Spring Cleaning: My Body

Be good to your body and it will be good back. 

First up on spring cleaning in my life is my body. Now I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to lose weight or anything like that. If losing weight is your goal then this is not the blog post for you. If being healthier overall and making healthier life decisions for your body is your goal then read on and welcome!

I will start by what I normally drink and what I am going to try to drink more of. I usually start my day with a cup of tea once I get to work. Lately I have been loving flavored teas such as Cranberry Apple and Peach Mango tea. I also like to mix it up and have a glass of green tea at least once a day. To give it some flavor I like drinking Green Tea with Pomegranate. I don't put any sweetener into my tea if it is already flavored. Also, I have really been trying to incorporate drinking at least 3-4 cups of water a day while I am at work because I know once I get home I am probably not going to drink that much more water.

A few other healthy alternatives that I have been loving are smoothies and juice. The great thing about smoothies is that you can make your own or you can buy them already made like Naked Juice or Odwalla or go to a restaurant and get one. With juice I try to drink real fruit juice that has little artificial sweetener because fruit has it's own sugars in it so it so it doesn't really need the added sweeteners.

Sleep is the next important thing for spring cleaning my body. On average, I usually get between 5-6 hours of sleep at night. I know this is terrible but, it is an improvement from high school and college when I averaged 4 hours of sleep per night. My goal is to get between 6-8 hours of sleep per night. I am trying to go to bed one hour earlier for now and then eventually two hours earlier which would move my "bedtime" from 2am to midnight. 

If I get tired during the day and I'm not working I try to take 15-30minute power naps. If I get tired and I am at work I stand up and stretch, walk around for 60 seconds, or grab a hot cup of peppermint tea to wake me up. But hopefully getting on a good sleep schedule will help me to not want naps anymore. 

Lastly, food! Now this is hard for me because I usually eat whatever I think tastes good (which is usually bacon, waffles, grits, sausage, and pizza). That being said, I am trying to eat better and make better decisions in that area of my life also. I feel like the warm weather is perfect for eating fresh fruit on the go or having fruits and veggies for a snack. These are probably good to do year round however, I am only tempted to do this when it's warm outside for some reason. 

The other two things I am trying to do with my food is have better portion control and not eat too late. I always eat until I think I'm going to pop. That is a terrible idea most likely. Plus I love a midnight snack right before bed. The only down side is that when I do that I don't give my body enough time to digest the food properly and it keeps me up longer tossing and turning. No Bueno. 

So there you have it. Those are all the things I'm doing to clean my body from the inside. I can do another one about exercise if anyone wants me to. I generally just do yoga or dance around in old pointe shoes if I don't just go to the gym. But if anyone wants pix and tips of that just let me know. I will talk to yall soon. Next up: Spring cleaning my mind! 

~Tea