Hello guys, today I’m sharing the basic things I do to keep me on a healthy and steady path. The following are My Wellness Tips;

1. Drinking 3-5 Litres of Water
2. Eating Fruits and Vegetables
3. Exercising
4. Getting Enough Sleep
5. Maintaining A Healthy Diet & Portion Control
6. Drinking Tea

DRINKING 3-5 LITRES OF WATER EVERYDAY
Water is the most essential nutrient for the body. There’s nothing else in the world that can be compared to water. It makes up most of our body weight and does so many amazing things for the body which include;

1. It increases energy
2. It maintains the body temperature
3. It aids digestion
4. It makes you urinate more thereby flushing out toxins from the body.
5. It boosts the immune system

Also, it’s cheaper to drink water than any other liquid. My Mum is always alarmed at how much water we consume in the house because we buy water every other day. I like that we all drink water so much and know fizzy drinks are bad for us. I drink at least five 60cl bottles of water everyday and my brother takes even more than that. If you are used to taste so much and believe water is tasteless, you can add a bit of lemon juice to it to spice it up. To know if you drink enough water everyday, check the colour of your urine. The darker your urine is, the more likely it is that you are not drinking enough water.

EATING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES EVERYDAY
I know you’ve seen and heard that you need to consume 5 fruits a day, to keep the doctor away. Well, how many of us do this? Fruits and Vegetables are essential and necessary to aid digestion and they come next in line after water.

If you don’t want to eat different fruits at once, you can make a smoothie or juice like I do. Cut your fruit and vegetables and pop them in a blender. The first meal I consume every day is fruit and most times it’s in the form of a smoothie.

Some of my self made smoothies include;

•Cucumber+ginger+turmeric+spinach+apples
•Watermelon+ginger+celery+orange juice+carrot.
•Pineapple+Apple+celery+cucumber+turmeric.
•Watermelon+ginger+turmeric.

Try any of these they are so good. Remember to always add some vegetables into your smoothie. Green is good and better blended when you are not eked out looking at it😬.

EXERCISING
The importance of exercising cannot be over emphasized. The body also needs to sweat to get rid of unwanted acids and toxins from the body. Exercising has too many benefits and the greatest of them all is that it reduces your risks of ill health. I wrote a whole post about why exercise is a necessity and you can click the link to check it out. The thing about exercising is that unlike the others on this list, you don’t have to do it everyday.

GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP
When I’ve not had good sleep in just two days, I feel useless. Besides the bags under my eyes, I’m not always able to function properly. Okay, maybe I like to sleep a lot but it’s because I know adequate sleep is very good for me. My version of adequate sleep is at least 7 hours. I wake up able to exercise first then start my day right. I know getting 7 hours of sleep can be hard with a 9-5 but the trick is going to bed early. If you fall asleep at 10pm and wake up at 5am, you’re good. Your body will thank you when you rest well. Also, if you can get a nap in, do. I take power naps when I’m feeling tired or sleepy during the day. A 30 minutes power nap will keep you going till the end of the day instead of struggling through.

MAINTAINING A HEALTHY DIET & PORTION CONTROL
Okay, I know this is the hardest for most people but It’s actually easier than you think though. The willingness to take care of your body has to be a you decision. You will have to try to avoid processed food as much as possible. I’ve been where you are and I said things like “I love rice so much I can never stop eating it” right now, it’s hard for me to remember the last time I actually ate rice. Now, I’m not saying you cannot eat what you like often. That’s where portion control comes in. This coming weekend is a long holiday for us in Nigeria and there’s gonna be a lot to eat and I know I would definitely indulge. So what did I do? I decided to go on a watermelon cleanse for three days prior. Even though I intend to indulge, I’m not gonna have three plates of rice and ten pieces of meat that’s poison😂. Also, everything you love has a healthy alternative.

• I substitute rice with bulgar wheat
• I substitute whole milk with almond milk
• I substitute doritos and walkers with Jacob’s crackers
• I substitute vegetable oil with coconut oil

I like the saying “you are what you eat” because it is so apt. When I started exercising often, I was still eating nonsense (toast with eggs, butter and cornbeef; indomie and cornbeef; rice; ribena) and I kept wondering why I wasn’t losing weight😂. When I stopped the nonsense though, I started getting the results I desired not long after.

DRINKING TEA
You may be wondering why tea is on this list. Well, I’m obviously going to tell you. I’ve always loved tea because it gives me a calmness nothing else in the world does but it also helps me stay on this healthy path too. When I have unusual cravings on a day I can’t indulge, (the desire to put something sweet in my mouth) I turn to tea. It calms me and reminds me why whatever I’m craving is bad. I may have to take at least two cups to achieve this but it really helps. There are several types of organic teas that are made to serve different purposes so there’s something for everyone.

Sometimes I even make my tea from scratch with herbs and vegetables.
•Celery+Turmeric+Ginger Tea – It helps with bloating and pms
•Cinnamon+Honey – It aids digestion

Who knows, I may add to this list in the nearest future but for now these are the things I live by for my wellbeing.

As always, thanks for reading and stay healthy.

Mariam Shittu
xo

photo credit

I’d like to know what your wellness tips are as well so I can add to my list incase I’m missing something. Also,if you have any questions, drop a comment and I’d gladly answer.