OPTIMIZING PHYSICAL WELLNESS

People often think only of exercise when they think about physical wellness. While regular physical activity is a significant part of the equation, it is not the only aspect of physical wellness that is necessary to achieve optimal health. Undoubtedly, our bodies need more than movement alone. Physical wellness also includes proper sleep, hygiene, and nutrition. 

Physical Health

When you are evaluating your physical health, you will likely want to assess whether or not you are getting enough quality sleep. If you are not, what barriers are keeping you from achieving regular and restful sleep? Studies confirm that adults should get at least seven to nine hours of sleep each night. For parents, college students, and workaholics, this number can be challenging to meet. However, employing simple strategies can ensure that your sleep comes easily and goes uninterrupted. These include:

  • Adopting a relaxing, wind-down routine in the evenings. Dimming lights or turning on calming music may help.
  • Avoiding brain-stimulating electronic screens 30 minutes before bedtime.
  • Block out distracting light and noise. You can use blackout curtains to get the room dark and a white-noise machine to drown out any noise.

Nutrition

Additionally, proper nutrition is intimately tied to physical health. Optimal nutrition must likely be personalized based on sex, age, body chemistry, and activity level. A healthy, balanced diet requires that you consume foods with the nutrients that help your body and mind to thrive. Fruits, vegetables, fiber, and protein are the mainstays that keep most people physically healthy. Eating this way can help you acquire the macronutrients you need for day-to-day energy, muscle growth and recovery, and other bodily processes.

If meeting nutrient requirements through diet is challenging, supplements can help provide the nutrients your body needs. To strengthen your wellness from a nutrition standpoint, pay careful attention to your dietary regimen, and an appropriate supplement protocol. These tasks can be made more challenging by time constraints and the stresses of life. However, nutritional improvements will help strengthen not only physical wellness but many other aspects of wellness as well. Nutrition tips include:

  • Consume various colorful fruits and vegetables. Portions of assorted vegetables and fruits on your plate can help to ensure that you get the macro and micronutrients your body needs for optimal wellness. 
  • Pay particular attention to portion sizes to manage weight maintenance
  • Replace refined and highly processed grains with their whole grain counterparts to ensure you are getting sufficient fiber.

Other Steps for Improving Physical Wellness

Physical wellness involves applying your knowledge, behavior, motivation, commitment, skills, self-management, and attitude, and skills toward achieving your health goals, and applying these as well:

  • Exercise 3X/week, 20-30 minutes per session
  • Walk whenever possible, use stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
  • Learn to recognize the early signs of illness
  • Use seat belts and helmets for safety
  • Practice safe sex
  • Listen to your body
  • Eat breakfast
  • Stop smoking and avoid second-hand smoke
  • Use salt, sugar, fat, and alcohol in moderation

Finally, if you’re challenged by achieving or maintaining physical wellness, a wellness professional can help. Contact a qualified wellness facilitator in your local area for more information or to set up a consultation.