5 daily habits to improve your life

 

Finding time for yourself can be difficult. We all have jobs and bills to pay, families to take care of, or other daily responsibilities. Times are tough, and our mental health is suffering now more than ever. Have you wondered why everyone suddenly wanted a change of routine during the Covid-19 lockdowns? Everyone was desperate for a change; people stepped out of their comfort zones and started exercising, taking better care of their health. Its because at the end, it all comes down to our daily habits to improve our happiness and health.

Change is important when it comes to quality of life, and improving it doesn’t require complex and impossible change, you just need to be reminded of some simple habits, and create a routine or two. These are the five key habits to implement daily in order to improve your life:

1. Get some sunlight

 

One of the simplest, and the most important things you can do for yourself, is to spend some time outside every day. Getting fresh air and sunlight every day is more important than you may think. Some of the benefits of sunlight and fresh air include: improved sleep quality, reduced stress, increased production of serotonin and improved bone health.

2. Increase water intake.

 

Our bodies are made of and contain a lot of water. This means that hydration is key to keep them working properly. If you are dehydrated daily, you will think less clearly, have mood swings and have headaches frequently. Increasing your water intake has a lot of benefits to make you feel and look better. According to the CDC, not only will your headaches be less frequent, but your brain will improve its function. Your body will thank you for being bloat free and will help you get rid of waste more quickly. Being properly hydrated can aid intuitive eating and weightless, because you won’t overstep your limits when it comes to eating, and you will be fuller for longer.

3. Keep a journal.

 

Anyone can keep a journal! You don’t need to be a writer or an artist to keep one. There are many types of journals that you can keep, and each can help you improve your life. If you are the type of person that likes lists, you can keep a to-do list, and write long term and short term goals. If you are more artistic, you can draw or use stickers in your journals. It can be a mood improving activity, that will help you keep track of your goals, progress and even gratefulness.

4. Daily movement or exercise.

 

Not everyone wants to exercise, but there are other ways to move your body every day. it can be as simple as walk with your dog, or playing your favorite sport. You can have so much fun riding a bike in the neighborhood, playing on the playground with your kids or even just playing ball, movement is the key to energy. For other benefits of daily exercise, read our blog on five benefits of exercise that are not related to weight loss.

5. Have a bedtime routine.

 

Not only does a bedtime routine help you get better sleep, but it is a chance for you to unwind and take some time to treat yourself. Firstly, decide on a bedtime and wake up time, and stick to that routine. This will help your brain to produce melatonin at times when you need it, to make you sleepy when you’re supposed to sleep. Then, turn of your electronics and get creative. Pick your favorite activities to do before sleeping and create a bedtime routine. Your routine can look like reading thirty minutes prior to sleeping, a bubble bath, skincare routine or a cup of your favorite tea. Good sleep is key to a better life, but having a bedtime routine will also help your mental health!

Summary

 

When it comes to improving your overall health, mood, and mental health, the key is changing your daily habits. Finding time for yourself can be difficult, but it is crucial for improving your life. The changes you make to you daily habits don’t have to be complex or impossible. Our five key recommendations are to get sunlight daily, increase water intake, keep a journal, move daily, and having a bedtime routine.

3 Things to Set Up for Tomorrow – Tips for Success

 

Starting off your day right is crucial for a successful, and happy life. We already talked about how change, and some simple adjustments to your daily routine can improve your life. Any lifestyle magazine, or life coach will tell you things like “get better sleep”, “take care of your health” and “eat healthy”, in order to be successful. But how do these things really affect your life and your goals? lets discuss them and why they need more of your attention. These are the three things that you might be neglecting, which could be getting in your way of achieving success:

1. Food

You have probably heard of the phrase “You are what you eat” many times. No matter how annoyed it makes you, it’s not far from the truth! What you consume affects your health, your weight and also your brain!
According to Frontiers, the food you eat affects neurons, which are the major cells of the brain. In the brain, an unhealthy diet that is rich in fats and sugars causes inflammation of neurons and inhibits the formation of new neurons. This can affect the way the brain works and contribute to brain disorders like depression. If you don’t nurture your brain and body, you will have no energy to work, take care of yourself and achieve your goals, so make sure to incorporate healthy eating daily! Here’s some extra advice – consider meal prepping! When your healthy breakfast, or lunch is already planned and prepared, you won’t feel the need to order takeout or eat junk food to save time.

