3 Uncommon Practices That Upgrade My Health Everyday

Small daily health improvements compound to insane returns in the long run.

Hi all,

I took a break from my laptop for 3 days after nearly 4 months. My best friend was over from a different city so we ate lots of pizza, desserts, sangria, and all things unhealthy. What a wonderful time!

I’m still transitioning with my self-employment and trying to have fun while I adjust to the newness.

You see, since the very beginning, our days are controlled by someone else.

First school, then university, and then work - a major part of our day is already planned, leaving us with a few hours.

But now, I’m the sole controller of my day. Which is super awesome, but I find myself overworking and underworking. I spoke to a few writers across the globe and surprisingly, they also faced this in their initial days and face it every now and then.

So I’m going to work my way through finding more rest, focus, and continue to embrace the transition as I have been. Especially because such exciting things are on their way!

The free ebook to help you have a side-hustle is still on its way to being curated and I’m really kicked for it :”)

Meanwhile,

• You can now get all my Medium articles in your inbox

• Maybe consider being a Medium subscriber? It pretty much changed my life.

I will see you next week, and I hope you have a lovely week starting tomorrow! :)

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Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

It’s a shame when people think that working out and eating clean is the only way to being healthy. What if you did both and still didn’t meet your fitness goals? What if you were unhappy while doing this?

I will not tell you to meditate or all that jazz. You already know that. But health is more than how you look, it's about how you feel.

And what's better than working to feel better every day?

When I lost 55lbs, the reason I never stopped eating chocolates is that the journey would’ve felt like a punishment. I reduced it to one piece a day instead of one bar a few times a week because it’s important to feel happy even while losing weight.

Being healthy is not a 6-month activity but a lifestyle. And that lifestyle requires more than simple metrics to be fulfilled.

Instead of setting your goals and burning yourself to achieve them, I encourage you to practice at least one of these three things to become healthier than yesterday. Instead of living for the end of the month where you track how much weight you lost or muscle you gained, I encourage you to make small fixes so TODAY becomes the healthiest you’ve ever been.

Taking care of minor improvements will take you a long way, and you’ll see how.

Here are three offbeat things I do to become healthier than yesterday, and you can do it too.

1. Reflecting →Achievement

Imagine having a goal to lose 20lbs and doing everything it takes to get there. You’re eating healthy, working out often and are having those green shakes and smoothes.

Now let me change this story a bit. Imagine you want to lose 20lbs, and you write down your monthly goals. Each month, you plan what will you do on these weeks and each day see how can you improve from yesterday.

Should you switch to more protein for today? Did you overdose on junk during a birthday party? Do you think you didn’t have enough water yesterday?

It’s the little things that matter. Each day, I reflect on how yesterday was and how can today be better than that. This hardly takes a minute of my time!

2. The Space To Explore

As a CrossFitter, moving to a month of doing yoga every day was scary. I had questions about gaining weight, not burning enough calories, losing my muscle definition, etc.

Yoga was super difficult, but Crossfit gave a distinct feeling. That feeling of death after every session where you can’t move a muscle. The next day soreness made you feel you’ve done something exceptional.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve been doing yoga every day for 15 months. I never gained weight or lost any ‘definition’. Today is the healthiest I’ve ever felt, and a huge credit goes to my yoga practice.

If you’re midway or experienced in your fitness journey, it may feel better to stick to tried-and-tested strategies – 500 calorie burn workout, 20g protein bar, circuit training, etc.

But give yourself a chance to explore the unknown, and who knows, it’ll lead you to a better place like it led me.

I now experiment with a new workout regime every few months followed by yoga.

3. Connecting With Your Body on a Deeper Level

7 years into being on a quest to become a healthier version of myself, I got overwhelmed with the usual. I couldn’t count calories anymore to track my progress. I couldn’t write my measurements each month. It felt too much and, if I can say, boring.

Today, I rely more on intuitive eating. I’ve had fewer incidents of overeating or feeling guilty about eating something. I don’t indulge in emotional eating anymore, too.

Of course, I still improve my habits such as eating slowly and not watch Netflix while I munch. But being healthy is a process and not a destination, remember?

Various practices have helped me connect to my body, these include:

• Yoga via a Youtuber who felt like a friend and a therapist

• Positive self talk

• Taking deep breaths every time I feel overwhelmed

There’s a lot in your inner self to explore, both physically and mentally. To be highly aware is a beautiful journey and helps in all other spheres of life. It helps you become healthier each day.

Conclusion

Not all good things require you to work extremely hard. Small investments can go a long way.

Plus, there’s more to being fit and healthy than what social media or your favourite influencers popularise. Your mental and physical health go hand in hand and one cannot be lower than another.

I hope these techniques help you conquer your fitness goals and go deeper into your journey as they helped me.