43 Tips To Improve Your Health And Change Your Life
Tips you can do right away to boost nutrition, digestion, fitness and overall health.
Fitness
Building and maintaining muscle is one of the single most important things we can do for energy, health and longevity. It boosts metabolism making it effortless to keep the fat off, increases physical and mental energy and helps protects from injury due to strengthening of the body.
You should aim to resistance train at least 3 times per week making sure to hit all muscles of the body by incorporating compound movements (exercises that hit multiples muscles at the same time).
If you’re short on time and want to build muscle, it has been shown that all you need is one single all-out set to failure. Do this on a compound lift for upper and lower body. Intensity and effort shortens and replaces the time needed to build muscle.
Don’t workout beyond your body’s ability to repair. Being sore for too long (more than 3 days), poor sleep, weakness, fatigue, poor mood, inflammation, joint issues, water retention, can all be signs of overtraining. Reduce intensity and rest more for a few weeks.
Working out in fasted state can help burn more fat and increase autophagy (cellular repair). But don't do it all the time and keep the workout short, about 45 minutes or less.
You should be exercising everyday. It doesn’t have to be intense all the time, just to the point where your heart rate is elevated, your breathing harder than normal and you’re using your muscles.
Increasing NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) through low level daily movement is one of the biggest things you can do to boost fat loss and metabolism.
Wear flat soles shoes with no heel when training. A heel puts you in an unnatural position and reduces force production diminishing muscle activation and the effectiveness of the workout.
For the average person, you can expect to lose about 1 lb of fat per week and gain about 1 lb of muscle per month when starting and new exercise program. This can be expedited or slowed depending on your level of consistency, intensity, stress levels, sleep, recovery and quality of your diet.
You can build and develop muscle with almost any number of reps. However, general rep ranges for certain aspects of muscular development are:
Endurance: 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy (muscle size): 8-12 reps
Strength: 4-6 reps
Food
Foods shown to boost testosterone are ginger, cacao, cruciferous vegetables (prevents aromatization--conversion of testosterone into estrogen), boron (found in raisins) and fenugreek (also good for lactating women).
Ginger helps to speed up gastric emptying and acts as a carminative (something that expels gas) and helps relieve bloating.
Lemon juice has been shown to be just as effective as digestive enzymes for digesting foods when taken before meals.
Foods that are surprisingly high in histamines and may contribute to sinus problems and mucus production are canned foods, dried fruit, leftovers more than two days old and fermented foods if you're intolerant.
Raw carrots after a meal will help absorb any toxins in that meal and carry them out of the body.
Spirulina with a meal containing harmful or rancid vegetable oils (almost all processed food) will help neutralize the effects of the oils and protect you from damage.
Consuming cilantro, wild (lowbush) blueberries, burdock root, Atlantic dulce and spirulina daily will detoxify the body from heavy metals. You only need to consume at least three of these foods within a 24 hour period of each other to get the benefit.
Eating at least 400 grams of fruits & veggies per day has been shown to lower stress up to 36% specifically dealing with worries, tension and lack of joy. Eat your fruits & veggies and be happy!
Broccoli sprouts and black pepper (not necessarily together) have been shown to fight effectively against H. Pylori bacteria.
Gluten, meat, dairy and eggs can feed pathogens in the body if you have any (the vast majority of people do). So do conventional inorganic corn, wheat and soy. If you do have any pathogens it's best to heavily restrict or eliminate these foods from your diet.
Vitamin C, spirulina and garlic are great for maintaining and building collagen in the skin.
Anytime you heat meat over 212°F (100°C) you create polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and AGEs (advanced glycation end products) which are carcinogenic and accelerate aging. Charred or barbecued meat is the worst meat to consume.
You can boil the rinds, skins and peels of many fruits and vegetables (such as lemon rinds, banana peels, watermelon rinds, potato/sweet potato skins) and use them in your baked or cooked recipes for added nutrition, reduce waste and save money.
Consuming unsprouted beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains contributes to mineral deficiency and the acidic load on the body (due to phytic acid). Consuming these foods sprouted, germinated or with the phytic acid deactivated ,such as pressure cooked, soaked overnight and thoroughly rinsed or at least canned, can render these foods more healthful and nutritious.
Dates and figs are extremely great for digestion and among the most cleansing foods for the intestines removing pathogens, parasites and bacteria from the intestinal tract.
