For adults, sleeping 6  to 10 hours per day is generally recommended.  Listen to your body's needs to determine optimal levels for your unique circumstances. 

• Circadian Rhythms

Exposure to natural sunlight during high sunlight hours and dimming the lights as the sun goes down send signals to the brain and body to either be alert or asleep. 

• Alcohol, Nicotine, and Caffeine

These impair your brain's ability to reorganize and impact the quality of your sleep. Changing the amount and timing or eliminating these will positively impact sleep. 

• Sleeping Environment

Set a suitable sleeping environment optimized for noise levels, temperature, and comfort. 

• Sleeping Schedule

Stick to a sleeping schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time. 

• Stress Management

Managing stress improves sleep.   Set a winding down routine 1 hour before sleep. Avoid screens and stress; instead, try mindfulness. 

• Eating Habits

Eating habits for quality sleep: Eat early and keep meals light, this will help with better sleep.

• 3/4 of Food Intake is Plant-based

Try adding more plants to your diet. Ideally, 3/4 of your daily food intake. Beyond fruits and vegetables, plant-based foods include legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices, which incredibly benefit our health. 

• Maintain Adequate Levels of Quality Protein

Quality is just as important as quantity here. Protein is vital for leading a healthy life. It provides the means for building, maintaining, and repairing tissues, cells, and organs and creating hormones and enzymes. Additionally, it provides lasting energy and is essential for muscle health and longevity. It is crucial in glucose disposal, insulin resistance, and fatty acid metabolism. Get your protein from plants when possible. 

• Stay Hydrated Through The Day

Staying hydrated through the day is imperative for various reasons; not only does it regulate body temperature, lubricate joints, prevent infections, provide nutrients to cells, and maintain organs functioning correctly, but it also enhances sleep quality, cognition, and mood. The water quality is equally essential, as contaminants can lead to health issues. If you are sweating a lot, exercising heavily, vomiting, or experiencing diarrhea, it is vital to replenish the water and the electrolytes. Avoid fake, sugary sports drinks; rebalance your levels with natural foods and beverages.

• Limit Refined Grains

These are depleted in nutrients, contain harmful additives, and raise blood sugar and insulin, causing metabolic dysfunction. These include white rice, white bread, white pasta, and other foods made with refined flour, like cookies, cakes, breakfast cereals, crackers, and snack foods.

• Avoid Added Sugars

Consuming too much sugar can have a detrimental impact on both our mental and physical health. Avoid added sugars,  especially if “sugar” is first or second on the ingredient list. Note that there are over 60 different names for sugar. 

• Consume Healthy Fats and Avoid Refined Oils 

Dietary fats are essential for maintaining good overall health, especially as we age. These help brain function and hormone production and support our immune system.  Fats also give our body energy, protect our organs, support cell growth, control cholesterol and blood pressure, slow the blood sugar curve, and help our body absorb vital nutrients. However, not all fats are good for us. It is important to limit "Bad' fats like saturated animal fats and highly processed refined oils and to eliminate trans fats/ partially hydrogenated oils. 

• Eat Clean Whole Foods

Minimally processed foods free from pesticides, antibiotics, preservatives, artificial ingredients, and other additives.

1. Stress management: Stress can be beneficial, but when it becomes chronic, it increases the risk of mental health problems, substance use problems, sleep problems, pain, and bodily complaints. Stress management strategies like relaxation practices, mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, and gratitude, among many others, can help us to better cope with chronic stress. 

2. Finding meaning and purpose is essential for good mental health. It involves connecting our values with our aptitudes and passions while evaluating and bringing awareness to the fundamental beliefs and principles most important in life. This will help us make more conscious decisions and reduce negative thoughts.

3. Growth vs. fixed mindset: Personal growth is not linear progress; we all go through ups and downs. It is in our mindset how we respond to challenges and determine if we become more positive and resilient. We see setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow rather than feeling like victims and failures and letting our lives spiral downward.

4. Cultivating meaningful relationships can help foster happiness, security, and self-worth. They require mutual respect, support, and trust, which involve listening, being genuine, contributing without expectation, confidentiality, and offering advice and empathy. All relationships require effort and compromise, but focusing on relationships that enhance our lives is essential.

5. Self-discovery and self-awareness:  We often numb out, avoid, or live in denial, leading to self-sabotaging behaviors. However, when we dare to be introspective, we gain insights and new perspectives, which can lead to change and personal transformation. Practicing self-discovery and self-awareness is an ongoing journey that can be messy and ugly, but it is essential for taking action on the things we are avoiding.

6. Self-compassion is a learned skill that can help reduce anxiety and depression and increase overall well-being. It involves looking in the mirror and accepting the bad and good compassionately. It also entails recognizing we are deserving and worthy. To practice self-compassion, one should treat oneself as one would treat a friend, let oneself make mistakes, be understanding and empathetic, use kind, forgiving language, regain perspective, practice mindfulness, and view individual experiences as part of the broader human experience.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for adults (18-64 years old) as described by globally recognized health-related organizations: 

• For adults, include at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise. 

  • Aerobic activity is to be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes.

  • Incorporate activities that increase bone strength and flexibility.

• Two or more days a week of Muscle-strengthening activity that works all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).

Building Lifelong Fitness Habits

• Setting SMART goals and creating an actionable plan to achieve them is essential for building a realistic and sustainable exercise routine. 

• Reframe your thinking to see exercise as something that can help you feel better and do the things you care about as you age. 

• Build a support and accountability system, and thank yourself for what you are doing for yourself.

• Be flexible, let go of perfection, and avoid the all-or-nothing mentality. Spread activities throughout the day and week, practice self-compassion, and choose a menu of activities to incorporate into your life. Building habits takes time; it becomes easier and more enjoyable, and you gain more ability. 

• Balance is important when exercising. Don't overdo it; start at a light intensity and gradually build up to a moderate or vigorous intensity. Talk to your doctor for guidance if you have an injury or medical condition.