Hi Friends!
Today we’re talking simple healthy habits with the lovely Alysia from Slim Sanity. It’s hard to remember exactly but I think Alysia and I met through Foodie Penpals. She’s been a wonderful supporter of my blog over the past couple of years and she has an amazing blog of her own that you should definitely go check out. She posts amazing recipes like Apple Turkey Burgers and Banana Coco Chip Muffins, has an awesome Blog Tip Friday series that’s super helpful AND she posts fun workouts! Bonus- her dog is adorable 🙂
Take it away Alysia!
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What comes to mind when you think of habits? I often think of bad habits like nail biting, being late or playing with your hair. The definition of a habit is ‘a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.’
Why does it seem as if the habits that are hard to give up are bad? I know changing any habit is hard, whether it be ridding a bad habit or adding a good habit. There are plenty of good habits we can all start putting into practice. If we try hard enough, maybe they’ll stick! Here are seven healthy habits that I try to keep up with.
1. Turn off your phone. This is a hard one for me as a blogger. I’m constantly reading other blogs, connecting with people, and checking e-mail. Time spent with family, having personal time, or just down time in general is a lot more relaxing when we aren’t staring into the blinding light of social media. I try to turn mine off at night, or leave it at home when we go for a walk. It’s also good to keep your device from malfunctioning!
2. Walk on your lunch break. I was really great at this one for a long time, and I found myself getting busy (or lazy, perhaps) and they slipped from my normal routine. I’m getting better at them again now. I’ll go for a 20-30 minute walk over my lunch break. It’s pretty easy to do since I pack my own lunch. I don’t drive anywhere for food and I get a little more free time. Depending on the weather, I’ll walk outside or around the halls of my buildings at school!
3. Floss daily. I get this one checked off the list about 3 times a week. That’s also due to laziness (maybe we have a theme going on here?).
4. Make more smoothies. Making a protein shake or smoothie is an easy way to add more fruits and veggies into your diet! I promise you, you can’t really taste the spinach in a green smoothie when you add some fruit to it!
5. Foam roll. I still haven’t purchased one of my own, but I’ll use a foam roller when I go to the gym. It’s a great way to loosen up your muscles. It’s really quite relaxing once you’re done. For those with IT band issues, it’s a great tool!
6. Be social. It’s easy to get caught up with work and routines and be too tired during the week to catch up with friends. Choose a night to routinely get together. Just because you are trying to eat healthy doesn’t mean you need to avoid parties and happy hours. If that is the case for you, set limits for yourself and stick to them. Go on date nights with your significant other. Quality time is so important! We have a few select places where we can go to catch a cheap bite to eat and a drink during the week. Having fun and enjoying time with friends and loved ones is necessary for your mental health, which is just as important as your physical health.
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I love her tips because they cover all aspects of healthy living, not just food! Huge thanks to Alysia for filling in for me today!
Let’s chat:
What’s one healthy habit you will start working on this week?
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
More foam roll, less cell phone – I can live with these!
definitely doable!
Less phone, more jogging, and more smoothies
piece of cake, right? 🙂
I’m guilty of not turning off my phone and flossing. My family and dentist deserve for me to at least try, right? 🙂
Definitely worth a shot! Somehow the cell phone is easier for me to turn off than remembering to floss!
Turning off your phone and modes of social media is such a huge one for me. I got into a routine of turning off media around 9 and just having personal time and I’ve honestly never felt better. I feel like we get so wrapped up as bloggers and people (even nonbloggers tweeting, facebooking…ect) that we think we are going to miss something by being offline.
YES – I’ve totally felt that way, that I would miss out on something huge by not knowing what everyone else is doing. That’s changed a lot in the last couple years for me!
Great tips! I’ve been starting to take my mornings more seriously, and by seriously I mean…more ‘me’ time. I usually workout before work in the AM, but a few days a week I’m starting to workout after work in order to prepare for a positive day, make a nourishing breakfast, and taking some time to journal. I find it helps me enter the day with more energy, focus, and happiness. 🙂
I think my mornings might be rearranged when I start working full time (I”m a full time graduate research student right now). I think it’s important not to feel rushed in the morning!
Be social. I get so caught up in work I forget.
This is one that isn’t hard for me normally, but I can get caught up once in a while! I think it’s important, I see a lot of people skip out on important stuff because they ‘have’ to fit their workout in. Reschedule it, shorten it up, or skip it. Won’t kill ya!