The difference between quick oats, instant oats and rolled oats is that regular rolled oats are just rolled groats, quick oats are rolled thinner to cook faster and instant oats are pre-cooked and dehydrated to be heated and moistened to be ready immediately.
Save the water from your boiled veggies to use in your shakes, smoothies, overnight oats or just to drink for added nutrition, minerals, and hydration. Don't discard this nutrient rich liquid. It’s basically broth. You can also add raw honey or your favorite healthy sweetener and drink as tea.
Crushing or chopping garlic and letting sit for 10-15 minutes activates the cancer fighting allicin in it and makes it available and more digestible to the body. Doing the same thing to raw broccoli and letting it sit for 90 minutes makes it more digestible as well.
Soaking raisins overnight in water and drinking the water in the morning helps clean the bowels and provides nutrients and minerals for healthy skin, nails and hair.
Chewing mixes food with saliva which contains enzymes and starts the breakdown process. Since you’re not chewing your shake, in order to maximally absorb the nutrition in your shake or smoothie break open a full spectrum digestive enzyme capsule into your shake or smoothie and let it sit for at least 5 minutes preferably in room temp or warm water. You can also make your shake with lemon juice and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to help predigest the shake.
Eating leftovers more than two days old contributes to a lot of toxicity, mold and bacteria in the body and numerous health problems. Either give it to your dog (they usually have a stronger stomach and immune system), freeze or discard to save your health.
For healthy digestible shakes and smoothies make sure you're using foods with soluble fiber instead of insoluble fiber to cut down on gas, bloating and indigestion.
Ginger tea and raw honey on an empty stomach in the morning can help with bowel cleansing and a clearer, smoother and more vibrant complexion.
Celery juice, papaya fruit and broccoli sprouts have been shown to increase hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) levels in the stomach if you suffer from low acid levels and are not digesting your food. This helps to break down fats and proteins even better.
General Health
Additives such as maltodextrin, gums and artificial and refined sugars have been linked to digestive issues such as gas and bloating and an imbalanced gut microbiome. Dairy is another big digestive offender.
Creatine is the most studied supplement on the planet and is one of the safest and most effective supplements with benefits for both body and brain. Just make sure to consume creatine within an hour of mixing with water or liquid as it does start to degrade and turn into creatinine in liquid after mixing and at that point can pose harm to the kidneys especially if already compromised. So don't mix creatine into your shake or smoothie the night before and save for the next morning. Mix it fresh then drink.
Sleeping on an 3" to 8" incline with your back and head elevated allows your brain (glymphatic drainage) to detoxify better, open your sinuses and allows your body to excrete toxins and waste better. The ancient Egyptians were known to sleep on an incline because of this.
Protein digesting enzymes, also known as proteolytic and systemic enzymes, when taken on an empty stomach will help break down old protein and damaged cells in the body effectively detoxifying, repairing and rejuvenating the body.
If you want to adjust your circadian rhythm and get your body used to waking up earlier around the hours before 8am then exercise between the hours of 7am and 4pm. If you want to get your body used to waking up later after about 8am then exercise between the hours of 7pm and 10pm.
Learning to read labels is an important skill for your overall health. If you can't pronounce it or you don’t recognize it then it’s best to avoid it.
Generally, staying on the perimeter of the grocery store will help you eat healthier. It’s where most of the whole food is kept. The majority of the processed foods are in the aisles.
Never sit for more than 1 hour without getting up to move, stretch or use your muscles.
Don’t waste time in debate and dialogue. It depletes your energy for action. Be ok with being misunderstood, be ok with not making your point. It's keeps stress low and the soul energized.
For Healthy Living, Fitness and Nutritional Support
Entriepta.com: Clean, pure supplements to support body, mind & soul. For athletic performance, optimal cognitive function and overall health without the strain on your body's systems and organs that many additives and chemicals can cause. Use code ERIC10 for 10% off.
Bodyhealth.com: A lifestyle brand with a variety of products for daily health. Memorial day promotion still going on. At all other times can use code ERIC20 for 20% off your order.
BiOptimizers: Supplements for performance, aesthetics and health.
Dr. Cowan’s Garden: A company with a holistic approach to health and wellness. Use code DRCOWANSGARDEN for 15% off your order.