A Healthy You is Important for a Healthy Business

Connect with me through your favorite platform: https://pods.link/aardvarkgirl Is there a topic you want to hear about? Or do you have a question for me? Email [email protected]  and let me know! -- January is typically a time when people plan on changing their eating habits to be healthier. Sadly, many don’t stick with it for more than a few weeks. It can be hard to make big lifestyle changes for a number of reasons. When you’re a business owner, you might feel like you don’t have enough time to make healthy meals every day or get enough sleep at night. You might be so wrapped up in a project that you forget to drink enough water or exercise or any of those things that are good for you. But what does diet have to do with running a business? Quite a bit. So much of how we feel mentally starts with how we are physically. And how we feel can have a great impact on our productivity and the quality of work we’re delivering. Taking care of ourselves helps us take care of our clients who help take care of our businesses.   I’m not talking about the extra self-care, the more luxurious things like getting massages and going on vacations. I’m talking about the day-to-day are you doing what you need to do to stay healthy things. Eat. Sleep. Exercise. Hydrate. The basics of life. It’s not about the number on a scale, how much weight you can lift, or how many reps you can do. It’s about what you can do to feel good inside so you can perform at your best no matter what you’re doing. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear me say that the “right” way to do this depends on you. I think a big part of the issue, and why so many people don’t stick with any one diet or exercise regimen is because it’s formulated for someone else. There isn’t a one-size-fits all solution for it because we are all physiologically different in what we need. I know a ton of people right now doing the keto thing. That would never work for me. I’ve been a vegetarian for at least 25 years. But I don’t think it’s right for everyone. Some people love crossfit. I think that’s still a thing. It’s not a thing I’ll ever do. Nor would I recommend pilates to everyone (although I kind of do. It’s amazing). It all really depends on your genetics, your abilities, and your goals. I am pretty sure, however, that if you’re listening to this podcast, one of your goals is to have a successful business. Successful as defined by you. So let’s start by building the foundation that will help keep you at your best so you can focus on what matters. Eat. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with food. I love to eat, but I hate having to decide what to eat 3 times a day every single day. It’s exhausting. Especially because I don’t get proper food cravings where something specific sounds good. But it must be done. Choosing the right food can affect how you feel throughout the day. And again, this is an individual thing. I chose to become a vegetarian for a number of reasons when I was a teenager. Some rational, like the obvious health benefits and caring about animals. Some not so rational, like I didn’t want to eat the food my mom’s boyfriend at the time made for dinner. It started off as a rebellion of sorts, but I instantly found out how much better I felt all the time when I stopped eating meat. I didn’t get so much as a cold for nearly 9 years and I felt lighter - not weight-wise, but not that heavy and sluggish feeling after a meal. So I’ve stuck with it all this time. It helps me stay energized and focused throughout the workday, and every day . I start every day with a glass of celery juice. About 15-30 minutes later, I have a smoothie – it’s usually a mix of coconut water, greens, frozen berries, orange, banana, ginger, cinnamon, and some superfood powders. I also take my vitamins and other supplements at the same time – a women’s multivitamin multimineral made from raw fruits & vegetables (I’m a big fan of the Garden of Life brand – it’s important to check the ingr