This upcoming week is a special week, it's a time we celebrate men and focus on something very important, men’s health. Men’s Health Week is a reminder for all the men out there to put health and wellbeing first. After all, it’s what allows you to be the best possible person you can be for your family and loved ones.
As boys growing up, you’re naturally often wild and filled with energy. We refer to it as “boys being boys” as the bruises and bumps come and go. Throughout those youthful years, your body seems to handle just about anything and heal with ease. As you grow you learn that you’re not supposed to cry too much, it's a sign of being weak... While being tough is a good thing and should be celebrated, it’s important to understand and listen to your body as you age and move through life. That’s right fellas, being in tune with and listening to your body isn’t just for the ladies and manliness isn’t just about being tough, actually not at all. It includes both preparedness and proactiveness. Men’s Health Week is all about being proactive and putting your health first!
The key to making health and wellness a priority is to integrate healthy routines into daily life. Daily habits that promote healthy behavior are what lead to overall wellness. No matter where you are in your wellness journey, integrating some of these habits into your daily life can help you be and feel your best.
Drink Your Water
Your body is about 60% water. This means that replenishing and hydrating your tissues and organs is one of the best steps to feeling good! Shoot for at least half of your body weight in ounces per day. (So if you weigh 200 lbs, then shoot for 100 ounces of water per day.) Keeping a water bottle by your side and sipping on it throughout the day will help get the job done. There are endless health benefits to this daily routine, including higher metabolism and better energy.
Get Your Dark Greens
Maybe you're a home chef or perhaps you aren’t allowed in the kitchen unless it’s to get a bowl of cereal, or maybe, you’re a bachelor who relies on takeout for a majority of your meals. Regardless of your cooking or take out habits, dark greens are your friend when it comes to nutrition. The USDA recommends around 2 cups of dark greens a day for men under 50, and 1 ½ for men over that. This might seem like a lot, but this can easily be mixed into a smoothie, used as a base of a delicious salad, or scrambled up with your morning eggs. Regardless of how you choose to consume them, take advantage of the benefits of veggies like kale and spinach, packed full with Vitamin C and K and antioxidants.
So, don’t be afraid to find a few recipes that look good or interesting and hop in the kitchen to experiment. If you’re feeling a bit stubborn about prepping your own meals, swap out some of your go-to take out options with fresh whole food smoothie and salad shops. You’ll be glad you did.
Avoid Nutrient Overload
It’s in the name! Overloading on certain types of nutrients is a very real phenomenon as many people tend to focus all of their energy on one food group. PROTEIN. PROTEIN. PROTEIN. Protein is very important, but there are other nutrients that need to be tapped. Work to find a balance in your meals and what exactly your body is asking for.
Supplement What is Missing
Crafting a diet that is right for your body is an important part of striving towards wellness, but the fact of the matter is, your diet doesn’t provide you all the nutrients you require. There are a number of reasons for this including the soil or medium our foods are grown in, the Standard American Diet, and so on. For this reason, it’s become necessary to utilize high-quality supplements to fill nutritional gaps.
In the world of supplements, you get what you pay for. It all comes down to quality. In most cases, the more expensive supplements contain higher quality ingredients, undergo more testing, and invest in their quality control and safety measures. A word of caution, don’t just assume you are getting the highest quality product simply based on price. Rather, take time to research the supplement and company ahead of time to be sure their standards meet your expectations.
Looking for an affordable well-rounded, superfood-based, third party tested supplement? Try Essentials by New Earth, the perfect combination of organic Wild Microalgae™, probiotics, and enzymes. Rich in phytonutrients, plant-based proteins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and a wide spectrum of micronutrients, Wild Microalgae supplies the body with high-quality nutrition while the enzymes go to work helping with digestion and assimilation and probiotics seed your ever-important gut with beneficial bacteria.
Practice Gratitude
Taking time in your day to practice gratitude is a simple and effective way to nurture your mental and emotional health. Having balance between mental, emotional, and physical health is the key to striving towards overall wellness. Being grateful for the current gifts and blessings in life builds mental dexterity in facing future trials and issues. And, it doesn’t have to take up much time at all.
Practicing gratitude can be as simple as listing three things you are grateful for in the morning, noting the gifts you’ve received from this life, or sharing a few things you are grateful for with a friend or loved one. If you haven’t tried it yet, go ahead and give it a test run for a week or so. You will be glad you did! Remember, there is always something to be grateful for.
Men’s Health Week is a great reminder to put your health and wellness first. When challenges come your way, you will be able to rely on your body, mind, and those around you. Your challenge, if you choose, is to pick three of the wellness activities above, and practice them each day.