Your health needs to be put at the forefront of your life. The journey to living the best life possible needs to be all-encompassing in your life. It cannot be one dimensional. You have to look at every aspect of your life that has an impact and push it forward. Make changes to continue down the best path. Your health needs to be #1 for you.

We are a sick society. Sicker than we actually realize. From grossly processed foods to sedentary lifestyles, to lack of relationships, to information overload, to toxic vibrations, the world is a growing cesspool of things that are making us fat, unhealthy, and sick.

Which is crazy, because health is really the main staple for a good life. If you don’t have your health, what else do you really have? Are you really going to tell me that you are happy being fat, feeling like crap because you put crap into your body, not moving or getting sunshine, sitting on your sofa watching football all day, and playing Fortnite after that?

If that is your definition of living the best life, you are on the wrong site, my friend.

For the regular sane people of the world, happiness comes from being able to chase your kids/grandkids. Or walking a round of golf. Or going for a hike. Or maybe just making up the flight of stairs without wheezing. Happiness comes from making a decent living, which takes hustle, hard work, and mental fortitude if you want to be any sort of successful. Happiness comes from being content in your life, knowing you have done everything you can in everything you can. If you don’t have health, you don’t have any of this.

Sure – you may have a little of this. But your health is the ONE thing that you have the most control over. And it is the one thing that directly correlates with being happy. So why wouldn’t you maximize it?

And I am not talking about losing weight – although that is a big part of it. Like everything else in life, you need to look at the big picture. So many people put such an emphasis on weight, that it sets up this false sense to healthiness when more needs to be done.

Yes – if you are overweight, losing weight helps. And that comes from moving and eating right.

There is more – but before we dive into those, let’s exploit the moving and eating right for a bit.

Obesity rates continue to climb. And yet, study and study after study after study continues to show that the way to get healthy, is through diet and exercise. Sure, you can pick one and have decent results. But a good clean diet and a little bit of movement go a long way together.

Maybe that is what we are missing – a basic definition. When people hear “diet” and “exercise” maybe they think they need to go on a calorie-restricted diet and run 5 miles a day.

And sure – that may be a good version. But start simple. Start basic.

Diet and Exercise Basics

Start reading the labels of some of the sh*t that you put in your body. Great chance if you cannot pronounce it, you shouldn’t eat it. I heard one time “if your grandma wouldn’t cook with it – it shouldn’t go in your body”. My family recently made a very simple switch for dinner; we traded out Rice-A-Roni for something else. Some nights it is potatoes. Some nights it is a veggie. Some nights it is beans. But we simply removed that one item. And it makes a big difference! I would have to bet, if most of you wrote down a food journal with calories per serving size (and how many servings you actually consume), sodium content, and carb content – that alone – not including the ingredients – would be enough to shock you.

And exercise doesn’t mean running 5 miles or putting 90 minutes in at the gym with the sweaty muscle heads. It means moving. More than you are now. More than you did yesterday, for at least 30 minutes. Be truthful right now – are you spending 30 minutes every day doing something where your breathing is starting to get labored and you just start working on a good sweat – or something more? I doubt it. Most people get winded from walking from the car to the office, let alone trying to get 30 minutes in. But that is all you need. WALK for 30 minutes, 5x a week for starters. See how that feels.

Couple that with removing some of the sh*t food you eat, and voila, you are on the way to starting to get healthy.

But most won’t do that. And that is the problem. That right there – what I just wrote – is the starter package. The bare minimum. The bar is set low. That is the 101 course.

Then you have all the vitamins that you aren’t getting – even though you are eating better – that affects everything from mood to the way you poop, to the electrical impulses in your heart. We lack the natural vitamins and hormones from nature because we are recluses that sit alone in our car, to drive to work so we can sit alone in our cubicle, to sit alone in our car, to have dinner with our family, so we can be alone on our iPhones, so we can be alone while we watch TV – on our iPhones…

Then you have the iPhone. That dopamine stealing, resentment driving, FOMO machine that causes all of our hormones to get out of whack because we have no idea what it is like to have a real conversation with someone because we have it through various sites and apps and ringtones and snaps and instas and whatever else is out there right now.

Then you have your whacked out sleep patterns because you spend so much time on that iPhone, your body doesn’t really know if it is night or day, because of the bombardment of all the light we get at night (do you really need that late-night episode of the Kardashians?).

Then you have social relationships or lack thereof. And not just the friends you think you have on Facebook, but can’t seem to find time to get together with them in real life. But within your own family! You can’t go to dinner – just flippin’ 60 minutes out! – without the entire damn table on a tablet or phone. Zero conversation. Then you come home, put the kids to bed, and lay in your bed with your nose to phone, wondering why your sex life has gone to sh*t, your relationship is on the rocks, and your testosterone is tanking (for you men).

Then you have the lack of sunshine. Ah – the glorious sunshine – the tool that heats the world, grows plants, and nourishes our body. The sun is a powerful healer, both inside and out, yet we bog down our systems by staying inside and using SPF 295 on our skin to completely avoid any sort of sun that comes down, which affects the production of multiple aspects of vitamins, minerals, and hormones. And of course, your hormones get f*cked up, your sleep/sex/physicality/mood/who you are gets messed up too. We get more depression and anxiety because we don’t get the calming effect of the sun, and the only light our body gets is the false light from your cell phone.

Then you have….

I could go on and on and on and on regarding the state we are in. And look – I am not perfect. I am really not. I have my faults. We all do. But I at least see the problem for what it is, make a conscious effort to make changes and get the things my body/life needs to ensure it can run in tip-top shape. That is what life is all about.

Trying. Effort. Work. Never give up. Keep on pushing.