2. Your Sleep

Sleep is one of the key factors to success. Not getting enough sleep, or not getting good sleep, sadly affects everything about your life! During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. Getting inadequate sleep over time affects your heart and circulatory system, metabolism, respiratory system, and immune system. Lack of sleep will make you groggy, irritated, and drowsy, and you will forget about ever being productive. Sleep is essential for success, value your rest and prioritize quality sleep over unnecessary Netflix binge watching!

3. Your menstrual cycle

As a woman, one of the most important thing you can do is educating yourself about our menstrual cycle! Our menstrual cycle affects everything, including our willingness to be productive. Women can be very affected by the change of the cycle, so, knowing when those changes happen, and how to manage them can be life changing! You cannot be ready to take on the world, if all you can do is curl up in bed, so let’s start with the basics. There are four phases of the menstrual cycle:

• Menstruation

Menstruation is commonly known as a period. During this phase you may experience pain, irritation, fatigue and mood swings. it is better to prioritize rest, self care and light movement during this period.’

• The Follicular phase 

The follicular phase starts on the first day of your period and lasts for 13 to 14 days, ending in ovulation.
During this phase, a few days after your period is over, you can slowly feel your energy increasing. Your brain will also get sharper, and your pain tolerance will increase. This means that you can slowly get back to your usual routines, use your heavier weights at the gym, and start chasing your daily goals!

• Ovulation

The shortest phase of the cycle, ovulation only lasts between 16 and 32 hours, and is when you’re most fertile.
Many women are either feeling very positive or very negative during this short phase, because of estrogen and progesterone levels increasing. However, energy levels are at their peak! This means that you can do HIIT, use heavier weights when working out, and having overall more productive days.

• The Luteal phase

After ovulation, cells in the ovary release progesterone and a small amount of estrogen. During this phase, expect to have very low energy, cravings and mood swings. This means that you need to prioritize rest and light movement again. Consider lowering your weights, do lower impact workouts and do some journaling to clear your mind.

Let us wrap it up now. 

Prioritizing the food you consume, the quality of your sleep and knowing about your menstrual cycle (as a woman) can affect your daily life and change it for the better. Doing these daily, and preparing for a better tomorrow, can slowly lead you to success, and achieving your goals, so what are you waiting for?
Remember this quote by Paulo Coelho every time you struggle to keep up with your goals:

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho

Change your Mindset and Change your Life

 

The way we perceive things is very important. Our perspective on the things we do in our daily lives can shape our lives in ways in which you can’t imagine. Let’s be clear, if you wake up every day, feeling like you are forcing yourself to cook, clean, go to work or exercise, you can’t expect to feel anything but unhappy. Working on your mindset, and how you view things, can not only help you with your mental health, but also help your daily performance of simple and more complex tasks. Your mind is a powerful tool that you can use to your advantage, change your mindset and change your life, here is how:

  Practice gratefulness

 

We already mentioned keeping a journal as a daily habit than can improve your life. However, if writing something down isn’t your thing, there are other ways to practice gratefulness. Our favorite way is by a simple change of your way of thinking: Replace “I need to” with “I get to”.
“I get to move my body today” , “I get to eat this delicious meal” , “I get to have free time and take a walk in the park” etc.
In this way, you affirm and understand your everyday blessings. You will be aware and grateful for all the things you have, and that positivity will get you through the day.

Don’t punish yourself

 

Some days are more difficult than others. You might not do well at your job, you might eat something that you are avoiding, or barely go through fifteen minutes of exercising. However, you need to learn to forgive yourself and move on, in order to grow. Always have a positive outlook on things, and try to avoid punishing yourself. You don’t need to overwork, overexercise or eat less to make up for the day before. You have a new day ahead of you, acknowledge and learn from your mistakes, but never punish yourself for them!

