It’s like shopping at Target!

• July 28, 2014

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Have you ever shopped at Target or Walmart thinking you’re spending so little money because each item seems like a deal? Everything seems so inexpensive, but your order totals $159.25!! How could that be? Well, all of those smaller purchases add up. Yet they didn’t seem like so much along the way.  This is also true of good health habits. By definition a habit is “a settled or regular tendency or practice”. Every positive small act performed frequently can, and will, add up to a better you.

Here are 5 small habits that add up to better health:

1. Take magnesium (citrate). Most people are over-calcified. Many things we eat/drink are calcium fortified while most people don’t eat enough reliable sources of magnesium (necessary to balance calcium intake). Adding between 400 and 800 mg a day (preferably at night because it can help you sleep) helps your body with over 300 cellular functions. It can also reduce stomach acid so that pesky heartburn will go away!

2. Stop sleeping near your phone. If you’re one of those people who use their phone as an alarm, I suggest you go back to the clock radio or whatever method you ditched for your phone. (I keep my phone plugged in and charging, on silent, in my closet at night.) Keeping your phone near you is disruptive to quality sleep because of the light, the sound and the urge to check and see what’s happening on social media or by email. All that can wait until morning!

3. Get your news from the internet or cut your news watching to an hour or less per day. Most of what you see on news shows is alarmist and will raise your blood pressure and stress hormones. The most important things can be found at your fingertips if necessary. Think about it: How do you feel while watching the news? I bet you don’t feel so great. Try watching just the national news shows that end with a positive human interest story (like NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams) so that you come away from it feeling uplifted instead of depressed.

4. Eat more seeds. Chia, sunflower, pumpkin, hemp, sesame, flax, to name a few. The benefits are huge, and the calories are really not a concern since they come from a great source. Add a few to your diet daily. http://www.organicgardening.com/cook/6-superfoods-that-arent-on-your-radar?page=0,0

5. Stop eating 2 hours before bedtime. You probably have a pretty good idea of when you’re going to go to bed each night (and if you don’t, we need to work on that too….). As you start getting tired, systems in your body slow down including the digestive system. It can take quite a while for food to travel through the human body. Adding more to it right before sleeping for 6-8 hours can really slow things down and possibly be detrimental to your fitness goals. Brush your teeth early to help resist snacking. Going to bed a little hungry never hurt anyone! http://www.mayoclinic.org/digestive-system/expert-answers/faq-20058340