Improving your health is easier than you think.
It takes a bit of attention, specificity, and a few simple habits.
The easy part is making the choice to improve. The hard part is changing the neurological habits you’ve been nurturing for most of your life.
What follows is not new or rocket science — it’s pretty basic.
And that’s what we want — to return to the basics. Most folks are failing at the basics because they don’t understand the power of compounding.
Your health is waiting, so let’s get started.
1. Ditch the booze (and replace it with water).
I’m not going to sugarcoat this: there are zero health benefits to drinking alcohol.
Ditch it. Throw it out. Pour it down the drain.
Not to be dramatic, but you’re slowly killing yourself.
Think wine is okay? Think again.
Here’s just one reason why alcohol is bad news: it screws up your REM sleep cycle, which affects your memory. Do that over and over again, and you’re losing valuable sleep which compounds over the years to create lasting damage.
There is not one health benefit to drinking alcohol.
If you think one exists, you’ve been duped by the culture and the alcohol companies.
Alcohol is one of the most powerful suppressors of REM sleep that we know of.
Matthew Walker, phd., why we sleep
Alcohol is strongly accepted in our society. It’s omniscient. I bet you haven’t gone to a social event sans alcohol unless it was for AA.
The easy acceptance we bestow on alcohol is terrifying.
And the ones being affected the most by this messaging? Mothers and infants.
‘Mommy wine culture’ has taken hold of younger generations. The thing is, it’s misguided and ignores the danger of the already piled-on sleep deprivation mothers experience.
Getting slightly hammered because you have no other stress relief available is exactly what the alcohol companies want, “Kids bugging you? Throw back a glass of our wine and it’ll all be okay. You deserve it!”
The thing is, you deserve rest & repair, not poor sleep. Choose another option.
Breastfeeding mothers unknowingly slip a nip to their nursing babies if they consume alcohol before feedings. Alcohol can stay in the bloodstream for up to 2-3 hours per drink.
When babies consume alcohol-laced milk, their sleep is more fragmented, they spend more time awake, and they suffer a 20 to 30 percent supression of REM sleep after. Often, the babies will even try to get back some of that missing REM sleep once they have cleared it from their bloodsteam.
Matthew Walker, phd., why we sleep
Alcohol is marketed as fun, rewarding, and a normal part of life.
There is nothing normal about slowly killing your memory because you want to throw back a few beers.
After you toss the sauce, replace it with water.
Chronic dehydration affects 75% of Americans — eek!
Alcohol is part of this number, so, please, if you do decide to drink, double up on how much water you consume.
2. Stop skimping on sleep.
We can thank hustle culture for our terrible beliefs about sleep and rest.
Did you know most of the human population is clinically sleep-deprived?
If we valued sleep as much as sex, achievements, and money, we’d all be sitting pretty (and rested).
Unfortunately, we don’t value it and it’s killing us.
Sleep is anything but a waste of time. It’s when the body heals tissues, strengthens memory, and even grows. Losing sleep will have both short- and long-term consequences on your health, and you cannot necessarily catch up on sleep later on by sleeping in over the weekend or taking a long, sleepy vacation.
Dr. Sanjay gupta, keep sharp
Lack of sleep and being tired, overworked, and overwhelmed are now badges of honor in our culture. If you’re not burning the candle at both ends what the hell is wrong with you?!
Losing and/or avoiding sleep is insane in the membrane (bonus points if you know this reference) because it literally leaves you insane in the membrane.
Did you know the quality of our sleep is not only dependent on the amount of time we’re unconsciously drooling on our pillow, but also on how many NREM and REM cycles we snag?
These cycles happen at specific times of the night based on our circadian rhythm.
If you normally go to bed at 10 pm but something keeps you up until 1 am, your personal circadian rhythm will now be off for the next day. You’ve lost valuable rest.
You’ll feel sluggish, confused, irritable, and likely crave sugary and high-carb foods.
Why?
Because you’ve deprived your brain of important functions to cleanse and organize all the information it took in that day. Your brain is literally bursting with yesterday’s trash.
Losing sleep night after night is like watching the garbage in your house accumulate while refusing to take it out.
Adults need 7-8 hours of solid sleep each night.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of sleep, check out my sleep blog below.
3. Stretch for 15-20 minutes every night.
I’ve been stretching every evening for the past three years and all I can say is, wow!
Think about it like this: if you stretch every night next week for 20 minutes, that’s two hours and 20 minutes of stretching for the week!
If you do that for a month, that’s 10 hours of stretching!
Compare that to doing zero. After 30 days, you’ll still have zero.
Stretching forces us to slow down. It’s a time to connect with ourselves and notice our thoughts, state of being, and how we feel in our bodies.
This frees up our autonomic nervous system to repair, heal, and create.
Not only that, stretching helps us enjoy these health benefits:
- strength
- flexibility
- core work/strength
- agility
- relaxation
- stress-relief
- inner connection
- massage of the joints, ligaments, and tendons
- increased circulation
- muscle building
- a slowing of the brain waves to alpha or low beta
As I mentioned above, most people do not understand the power of compounding (to read a great book on this, I recommend The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson).
Health compounds over time by what we eat, drink, do, think, feel, pay attention to, say to ourselves, and the company we keep.
Moving your body every day is paramount for compounding to work in your favor.
The body is built to move.
No matter what you have on your plate, set aside 20 minutes to stretch in the evening.
You’ll feel empowered, resilient, and strong.
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