When it comes to your wellness, adding more fruits and veggies to your meals is a smart habit to begin.
By Alison Crane
Habits can make or break us when it comes to health. The month of August has a national focus on wellness. Wholesome habits go a long way towards improving our mental and physical wellness. Why not take a moment now instead of waiting for New Year’s to evaluate some of your habits? If you are like me, you probably have a combination of what you would consider “good” and “bad” habits.
We hear a lot these days about self-care and how it can reduce stress and improve happiness. Making simple changes to our everyday habits can improve our health without costing us a lot of money or effort. Sometimes all it takes is making one good choice and then another, eventually, the good choices become the healthy habits. Filling your life with wholesome habits can sometimes be a more effective approach to eliminating the “bad” habits than beating yourself up over the poor choices made.
Here are some simple steps that everyone can take to start filling their lives with wholesome habits:
- Add more fruits and veggies to meals
- Monitor sleep and adjust for better sleep habits
- Increase water intake
- Start a walking group or join an exercise class
- Keep a “thankfulness” journal and write down at the end of each day something that you are thankful for
Probably, there are many more healthy choices that you and I need to be making but if I spend too much time looking at the big picture of my habits, it can make me feel out of control or even as if I am being controlled. Those feelings can lead me to quit trying at all or spin around trying to fix everything all at once. Neither one of those options are beneficial. One healthy habit at a time by taking one positive step at a time can improve our wellness which can improve our lives.
If you would like to learn more about healthy choices for you and your family or to know about Extension wellness programs available to you or your group, contact the Garland County Extension Service at 501-623-6841 or email acrane@uada.edu. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GarlandExtensionHomeLife.
Alison Crane is a Family and Consumer Sciences Agent with the Garland County Extension Service. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
