Noah Smith
Blogger | Travel Writer
While nobody wants to feel physically and/or mentally miserable all the time, it can be difficult to make the changes necessary to help yourself feel better. You can’t expect things to work out favorably by just waking up one day and telling yourself that you want to be physically and mentally fit. It takes effort and some practical strategies that can help you achieve your goal.
Daily Physical Health Strategies
Sitting on the couch with a remote control and a pint of ice cream seems to come naturally, but no, that’s not a great strategy. Start by making smaller changes instead of drastic ones.
What you don’t want is to fail spectacularly. That can just lead to giving up and falling back into those unhealthy habits. If you often eat fast food and carbs, suddenly going vegan is a recipe for disaster.
To develop healthy strategies, try making some of the following changes in your daily life (for more tips, see this guide):
- Drink plenty of water.
- Take short walks, like around your building on your lunch break.
- Eat more fruit, vegetables, and proteins.
- Sleep regularly and at least seven hours each night.
Daily Mental Health Strategies
Your mental health cannot be ignored. It’s really hard to change strategies when you’re depressed or anxious. Here are a few tips for developing strategies for your mental health.
In today’s digital word, you need to connect face-to-face with humans more than ever. So much of a conversation is actually nonverbal and based on facial expressions and body language. By spending time with people in the real world, you can find yourself getting the direct contact you need.
Meditation and relaxation techniques are very helpful. You don’t have to join a yoga program or even spend a dime. Instead, look online for guided meditation videos. Just 20-30 minutes each day can improve your mood and stress levels.
Lastly, seek out help from professionals if you need it. Mental health issues can escalate into other problems, such as addiction, so it’s important you take the state of your mental health very seriously. You wouldn’t worry about seeing a doctor for the flu, so you shouldn’t worry about seeing a therapist for depression.
Be Wary Of Stress And Anxiety
Because your body and mind are connected, stress and anxiety can have a “double-whammy” effect on you. When you’re upset, your body gets tense and you have trouble fighting colds. It can also ruin your mood and stop you from enjoying things you normally like. If you want to develop strategies to improve your physical and mental health, you also have to do the same for stress and anxiety.
One powerful strategy is nicknamed the Four A’s:
- Avoid: If something is stressing you out, can you get rid of it?
- Alter: Are there changes you can make to your environment to reduce or even eliminate stressors?
- Adapt: Are there changes you can make to yourself to limit anxiety?
- Accept: If nothing can be done, don’t obsess over it. Just admit it sucks, then move on.
Working On One Affects The Other
The nice thing about developing these daily strategies is that they can improve your physical and mental health at the same time. For example, going to bed instead of binging on another episode can improve your mood and immune system. So when you’re facing a weak moment and consider giving up — and you will have those moments — remember that small changes can help your mind and body simultaneously.
About Noah Smith
Noah Smith loves sharing his travel advice on WellnessVoyager. Before he became this confident, he went through a childhood where anxiety and worry are not foreign. Through this article, he hopes to help parents be guided off the ills of adolescent anxiety.
14 Comments on “How You Can Improve Your Physical And Mental Health Each Day”
Thanks for such a great post. We trying hard till, and getting tips like this will help us.
I plan to make more time for me in 2019 and be better to my body!
Making changes in 2018 have made me a better,healthier and happier person!
Such a great post , I make a real effort to stay active and eat healthy as I have gotten older. For myself , my family , especially for my grandsons. Who I love to do activities and be able to enjoy the outdoors with.
The Four A’s is an interesting concept. Though for my current problem I’ve got to “Just admit it sucks, then move on”… Well, at least I’ve tried :)
I started drinking 2 liters of water a day (at minimum) and its amazing the difference its made!
The Four A’s – thanks so much for these
:) Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for commenting Cindy.
Thank you for the tips !
Sometimes so hard to get started on healthier options – but the small steps appeal to me – they’re easy to obtain and I agree, so important.
Some interesting tips that I’ll be sure to try.
Thanks for commenting, Katrina! Glad you enjoyed this!
Excellent post,sometimes we have to work hard and be determined to make changes to help us be in a better place .
Exactly, Kathy!