Your health should be your most important priority; however, most people take their health for granted, especially when they feel they do not have anything to worry about. Taking care of your mind and body is key to living a happy, healthy lifestyle. Ultimately, it’s you who needs to take responsibility for the care of the body you live in. This means giving love, respect and freedom to yourself.
It’s time to make your body your priority. Let’s start with rest.
Making time for rest and self-care
You may think the chaos of life will eventually subside, but living on the edge of busyness and stress can be draining and even lead to burnout. It is important that even in the midst of a busy day you find a quiet moment to rest and take care of yourself. Much like your obligations to school, work or family, consider self-care to be just as important a responsibility.
Eating food that fuels and nourishes your body
Diet and exercise are important for a healthy lifestyle, but when life gets busy, grabbing fast food or a pack of chips is so much easier than cooking a healthy meal. Eating well does not have to be difficult. Simple steps such as choosing pre-packaged fruits and veggies to keep handy can make eating healthy easy even in a busy life.
Meal-prepping is another way you can prioritize your diet. Making prepared meals one night a week takes away the stress of making meals every day. There are plenty of meal-prep plans on the internet that can help you get creative and save money.
Prioritizing sleep over productivity
There really aren’t enough hours in the day.
Getting to bed on-time can be a struggle some days. When work, chores or social obligations pile up, it can be easy to compromise one, two or more hours of sleep. You’ll catch up on the weekend, right?
Getting into a consistent sleep schedule is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. What if you made your nighttime routine and sleep just as important as your other responsibilities? Taking care of your body will help you be energized and efficient when it comes to your daily tasks, so respecting your sleep schedule is really a benefit for all areas of your life.
Sleep will also help you to have a clear mind when you wake up. Making sure you aren’t bogged down by yesterday’s stress can help your mind work well today.
Taking care of your mental health
When it comes to taking responsibility for your health, mental health is just as important as physical health.
To love, respect and nurture your body is the core of a healthy mind. In today’s world, comparison drives society into a toxic culture of wishing for things unattainable. Unrealistic expectations, jealousy and negative self-talk are only a few of the ways we can get into our own heads. Without loving and respecting your body, you can fall into the trap of conformity to society’s unreal standards.
This can lead to dependence on substances that seem to numb the mind of stress and pain.
Cutting out harmful substances
Substances such as drugs or alcohol can be easy to turn to when stress gets overwhelming. A busy day can quickly turn into a few glasses of wine or a couple beers at the end of the night. Even though you may not feel like you have a problem, alcohol can be more harmful to your health than you think.
A high-functioning alcoholic depends on alcohol as part of their routine to relieve stress or other discomforts. If you feel like you have a problem with substance abuse, it may be time to take responsibility for your drinking or usage habits.
Taking responsibility for your patterns and habits is a major part of your health. While you may be doing everything to get enough rest or eat well, substances can destroy all of your other progress. It takes hard work and dedication, but with the right therapies and treatment team sobriety is achievable and rehab does work.
This list of priorities may seem long and tedious, but when it comes to your life, health is a major factor. Taking responsibility is not just making time for these things, but it is also making them a consistent pattern. To respect and care for your body is to take your health and wellness seriously, and to love yourself while doing it.