Don’t compare yourself

 

Comparison is the thief of joy – Theodore Roosevelt

Everyone you know lives under different circumstances, and is at a different stage in life. There is no point in comparing yourself to other people, unless you want to increase your insecurities and doubts. You write the story of your own life, you don’t need to listen to anyone’s advice, you can guide yourself. The only person you should compare yourself to, is your past self. By this, we don’t mean being critical of your past self, the things you’ve done or how your body looked like. Practicing self-love is the key to confidence and acceptance: love and forgive your past self in order to improve your current self.  Strive to become a better version of yourself everyday, and never compare yourself to others. Everyone looks out for themselves first, and you should too!

Complain less and do more

 

Filling your mind with toxic thoughts and negativity isn’t helping you. We know it isn’t easy to be positive all the time, but rewiring your brain and changing your thought process is crucial for your mental health. Your habit of thinking negatively can affect you, and also the people you love. Constantly complaining about being unhappy, tired, and other people and their lives can only affect you badly. Try to turn that negative energy into something positive:  try doing instead of complaining. If you don’t like something about your life, or yourself, aim for change, and keep trying until you succeed!

 

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How to Overcome your Insecurities

 

Following beauty standards in this day and age, when social media rules over our lives is impossible. Trends come and go, and they all seem to attack men and women for the way they look or don’t look. When you scroll through TikTok or Instagram, all you see is people that seem perfect. They look beautiful, have glass skin, “perfect” body, and a perfect life. But how do you know that what you’re seeing is real?  Almost every content creator or influencer that you see on social media can fool you into thinking that they’re the epitome of some beauty standard, by using filters, and video editing.

However, the truth of the matter is, that even those people have something to be insecure about. People that seem very confident can also struggle with self-image, they have just found a way to accept their imperfections. Having insecurities is normal, but not ideal for your self-image and confidence. So, how do you work on overcoming your insecurities? Let’s begin by understanding these feelings and their causes.

What is insecurity?

Insecurity involves an overall sense of uncertainty or anxiety about your worth, abilities, skills, and value as a person, conveying the message that you’re at risk or in danger of something or someone. That negative impacts of insecurity could be physical, mental, or emotional. Without security, you can’t accomplish full trust or function to your fullest potential.

 Why you’re insecure.

The reasons for insecurity can be different for every individual. Some reasons can be: a low self-worth, low confidence, childhood trauma (such as emotional abuse, bullying etc.), anxiety, or even perfectionism. Social media could also be making you insecure, and a cause for most of the things listed above, be careful of what kind of content you consume on the internet!

Here is how to start working on overcoming your insecurities with three basic steps:

1. 1. Understand that other people also struggle with their insecurities.

As we already mentioned above, everyone you know struggles with their body image and self-worth. Did you know that Henry Cavill, the actor that is famous amongst men and the gym community for his perfectly masculine features and body, was a chubby kid, constantly bullied for his looks during his childhood? Yes, even the most “perfect-looking” celebrities struggle with their body image, and even eating disorders. Just like you, they are under societal pressure to look a certain type of way, and have feelings of insecurity. Some celebrities and influencers choose to be open about their struggles, in order to help some people like us feel less alone.

1. 2. Do not compare yourself to other people

On the other hand, comparing yourself to people on the internet, might be your biggest mistake! Mindlessly scrolling through social media, looking at fit, skinny or curvy women, and questioning why you don’t look like them, is feeding your insecurities. However, everyone is guilty of this crime, we all compare ourselves to others. We already talked about this in our previous blog, but comparison is the thief of joy. Work on self-love and be realistic on what you can “improve”, if you really feel the need to that. For example, you are insecure about your small glutes and stumpy legs. You cannot elongate your legs, but you can gain lean muscle and shape your legs to look less stumpy. You can also grow your glutes with increased protein intake and shape them with certain exercises. Another thing to consider is that you might be somebody’s body goals!

So stop beating yourself up for the way you look, you are perfect the way you are to somebody else, and you should be enough for yourself too.

