Last week, we tackled the stuff in our house and I hope you’ve already done some decluttering so that you can feel why you are doing it. Once you get that feeling of space and brightness in your house, you’ll be motivated to continue on the path of decluttering.
As promised last week, this week, we’ll start ‘decluttering’ our body so that the energy can flow freely again and that we can feel light, and full of life again! I will give you some very practical, doable tips to start getting your body in shape again. Not only to be able to wear that nice summer dress or nice shorts, but above all, to feel good again, to feel light, to be healthy, to be full of energy.
To get our body in shape again, and as we’re creatures of habit, we need to take a closer look at some of these habits. We need to look at:
- what we eat and drink
- how much we exercise
- how many hours we sleep
- how we breathe
- how we sit, stand, walk, …
I am a firm believer in daily rituals. The more you integrate a healthy lifestyle in your daily planning, the faster it will become your new daily routine, and once it’s a habit, it’s easy to keep doing it because we are creatures of habit.
- Food and drinks.
I am kicking in an open door when I tell you that what you eat and drink, will influence the energy flow in your body. We all know it, and still, it’s so hard to not eat and drink all that junk. We do it and then we feel awful. To end that cycle of devouring, feeling bad, devouring, feeling bad, …just stop for a moment, stop torturing your body and start to actually feel your body, listen to the signs it’s giving you and be conscious about how your body is protesting when it has been one of those evenings again, where you’ve been hanging on the couch, stuffing yourself with all kinds of junk, and then finally getting up to drag yourself to bed. Just be aware of what you’re doing to yourself. Your body is the only body you’ll’ ever have, and if you want your health span to match your life span, it’s really important that you take good care of what you eat and drink. If you want to do a complete program to clean your body and make yourself as healthy as possible again, I can refer you to the program I am doing as we speak: the ‘Grow a New Body Program* by dr. Alberto Villoldo. If you want to start a little ‘softer’, here are some pointers you can already implement
How to avoid this ‘disaster stuffing’ and start living a healthy routine:
Keep a journal of what you eat and drink every day. By writing all of it down, you will have a more realistic idea, of the incredible amount of unnecessary snacks we all eat. Having to write it down, will already have you snacking less because it makes you conscious. Being conscious also makes you realize: you eat out of habit, out of boredom, you eat to numb an unpleasant feeling. I once read a funny quote: “Whatever the problem is, the answer is not in the fridge!” 🙂
Start with a healthy breakfast, or prolong your fasting and skip breakfast: I start with ½ liter of water with ½ lemon squeezed in it, then it’s up to you: eat whatever works for you: self-made green juices, blue berries, … avoid sugars, too much wheat and other grains, too much dairy, and all foods made with yeast, so that you do not feed the candida in your gut.
Lunch and dinner can look different for everyone according to work schedules. Make sure, you do not eat your dinner too late, so that your body has time to go into fasting during the night. This is a good way to get rid of toxins* in the body. Try to eat as much vegetables as possible. The most important thing about your food is the combination** in which you eat your meals. As a vegetarian, I do not eat meat or fish but when you do: eat them only in combination with veggies.
vegetables with meat,
vegetables with fish
vegetables with pasta/ potatoes/rice/ bread.
You’ll notice that when you eat in the right combinations, you won’t have that ‘balloon’ feeling anymore. You’ll digest easier and better so you win twice: no more swollen bellies and more nutrition absorbed by your body. As dr. Alberto Villoldo* says: “If your gut is not happy, you’re not happy. Your gut produces 90% of the serotonin in the body. Therefor it’s so important to make sure you have a healthy gut. Prepare a healthy, tasteful and colorful meal and eat slowly. Concentrate on eating your food, look at your food and chew! I learned***that you have to chew at least 20 times. By counting how many times you chew, you learn to notice how fast you normally swallow. You can train eating slowly by chewing 30 to 50 times on one mouthful, just to learn to slow down. I know you can’t keep doing this but it will make you aware, and it’ll make you chew at least double of what you are doing now. The better your food digests, the less you’ll feel like grabbing a snack afterwards. Drinking lots and lots of water, helps to keep you hydrated and to eliminate toxins out of your body. Be aware of how much coffee you drink, it’s okay to have some coffee but just do not overdo it, it dehydrates your body. Alcohol and sugary drinks are NEVER a good idea so keep it for special occasions, and consume moderately.
- Exercise.
