Fall into Health: 4 Quick Tips

As the weather gets cooler, the leaves change colors and the sun sets earlier, we begin to accept the fact that we are moving into autumn. This makes it a perfect time to turn our attention to our own well-being. Whether it is making that long overdue doctor appointment or getting back on a regular sleep pattern, we can turn the transition from summer to fall into something beneficial to our mind, body and spirit.

Here are four helpful tips we can follow as we transition from summer to fall:

1. Eliminate

You don’t have to do a cleanse, but simply eliminating added sugars, refined carbs, dairy, poor quality meats, soy and corn, is one of the best ways to ease your body into craving healthy foods. In addition, these eliminations will help to reset your blood sugar, boost your immune system as well as jump start your metabolism.

2. De-Stress

You may not be able to make your stressors go away, but you can adopt habits that will help you handle stress better. Here are my top six ways of cutting down on stress: Praying, meditating, walking, journaling/writing, exercising, spending time with friends/loved ones.

3. Rest

Don’t take sleep for granted. Besides diet and exercise it’s the next most important piece to regenerating your health. Adults should be in bed and falling asleep by 10 p.m. The latest research shows that adults do better with 8-9 hours rather than the 6-7 hours previously recommended. We are all guided by a 24-hour internal body clock known as the circadian rhythm. This biological clock is trained by external environmental occurrences, such as the light-dark cycle of night and day. Put simply, our circadian rhythm regulates our daily activities, such as sleep, waking, eating and body temperature regulation. Since it took years to weaken your circadian rhythm, it may take a long while to repair it. By avoiding things at nighttime such as consuming caffeine and alcohol, keeping all the lights on, using electronics, and eating late, we can avoid further weakening of our biological clock.

4. Know Your Numbers

When making healthy changes, it’s important to understand the present condition of your health. When you see your doctor for a routine physical and blood tests you need to know the following 4 numbers because they provide important clues to your heart health: blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar. Once you know your numbers, you can take steps to lessen your heart risks through some common-sense lifestyle changes, like the ones listed above. Even if heart disease and diabetes runs in your family, lifestyle changes to get your numbers under control can make you less likely to develop these conditions.