1. 3. Work on being the best version of yourself

The most important step you can follow to beat your insecurities! If you really struggle with your body image, and the way you look, the key is to accept things you can’t change, and work on the things you can change. The FitSof team believes in positive change and self-improvement. There is no need to starve yourself, or overexercise to look your best: your fitness journey is not linear, and it will take time to reach your goals. Your physical and mental health should be your first priority! If you do prioritize these things, you will gain your confidence back, your insecurities will be invisible, and you will be unstoppable.

Lastly, remember this quote the next time you compare yourself to someone you see on social media:

All that glitters is not gold

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How to Fall in Love with Exercising

 

Keeping up with any kind of routine may be difficult at times. You might feel too exhausted ,lazy, or unmotivated to keep up and keep going. But the thing that is mostly messing with your ability to keep a routine up, is your motivation to do so. This reason is also why you can’t create, or keep up with any fitness routine. So, we figured out the first step you need to take to find that motivation, that drive to keep you going, let’s start with an example.

In the past, our coach Sofiia was always insecure about her arms. She used to get comments about how they were different from the rest of her body. She had nice and strong legs, shoulders and torso, but her arms were flabby. Since she got insecure about her arms, she decided to work on them and tone them. However, upper body exercises were just not her thing, and she loathed doing them, but decided to continue working on those muscle groups anyway. After a while, people noticed how toned and strong her arms looked. They complimented her and asked about her routine, they wanted to look like her. This is the moment Sofiia found her reason, her motivation and drive to keep going. Now she looks forward to training her upper body, as she has also noticed her growth.

How your mindset plays a part in this

 

Exercise has many benefits that might give you motivation to continue your fitness journey. But those might not be enough for you to keep up with every small part of your routine, especially when forming new habits. “Getting stronger” might not be enough of a reason to make you not skip leg day. Associating so-called leg day (the day you train legs on) with exhaustion and muscle cramps, won’t get you far: this is where your mindset comes in.

You always need a positive mindset to keep you going. If being strong, and healthy are not enough to keep you motivated, you need other reasons to do that. Those reasons might be very personal, and different for everyone. What usually drives people, is their insecurities. If you can’t overcome your insecurities, sometimes its best to try to battle them and change them. The good news is that, any form of exercise, such as resistance training and a good diet, can quite literally change your body. You can’t grow taller, but you can shape your stumpy legs, and your flabby arms!

 

How to stay motivated

 

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. 

• Extrinsic motivation is the pursuit of a goal for the purpose of an external reward. In our case, it would be praise and compliments from other people, on how fit or strong we look.
• Intrinsic motivation involves the pursuit of goals that have personal significance, without an external reward. In our case, it would be doing cardio because its fun and energizing, not for losing weight and being noticed by someone.

It is usually recommended that you find an Intrinsic motivation instead of the latter. Because extrinsic motivation relies on other people and external rewards, it might be putting too much pressure on you to achieve things, and ironically, not be enough to motivate you in the long run. However, even that extrinsic motivation comes from your wants and needs, and it might be good enough for you.

Our tip is to find a reason to fall in love with exercise! no matter if that reason is lead by extrinsic, or intrinsic motivation. That extrinsic motivation might lead you to your intrinsic motivation,, and it doesn’t even matter, as long as it helps. In the end, the benefits of exercising, or training that specific muscle group, will most probably outweigh your doubts and insecurities. Find your reason, the why you do the things you do, and you can do anything you commit yourself to.

Fitness Then and Now: 5 Positive Developments

 

 

Fitness has developed and modernized through the years, but different forms of physical exercise have been around forever. We’ve went from only stretching to Hula Hoops and weird fitness devices in the 50’s and 60’s, to Jazzercise, Aerobics and Bodybuilding in the 70’s and 80’s. Also, we slowly made a shift of our exercise environment from working out in groups and outdoors, to homely, individual workouts.

However, we have also progressed with our understanding of nutrition. It was a slow, but much needed progress from the restrictive diets in the 20th century, but also the toxic diet culture from the 90’s and 2000’s. The toxic dieting and diet culture as a whole, made people battle with their body image, confidence and societal beauty standards. Unfortunately, this lead to a lot of unhappy people and development of a lot of eating disorders. But, times have changed and so have we, we have learned from our mistakes and now we know better. Let’s look throughout some positive changes that Fitness world has gone through.