This is something you really need to put in your agenda and honor it like you would any other important item in your daily schedule. If you are out of shape, start easy, but exercise daily. Go for a walk, take the stairs, go by bike if you have to run an errand close by, etc.
Put a reminder in your phone to make sure you build up your daily ritual. You can integrate this in even the busiest schedules: go for a 10-minute walk during lunch time, park your car 2 blocks from where you work and walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator (when you have 20 stories to climb: start with 5 stories by stair and 15 with the elevator or what you’re capable of, and slowly build up the stair-walking), … be creative, do whatever works for you but take action, get that body moving!
Get yourself a buddy and do some sports together, make it something fun. Start once a week and see how it goes.
You’ll see how these seemingly little things slowly but steadily help you get into shape. Once you are in better shape, you’ll feel more like working out and you’ll start enjoying exercising.
- Sleep.
Sleep is an immensely underestimated tool to feel good, to restore health and to stay healthy. Build a daily ritual to have that goodnight sleep**** (again) we all need, we all crave. We are not only healthier but also a much kinder person 🙂 when we had a good night sleep, so here again, nothing but wins!
How can you build your daily ritual?
Go to bed every day at the same time: yes 7/7.
Sleep for at least 7 hours, some people need more and that is okay! Listen to your body, honor its wishes.
Don’t stuff yourself with junk and/or alcohol (see 1.) before you go to sleep, make sure your food has time to digest before going to bed, and your body to go into fasting during the night.
No technology 1,5 hour before you put your head down.
Do something relaxing like reading a good book, watching something that makes you feel good, listening to some peaceful music, …
Have a gratitude journal next to your bed and write every evening, just before putting out the lights, some happy thoughts, things you are grateful for.
Meditate***** or say a prayer and you’ll have a peaceful, restful sleep.
A decluttered bedroom**, a good mattress, a well aired, not too hot nor too cold room, are also, very important aspects to have a goodnight sleep.
- Breathing.
It is the most natural thing on earth, it’s the very essence of being alive and yet, we don’t give it a second thought.
Become aware of your breathing. Put a reminder in your phone, and breathe consciously for just a minute, a couple of times a day. Just focus on your breathing. Go outside if possible or stand in an open window. If that’s not possible, then just sit and breathe. You’ll feel how your body relaxes, how you energize your body again, how it makes you feel good.
As part of your daily ritual, you can start your day, in bed, with some breathing and stretching exercises, and end your day with some breathing and stretching exercises, you’ll notice how much you’ll benefit from it!
If you want to learn all about energizing your body through breathing, you can read The Energy Codes by dr. Sue Morter******. If you want to combine breathing and taking cold showers, learn The Wim Hof Method*******.
- Posture.
It may seem an unimportant item but just try this out:
Sit with an unenthusiastic slouch and look down, notice how this makes you feel.
Then sit up straight, shoulders back, head up, how does this make you feel?
Feel the difference in energy?
The same goes with how you walk, how you stand, even how you talk. Train yourself in sitting up straight, standing up straight, walking with an energetic bounce in your step and talk with enthusiasm in your voice.
The way you hold your body determines how you feel. Use this to get that energy flowing again. It works, even when you are feeling down or tired, straighten up and you’ll already feel a slight difference in your mood and energy level. Use this to feel light and energetic again.
You see, YOU can really make your body healthy again, you can feel light and rejuvenated by just doing the above things. It’s all quite simple really, no earth shocking stuff but it’s important to build daily rituals. Use your phone to put reminders, get a buddy to keep going, write down you progress, hang a note or a picture on your bathroom mirror to remind you of your why, make your screen saver a motivational quote so that you stay on track. Celebrate all your good days! If you slip up, just let the day go by and move on. The next day, do all your rituals again. You can do it!! If you want to read more about ‘decluttering’ your body, read part 2 of my book ‘Less is Yes!’**.
Thank you all for reading me and for supporting me on Medium! If you want unlimited access to all of my articles and many other authors, you can become a Medium Member and you’ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!
Katrien
*”Grow a New Body” by dr Alberto Villoldo.
**”Less is Yes!”part 2 by Katrien Degraeve.
***School of Life: Courses in Food Nutrients, Cleansing Your Body, Natural Food, by Dr. Geert Verhelst and Rob Vaes.
****”Night Time: Sweet Dreams or Waking Hours?” Medium article by Katrien Degraeve.
***** Guided meditations, on the Insight Timer App.
******The Energy Codes, by Dr. Sue Morter.
*******The Wim Hof Method, by Wim Hof.