I used to think the idea of phone rolling was…strange. Now I can’t live without mine! It’s fantastic.
I was scared at first, but I love it now!
Well, since I am the proud new owner of a JawboneUP, my healthy habits for this week will be to TRY to get more sleep AND get up and climb the stairs 5 times when my sedentary alarm goes off 🙂
Ooh I haven’t heard of that! I’ll have to check it out! Have you written any posts about it?
No… just started using it. May post about it soon though. I like it a lot!
Great tips! I need to work on the no phone and flossing!
I hardly look at my phone on the weekends and I love it!
Great tips, Alysia! 🙂 Fun to see you on the Bean!
I foam roll all the time – best purchase I ever made for home! I’m working on the flossing…
I still need to get one for at home, but I use them at my gym!
Such great tips!
Thanks dear! 🙂
It’s a trifecta of healthy habits — I’m going to drink a smoothie on a foam rolling while my phone is in the other room!
Haha! That sounds perfect! 😉
Giving myself permission to leave my phone upstairs or in my purse and not worry about the email/texts/etc coming in has been HUGE for me. Some days that’s easier than others but that bit of letting go is a great mental break.
I agree with you. My phone is usually more attached M-Th than F-Sun!
The one about being social is crucial! This summer has been jam packed with work and studying, so I had convinced myself that I didn’t have time for my friends…needless to say I started getting unproductive because I felt so lonely and like there was nothing to look forward to! Once I decided social time was part of my healthy living equation, my productivity increased in the other areas because I was happier!
I totally agree, it’s so crucial to being happy! My fiance and I are social butterflies, so there comes time when we have to tone down our social life, haha
really great tips! i’d say i’ll start foam rolling this week because i definitely don’t do that nearly enough!
Thanks! 🙂
I love that she included ‘leaving your phone at home’ as a healthy habit!
I’ve been doing so (or just turning off the sound when I’m home) a lot more this summer while I’m home with my kids. Makes me much less jumpy and anxious! (and really, how many of the alerts you get each day REALLY need an immediate response???)
Totally with you. Especially on date nights, whether they are out or at home, I’m with the fiance so no one else needs my attention!
I’m so bad with my phone…I have a hard time stepping away! It’s so hard when my work and blog and friends, etc are just RIGHT THERE! 😉
If I’m alone by myself I’m alot more guilty of constantly being on my phone than I am when I’m with friends! When I’m with people it usually stays in my purse unless I know someone is trying to get ahold of me
Great tips! I definitely need to focus on unplugging more often because my phone and social media do tend to take over my life more often than not. I also needed the foam rolling encouragement. I have my own but need to use it more frequently!
I don’t foam roll after every workout, but when I do I love it
Love #1. So need to try #5 with the foam roller. Could definitely use it now.
you’ll love it once you try!
My fiance and I both agreed we need to “shut down” more. We need to inteact more which means turning off the phones, laptops etc. and spend more time just us without the electronics getting in the way.
That’s one of the things that was hard when I started blogging. Kyle would never say it, but I could tell there were times when he just wanted me to ditch the computer for a while. Now I try to have all my blogging time scheduled and done in a timely manner so when we are together it’s more quality time
These are such great tips! I have just started walking during my lunch break (and sometimes getting to yoga!) which makes a huge difference. I need to work on #6!
That’s great! My favorite time of the work day are my lunch walks 🙂 haha!
thanks for the tips! As a mom of a one year old I have trouble with with the ‘being social’ one! Luckily my husband is a social butterfly so he drags me out when I want to be a recluse! It always feel better even if I didn’t want to go at first.
Making time to be social is sooo important, in my opinion. I’m sure it can be hard when you’re busy with work and a little one (I haven’t been there yet!) but I’m glad you’re able to get out with the hubs once in a while!
I just started flossing regularly. I really trying to make is a habit to do it.
I’ve started setting out my floss by my toothbrush. Then it’s just there, and I know it only takes a minute to do!
I love making smoothies…I pretty much get an F when it comes to everything else! I’m definitely going to start pulling away from the phone/computer more when I’m with my family and my fiance.
Those are all great habits to have! I try to shut off all media (tv, phones, etc.) 30 minutes before bed and just read by myself. It works wonders for my sleeping!
I need to find a new good book to read! Any suggestions?
I love murder mysteries, so J.D. Robb’s series is a lot of fun!
