12 Habits to Make You Healthier

Avoid alcohol.

Alcohol isn't just terribly dehydrating, it's also either filled with gluten, sugar or both, which drastically speeds up our aging process. This leaves the skin looking dull and extra pounds feeling much too at home.

Cut back on meat.

Not only are our factory faming methods wreaking havoc on our already fragile environment, but meat is very hard on our systems. Meat is the hardest of all foods to digest (starch coming at a close second). The harder something is to digest, the more fat will be stored in our bodies.

If you choose to eat meat, try cutting back to a few times per week, and always choose local and organic. This way, at least you won't be ingesting hormones and god-knows-what. Quick food for thought: some of the biggest, sturdiest animals on earth (elephant, cow, gorilla) eat plant-based diets, and they're doing just fine!

Ditch caffeine.

Caffeine of any kind wreaks havoc on our system. It causes the stress hormone cortisol to be released,
making it very difficult to shed extra pounds and maintain a healthy balance.

Honor your digestion.

Good digestion is typically overlooked and is one of the key factors to feeling and being your healthiest. Practice eating things in their proper order, chew thoroughly and notice how much better you start to feel during and after your meals. Bloating should go down and energy levels should go up.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Drink a lot of water. Divide your body weight in pounds by two. This number equals the amount, in ounces, you should be drinking, which will efficiently hydrate you without drowning the nutrients out of your system. Try infused water for a bit of diversity without any extra harmful ingredients.

Pretend you're allergic to dairy.

Dairy is one food group that should be avoided at all costs, especially when it comes from the local supermarket. Puss, blood and antibiotics are only a few of the terrifying ingredients in our highly processed milk, cheese and yogurt these days. Not only does milk actually leach calcium from our bodies, but dairy causes us to form mucus and is terribly difficult to digest.

Eat the rainbow.

Make sure especially to consume LOTS of dark, leafy greens. Add as many different colored fruits and vegetables as possible to your diet.

Break up with sugar.

I'm sure you've heard tons of preaching on this subject lately. I'm going to contribute to that. 

Sugar leaches minerals and nutrients from our body and turns straight to unhealthy fat when digested. Work on conquering that sugar addiction and use healthy sugar substitutes like raw honey, organic maple syrup, organic stevia and coconut nectar as much as you can. Remember, choosing artificial sweetener is actually WORSE for you than sugar, so please don't go there.

Use only coconut or grapeseed oil for high-heat cooking.

Not doing this will deprive your body of the nutrients it craves and will actually allow carcinogens into your system. Otherwise, enjoy other healthy oils such as olive oil, hemp oil and avocado oil, as well as coconut and grapeseed oil, in the raw.

Move.

Our bodies are made to move. We aren't meant to be sitting in a chair all day long. Many of us don't have much of a choice in that, but we do have some control. Get up and do some stretching at least once an hour. Move any way that your unique situation allows. Clean the house, do the dishes, walk to a restaurant, do a few standing jumping jacks — whatever suits you. On top of that, do a more intense workout at least three days per week (e.g. go to the gym, take a movement class).

Use natural beauty and home products.

Non-organic beauty products (everything from makeup, nail polish, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, lotion, deodorant, sunscreen, candles and cleaning solutions), when applied to our skin, leaches dangerous toxins into our bloodstream in a mere 26 seconds. Whether applied topically or through the air, these toxins will make us age faster, can make it impossible to shed extra pounds, can cause disease and can totally confuse our hormones.

Practice gratitude. PRAY

Above all, remember to be grateful for all the positive aspects of your life! It takes work, which is why it's called a practice. Remember to offer up the good and the bad.

" . . . you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good . . . "  Genesis 50:20