 

The Fitness Mindset has changed

 

Along with the body positivity movement, came along inclusion, and acceptance of each body type, but also a desire for change and improvement. People started attacking the toxic diet culture and ignoring society’s beauty standards, by trying to be healthier and happier. The mindset “nothing taste as good as skinny feels”, low calorie diets, and ignoring whole food groups is no longer a thing in the 2020’s. A new generation of women and men are focusing on balanced nutrition, aiming for stronger bodies, healthy habits and watching out for their mental health.

More women in certain Fitness fields.

 

In the past, women were mostly included in sports and fitness practices that were considered more “feminine”. Sports like gymnastics, forms of exercise such as Aerobics, Pilates, and dancing-influenced exercise such as Jazzercise and Zumba. Bodybuilding is something that women rarely did in the 20th century, because they were discouraged from it. Nowadays, more and more women participate in strength training, weightlifting and bodybuilding, with it becoming trendy amongst teenagers and young women on social media. Women are now certain that weightlifting won’t make them look masculine, and the positive impact it can have on their health, so, it’s no wonder that most women spend their time in the gym now.

 Variety

 

Nowadays, there is something for everyone! People can enjoy a variety of physical exercises, training and movement. Pilates is growing in popularity again, strength training and weightlifting at the gym are at an all time high, and yoga is still highly popular, but those are not the only options anymore. HIIT, Hot Yoga, Water Aerobics, Circuit Training, Cardio Fusion, and Barre are only a small percent of what the fitness world offers now. You are able to explore, find the most enjoyable way to move your body and thrive!

 

 

Growing knowledge and understanding

 

As we already mentioned, the progress of Fitness has been undeniable, and we are continuing to learn and improve. There are more ways to move your body and exercise, but we have also invented new exercises and movements. You can see varieties of the same exercise, targeting the exact muscles you need it to, and with internet connection its accessible to anyone! Information is flooding on social media, and you can see fitness tips on ways to train and to improve, basically anywhere. You can also find online research articles, and fact-check everything if you want to!

 Equipment

 

Lastly, there are all sorts of equipment you can use, according to what type of fitness you practice and what your needs are. There are many types of mats, weights, activewear for any type of home workouts if you enjoy Pilates, Yoga or Aerobics. There are also affordable options to invest in a home gym, and get equipment such as a treadmill, a barbell, a smart bike and similar things you can find at the gym. Again, there is something for everyone.

We hope that these five developments in Fitness helped you see the positive side of the Fitness world!
There are a lot of improvements and progress to be made, but let’s focus and cherish what we have achieved so far.

5 Benefits of Practicing Yoga Daily

 

Yoga is a Northern Indian practice, which has been around for more than 5,000 years.  In the past decade, it’s popularity rose with it being practiced by fitness and social media influencers. Meanwhile, YouTube is still flooded with yoga tutorials, but why are people obsessed with it?  Because Yoga is not what it appears to be at first glance: it’s not just stretching, taking deep breaths and improving flexibility. Yoga is as spiritual as it is physical, and for some, its a way of life.

Yoga is an ancient practice of which there are many styles of, even some modern ones such as Hot Yoga, Yin Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga. You can try out any style and enjoy the benefits, but what are they? Believe it or not, Yoga has a countless number of benefits on your body in mind, which explains why it has been practiced for more than a thousand years!

We can’t possibly number all of the benefits that Yoga has to offer, but here are our top 5 Benefits of Practicing Yoga, that will convince you to incorporate it into your daily life:

 

1. Physical benefits

 

Yoga is very beneficial for your whole body, your organs and fitness performance. It increases your muscle strength, flexibility, balance, joint and bone health, while also preventing injuries. The many types of breathing techniques that the practice uses, can improve your blood flow to the lungs, heart, and blood vessels, improving your respiration altogether.

2. Brain health benefits

 

Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language. Studies using MRI scans and other brain imaging technology have shown that people who regularly did yoga had a thicker cerebral cortex and hippocampus compared with nonpractitioners. Because your brain releases dopamine and serotonin when you practice yoga, it can also help you with anxiety, depression and especially stress! The many poses that you perform release the tension from your body and brain, and the breathing helps you relax, which leads to destressing.