Great tips! I need to put my phone away. I will say though that the lunch thing isn’t easy, as a teacher I never had enough time and my previous job we were expected to work through our lunches.
Yea, I totally get not all jobs allow for people to get away on their lunch breaks – I’ve had a job like that before. Maybe making a before work or nightly walk ritual instead? For me, its a good time to clear my mind!
Always love your posts! Going to post to FB soon…
I’m a huge fan of The Bean myself 🙂
What an awesome list! I really love how they are kind of out of the box and not totally focused on food. I definitely need some help in the flossing department and the turning of my phone department…it’s a work in progress! Great tips!
I’ve started to set my floss by my toothbrush, and try to remember it really only takes a minutes at the most! I’m always just in a rush to crawl in bed at night by the time I get to brushing my teeth, haha
These are such simple tips and would really help to cultivate a healthy lifestyle. Plus, there’s really no excuse not to incorporate them!
Little things can do wonders over time!
Flossing, flossing, flossing! I am so bad and I know how important it is.
I also want to foam roll more. It helps me so much when I do you’d think I’d stick with it all the time.
Sometimes when I’m on the go, spending 5-10 extra minute at the gym to foam roll can be hard for me, so I just try to do it when I can, or when I know I really need to do it.
I definitely need to work on turning my phone off. I’m constantly plugged in and this makes it hard for me to focus and get everything done. I agree that it’s necessary to floss daily! That one is easy for me as I floss 2-3 times a day.
I usually only floss at night, but I do keep it in my purse for emergencies! 🙂
I floss daily, but I NEED to tear away from social media for sure!!! I also own a foam roller and never use it. This totally needs to change. It’s all habits right?! I just need to start creating really good ones!!
totally with ya! Once we get in the habit of doing it, it should be easy to keep it up!
I’m SO BAD at flossing…it’s one of those really annoying things I forget to do, even though the floss is staring right at me! I agree with Lindsay and like how these habits are not just food habits, but real life ones.
I know the flossing thing gets annoying… it took me a while to make myself do it, kind of like washing my face before bed was haha. I know that my bed routine is only a few minutes at the most, so I just do it and get it done!
I need to work on the phone one & the social one… August may be making that happen.. I will post tomorrow about why. 🙂
I’ll have to check it out!
great tips lady! we all need to shut the phone off more and computer. I am working on it
I work on it little by little too! nights like tonight – when I’m home alone – I”ll probably be on it until I fall asleep, haha
Social media junkie here…guilty! I want to make more smoothies 😉
I did a cleanse a couple weeks ago where I made smoothies for breakfast every day – loved it!
Ahh! Turning off the phone is the hardest thing to do at my house. And the computer, the kindle, etc. It’s embarrassing to realize that we have to constantly be ‘entertained’. Even my good habit, reading, starts to bug me because sometimes I need to just totally unplug! Just need a quick lesson in how to do that! Love the post 🙂
These are great tips! I need to turn off my phone and floss more!
A few simple things to help clear your mind, and improve your health! 🙂
I love this! Thank you Alysia, and thank you Tina for posting it! Turning off the phone is such a needed thing that is so often missed among all the chaos and busyness of our day to day lives
Loved this post! I was disconnected from my blog for over a month for so many reasons, some of which occurred during my disconnected time (and was totally thankful for the quiet). The one that made me giggle, though, was flossing. I’ve been SO bad at it for so long, and it’s been a goal of mine to make it a habit for a while. I started flossing once a day about two weeks ago, and my mouth definitely feels the benefits!
Love these ideas! I’ve never foam rolled before, but it’s something I really should try. I think it would work wonders for my sore muscles.
I’ve been trying to work on drinking more water throughout the day!
Great ideas to work on! I need to make more smoothies. My kids love them and I have the fruit in the freezer but for some reason I just don’t think to do it when snack time rolls around.
I definitely have a goal to be a little more social this month. Weird how that’s hard to fit in!
I definitely need to foam roll more that is for sure!!
I agree with getting in touch with friends and turning off your cell phone! I notice since I moved away from my home in AZ to Louisiana I seem to be in a rut. Work, school, social media, food, sleep. I need to go out and have more girls night with my co-workers at the hospital and less time on the internet. Which is hard because I like to blog and be on facebook.
I started taking walks during my lunch and it has made a huge difference in my mood at work. It gives me a mid-day pick me up to get me through the rest of the day. Good advice!