Let your imagination wander a bit. When you imagine living your best day, what things might be included? Would it be sleeping in, being with people you love, eating delicious food, traveling, or curling up on the couch and relaxing with a great movie? We all have different ideas of what our best day might look like. But, what if it was your “healthiest” day? What would be different? A healthy day can be a great source of joy, as well! Before you start picturing celery sticks and a military-style workout, open your mind.
I’m going to walk you through a road map of your healthiest day, and it’s happening this Fall. Let’s take a journey together. This is NOT a work day. It’s a weekend or a day off.
The day begins with no alarm clock, allowing your body to receive all the sleep that it craves. You wake up slowly, lounging in bed for as long as you desire. Sleep is the foundation of your health, and 7-8 hours of sleep is perhaps the very best thing that you can do for your body. Even better than exercising!
Next, you start the morning with a glass of water with some fresh lemon juice squeezed in. This will alkalize your body, making the optimal environment for cells to thrive and function. The opposite of this is an acidic environment, which is coffee. Now hold on, don’t panic, you can still have your coffee, but only after you’ve finished your lemon water. Coffee is the number one antioxidant consumed by Americans, and it has great health benefits if you keep it to around three cups or less.
Then, you proceed to hit the floor for some morning stretches, allowing your muscles to lengthen and warm up gently. This is a great time for some prayer or meditation, setting your intentions for the day. Rather than just winging it, focus on what is important to you, what matters most, and that is what you pray/ meditate about. This is healthy for your spirit. Doing this outdoors is even better yet because our outdoor environment satisfies our spirituality as well.
Your favorite person knocks on your door, and you head out apple-picking. You spend an hour or two walking through the orchard picking apples and laughing, getting exercise without even realizing it. Your heart and lungs are strengthened as you reach, bend down, and walk through the rows of trees. This doesn’t feel like exercise because it’s bringing you joy, and the fellowship of people together is feeding your soul.
You realize that it’s well past lunchtime and you haven’t even eaten yet! You’ve been accidentally intermittent fasting, allowing your body to produce more growth hormone and support your metabolism. For lunch, you eat at the farm-to-table restaurant at the orchard. You order fish and get a high dose of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids which support your brain as well as aid with weight loss. Your fish comes with root vegetables and a salad full of mixed greens. You finish the meal with a baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon.
You decide to rent some bikes at the orchard and ride home, which boosts your daily exercise and mental health status. Feeling the afternoon sun on your face brings you happiness and fulfillment. You maintain a relaxing pace, but by the time you get home, your legs are tired.
Later at home that evening, you relax in an Epsom salt bath, which loads you up with magnesium. It’s absorbed through the skin into your muscles, and magnesium is responsible for over 300 different functions in the body. Your whole body is relaxed. This will help you sleep better too.
You make yourself some apple tea, and add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, which aids with digestion, fullness, and metabolism. You sip on that while you curl up in front of the fireplace with a warm fuzzy blanket and your furry friend. Another one of your favorite people joins you for a funny movie, and you both laugh so hard that you cry!
Dinner is a simple chicken breast sauteed in avocado oil, accompanied by some brussels sprouts you picked up at the farm, and butternut squash. Plenty of nutrients to fuel all of your body systems.
About 3 hours later, you feel your eyes getting heavy and decide to get to bed. As you curl up under your covers, you feel yourself drifting to sleep with a slight smile on your face, and gratitude in your heart.
You’ve had a day full of love, laughter, movement, relaxation, ample nutrients, and rest. This has been Your Healthiest Fall Day.
Jody Trierweiler, CNC is a nutritional consultant, fitness expert, and weight loss coach. You can reach her on her website jodysfitlife.com on social media as Jody’s Fit LIfe, or see her on tv as the fitness and nutrition expert on “Live In The D”.
