Four Healthy Habits To Take Into 2024

Now that we are halfway through our January Pilates Challenge, we want to share some of the healthy habits we are incorporating into our routine, along with Pilates. We are all about taking small steps, so even if one element of this blog inspires you to make a positive change in your day-to-day routine, then that’s a step towards living a healthier and more fulfilled life. 

Daily Steps

With inactivity and sedentary behaviour on the rise, did you know that “sitting” has been referred to as the new “smoking”? This is in terms of the implications it has for our health – it’s truly mind-blowing and quite frankly, frightening. 

Incorporating more activity throughout our day is a small price for the host of health benefits it affords us. Being more active throughout the day and taking breaks from sitting for long periods means better heart health, reduced risk of disease and better mental health outcomes to name a few.  

The 10,000 steps a day is a benchmark that we really like and is achievable for most. It typically means getting out for a 30-minute walk each day, but the immediate rewards are better energy, enhanced mood and of course, that feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day when you reach your step goal. Set yourself a target of getting your daily steps in and see how it positively impacts you. 

Drinking Water

When we look for advice on what we can do in order to live a healthy lifestyle, drinking more water is almost always guaranteed to be one of the recommendations. There is however uncertainty on exactly how much we should be drinking. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that the average woman should drink 2.7 litres a day, and the average man should drink 3.7 litres a day. This is not a one size fits all, and there are lots of factors that can influence how much we need exactly, but it certainly is a good guide (check out our blog post on water for more on this). 

We have made a few recommendations below that might help you be consistent with your water intake:

• Invest in a reusable water bottle that you really like and bring it everywhere with you. If you have your bottle in front of you, you’re much more likely to sip on it throughout the day. It’s also a good way of tracking how much you are drinking. 
• Ensure you’re drinking water the way you like it. So whether that’s with ice or with some added fruit, you’re more likely to drink it if it’s served just the way you like!
• Health is all about balance – and that includes how much water you take in. Use this information and these tips to reach your daily hydration goals and don’t forget to take on a little extra water after each TPP class!

Wholefoods

At TPP we are all about balance when it comes to nutrition. An approach that we love is putting a focus on what we can add in to enhance our diet and our health, rather than what we should remove. If we put our attention on adding in more whole foods like vegetables, fruit and legumes and filling up on fresh produce that leaves us feeling energised, we will be less likely to reach for processed foods. 

So, if you want to make an effort to add in more wholefoods to your diet this year, here’s some tips that will help you. 

• As simple as it sounds, tune into what healthy, wholefoods you actually like to eat. Diet culture can play havoc with our mind and there’s certain foods we may have labels attached to. Think about what fresh foods you enjoy eating and use that to guide some of your choices. 
• Being organised and having your home stocked with the fresh produce you need to create wholesome meals day to day is really important. This will make it easier for you to prepare the food you want to eat.
• Do some research to find different recipes that you really like. Make an effort to enjoy preparing and eating them. We love to take inspiration from Indy Parsons, who founded The Little Green Spoon and Emily English, Nutritionist & Author, both of who share delicious, wholesome recipes packed with fresh ingredients and colour. 

Finally, we want to encourage you to incorporate some element of fermented food into your diet. From a gut health point of view, fermented foods provide us with probiotics, which are “good bacteria” for our gut. Sources include sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, live yogurt and some cheeses. We recommend trying some different sources of fermented foods and see what you like. 

Mindfulness 

We all lead busy lives and with the increased pace, there is more noise and distraction than there ever was. It can be really overwhelming and sometimes we need to take some time to get out of our head and just be present in the moment in order to get some mental clarity. This is where meditation and breathwork can have a transformative impact on us. 

We have added some breathwork sessions with the incredibly talented Daniella Moyles to the TPP platform and they are the perfect way to start your journey with mindfulness. Trust us, in less than 15-minutes, you can completely change how you feel mentally. Aim to incorporate even one breathwork session a week initially and see how it positively impacts you. 

We hope that this blog will inform and inspire you to make even one small change to improve your health and wellbeing. Remember, the small changes we make in January can become habits that stay with us forever.