th and want to invite you to join. You can sign up for free here!  When you join the challenge, you get a Healthy Habits Checklist to download along with daily emails. The goal of this challenge is to practice the foundational habits that will make everything else you want to achieve – whether it’s with your body, fitness, relationships, career – even easier. Each day, you will practice one new habit and build on each one as you go through the week. We also provide resources to make doing the challenge easy and exciting, so we hope you can join us!