Life! By Design_ 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You - Laura Morton [81]
4. Take Vitamins/Supplements
High energy comes from eating right every day. Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” Although I believe that the quality of the food we eat is essential to giving our body the vitamins and minerals it needs, it is virtually impossible and not always practical to ensure that everything we eat is as vitamin rich as it can be. Having enough iron in our diet is essential for energy, as is zinc, which affects the functioning of more than two hundred enzymes in the body. Most people do not get enough iron or zinc from food. Taking vitamins, minerals, and other supplements helps compensate for any deficiencies.
It’s likely that your body needs a vitamin supplement if you are not getting enough nutrition from the food you eat. Either the foods lack the right vitamins, or your body is not absorbing them properly. The processing that most of our food goes through before it lands on our dinner plate can also reduce the original vitamin content. Vitamin deficiencies have been linked to overeating, eating too fast, indulging in late-night binges, consuming caffeine, smoking, and eating rich, greasy, spicy, and/or high-fat foods.
Vitamins are a form of preventative medicine, but they are not a cure-all. You still need to eliminate nutrient-poor foods from your diet and replace them with vitamin-rich, healthy, nutritious foods. Antioxidants are also important to help prevent cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants enhance your body’s ability to fight off free radicals, which are unstable, hyperreactive atoms in your body that damage healthy cells and tissue. Vitamins C and E and beta-carotene are a few examples of antioxidants.
There are thousands of options when it comes to choosing vitamins and supplements that are right for your body. If you’re confused about your particular needs, consult your physician or go to your local health foods store and share your goals so they can direct you to the right products for you.
5. Create an Exercise Plan
If you can’t remember the last time you had a workout, a warning signal should be going off in your mind. There’s no greater satisfaction for me than the exhaustion I feel after a good workout. I feel my best knowing I’ve left all I had to give on the field. Anytime I exert myself, I feel good. It doesn’t have to be training in a gym. It can come from a rigorous walk, a run on the beach, even cleaning the house. There is a lot to be said for maintaining your flexibility, coordination, and strength. Exercise not only increases your muscle tone and metabolism, it also increases your energy, acts as a stress reducer, and strengthens your body’s immune system.
If you don’t have time for exercise in your busy schedule, make time. Get up an hour earlier. It may seem like a daunting task, but whether you realize it or not, it isn’t difficult to design your own exercise routine. Focus on a program that is appropriate for your physical capabilities. Take the first step and work on something right away. Set out on a morning walk or jog and gradually build your way up. Do yoga, Pilates, strength training, or core workouts; join a gym or work out with a pal—the options are endless. Concentrate on exercises that revolve around the seven basic movements—pushing, pulling, lunging, bending, squatting, twisting, walking, or running—and you can’t go wrong. In the end, your body and mind will thank you!
6. Be Active
Physical activity is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise doesn’t have to depend upon a fitness center or an expensive personal trainer. It may be easier, and more in your budget, to come up with a range of recreational activities that you enjoy doing daily or even weekly. Why not walk to a restaurant, the office, or the movies instead of driving or taking a cab?
My grandparents, who lived to be in their late eighties, walked