The problem is you don’t try. You don’t put in the effort. You don’t put in the work. You give up – stop pushing. Because it is easier to fake life on social media by hitting a POST button, than it actually is to put in the discipline for a strong and healthy life. It’s easier to complain about your lack of sleep but able to gossip about the latest episode of the bachelor than actually put a routine in and go to bed early. It’s easier to feel security by our ‘followers’ than actually put in the time for human conversations. It’s easier to take Zoloft instead of taking a good hard look at your life and making the tough changes that legit make you happy.

It’s only life, right? One-shot – why wouldn’t you put the time in to make sure your body is in prime health?

So what should you do? Start. Right now. Start by making a change. Here are 10 you can do. This is not an exhaustive list – nor is it a quick fix. This list is 10 things for you to start becoming aware of your health, what you are doing to sabotage it, and what you can do to take your health – and ultimately your life – to the next level.

10 Health Changes to Make Now

1. Start to read food labels. No need to really take action, just get in a habit of reading them. Look at the calories per servings and how many servings are in a package. Look at the sugars, sodium and carb content, and the percent of your daily intake it will use up. Take a glance at the ingredients. Use an app like MyFitnessPal to scan barcodes and get a glimpse into their app of what you consume every day. Again – no real action here. Once you start reading labels, you will get a feel of what is good – and what you should not be putting in your body.
2. Keep A Health Journal. A health journal is where you write anything and everything regarding your health. What you are eating, how you are feeling after you eat that, what you are drinking, what you noticed on food labels, what you are doing for exercise, how you are sleeping, thoughts, and opinions otherwise not stated above. It is a gut check to see where you are at, how you are feeling and tracking progress. Sure – apps are great – but we want to put the phone down as much as we can – so I recommend using an actual journal with an actual pen and actually writing it down.
3. Get moving. 30 minutes minimum a day. This is simply about the fact that we humans were not meant to be so sedentary. Our bodies were not met to stay stagnant. We were meant to move. Go for a 30 minutes walk, but don’t just walk. Move your arms. Do arm circles. Do some bodyweight squats. Get that blood moving through your body to nourish everything inside that it needs. It’s seriously only 30 minutes.
4. Get outside. The sun is probably the most powerful healer that we have at our disposal. But we have become so afraid of it, we avoid it like the plague. We slap on heavy SPF sunscreen, we were long sleeves and hats, we think that if any little bit of sun gets on our skin, instant cancer. While we do need protection on heavy UV days, and when exposed for a longer duration, 20 minutes of direct sunlight on your skin every day will do your body wonders. Preferably around noon (for circadian rhythm) – or first thing in the morning – both have amazing effects. And preferably barefoot on some grass (for earthing). Those aren’t needed, but beneficial. Just get some sun, 20 minutes a day (use sunscreen for longer bouts), and watch things start to change in your life.
5. Go to the doctor. Most people I know have some sort of insurance where they can get access to a primary care physician, yet most don’t. I know I was guilty of this for a long time, but recently changed it – and it makes a big difference. A doctor goes to school for a very long time, spends a large sum of money, and dedicates a large chunk of their life to become an expert on the body. They can see things that we can’t. It is important to build a relationship with an MD, that you can trust, see regularly, and they can find issues before they get to a point where they start affecting your health.
6. Sleep. Sure – you are trying to do this now, but how successful are you? Our bodies need to recover, at least for 7 hours. And sure – maybe you are in bed by 11 and up by 6. But are you sleeping that entire time? Or do you toss and turn to sleep, wake up to pee, wake up before your alarm? The environment you sleep in is a big piece of this. Make it dark. Hide all the ambient light from computers, power cords, cable boxes, whatever else is in your room with electrical tape. Wind down, avoid screens an hour before bed. Read a book, meditate to take your mind of the day. Wind down, relax, sleep 7 full hours.
7. Drink more water. Like – all the time. Our bodies are mostly water – and we need to replenish. Always carry a water bottle, and always keep it full. Drink water when out to dinner instead of soda – soda is a diuretic (removes water) so that is a double whammy. Wake up in the morning and drink a big glass. Drink during your commute. Look at other areas where you can bring in more water and get to drinking!
8. Relax. I wanted to put meditate, but realize that most people think meditation is for hippies. I personally use meditation and love it – a real game-changer for me and recommend everyone trying it through an app like Headspace or Calm. But I do realize that it isn’t for everyone. But relaxing, with nothing on your mind, being with yourself, for 20 minutes a day, will reset your stress levels, and bring down the flight or fight response that is constantly in our lives. Sit on a park bench for 20 minutes, getting your sunshine, without your phone, and just be with yourself. See how that feels for 20 minutes every day.
9. Watch your sitting habits. We sit WAYYY too much in our lives. We sit down commuting, working, at the dinner table, on the couch to watch TV. If we were to monitor the hours that we sit a day, we would be appalled. I know we can’t drive standing up, and standing up eating is a pain, but stand up when you think about it. Set a timer for 30 minutes a day, and just to stand up, stretch your arms, and sit back down. It really makes a difference in our bodies if we can lengthen every once in a while.
10. Put down your phone. The biggy bringing up the rear! Putting down our phones affects so much of our life. You will sleep better, staying off of it late at night. You will build better relationships with friends and family, not being nose down in it during dinner. You won’t active the flight-or-fight response with your emotions spike over something you see on Facebook. You won’t get those resentment feelings or fear-of-missing-out on Instagram watching someone else live a fake like, thinking your life isn’t fake enough. The benefits are endless if we spend less time on the phone. And don’t ever let me catch you checking your phone while you are driving

Your family, finances, work-life, entire life – is important. But at the core of this – your health needs to be put first – and taken seriously. Put in the time – put in the work – watch your life change.

Or not – your choice.