3. Heart health benefits

 

As we previously mentioned, yoga has benefits for your organs, especially for the most important ones, such as the heart. Every yoga pose has a particular effect on the respiratory system and therefore, affects the heart. The benefits include:

• • Lower blood pressure.
  • Increased lung capacity.
  • Lower bad cholesterol levels.
  • Improved heart rate
  • Boost blood circulation.

4.  Improved Body image and relationship with food

 

As yoga can help with physical and mental health, it can also positively influence the relationship you have with your body. As you move your body daily, you learn to appreciate it and what it can do for you, instead of focusing on how it looks. You can gain a better mind to body connection, grow more confident, and be satisfied with your body image. Along with this, you may gain better control of hunger cues, hunger and create a positive relationship with food. Some dedicated yoga practitioners also follow the Yogic Diet, which promotes non-violence, sattvic foods, purity and cleanliness, for the ultimate health benefits.

 

5.  Better sleep

 

A bedtime yoga routine is the perfect formula for good sleep. Not only can yoga improve your sleep time and quality, but it can also help treat insomnia. The relaxation, mindfulness and the calm that comes with practicing yoga, will help you fall asleep faster, and stay asleep for longer. Some popular poses such as the child’s pose are the perfect way to unwind after a long and stressful day, so give it a try!

We hope that you found this list of benefits useful, and that it gave you a reason to incorporate yoga into your daily routine!

Sleep is important and it affects you and your body immensely. Not getting enough sleep, or sleeping badly influences your whole day. You wake up feeling groggy, you don’t have energy to start the day, you feel tired during the whole day and can’t be productive. Sleeping well is easier said than done. You might have a busy lifestyle, work a lot of hours, or have children to take care of, and we understand. However, we have some good news. Regular exercise and an active lifestyle can help you sleep better, and for longer, among other things! Let’s go through all the ways that exercise can improve your sleep:

Reduce sleep onset

Daily exercise and movement can extend your sleep time. Even moderate exercise, and light to moderate daily movement, can help. Not every day needs to be a gym day, all you need is light movement, and exercise that will help release the good chemicals, called endorphins. Exercise can increase sleep quality for adults by reducing sleep onset – or the time it takes to fall asleep – and decrease the amount of time they lie awake in bed during the night.

 Improved quality of sleep

Exercise can also improve the overall quality of sleep. A research on Exercise Training affecting sleep quality, found that HIIT improved all accelerometer parameters, with higher total sleep time and sleep efficiency, and lower wake after sleep onset. This means that not only aerobics, yoga and similar lower intensity exercises, but also higher intensity exercises such as HIIT, which takes more of your energy, will also help you sleep better.

Helps reduce daytime sleepiness

Feeling fatigued and tired during the day is common among adults. But, there is also a medical condition concerning this problem, and its called hypersomnia. Hypersomnia can cause you to fall asleep in inappropriate times, even if you take multiple naps a day, and still make you feel like you lack sleep. Even so, research has shown that exercise reduces daytime sleepiness indeed, and that it can help manage hypersomnia.

Helps with relieving symptoms of sleep disorders

Sleep disorders are difficult to manage, and physical exercise alone is not enough to relieve you from them, but it does help with the symptoms. Research has shown that both acute bouts of physical activity and regular physical activity improve a variety of sleep outcomes in healthy adults, with the effects typically small to moderate in magnitude.  The same research concluded that physical exercise may relieve some symptoms of sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea.

Improve your sleep-wake cycle

Your body has several internal clocks, called circadian clocks. These typically follow a 24-hour repeating rhythm, called the circadian rhythm. During these 24 hours, the body changes its internal temperature, which affects your sleep-wake cycle. When you exercise, your bodily temperature rises, which signals your body to stay awake. This is why it’s usually recommended that you don’t exercise at night. Some doctors may even recommend that you exercise 8 hours prior to sleeping, especially if you have a sleeping disorder. A review by Nature, suggests timing your exercise to maximize its benefits. They state that exercise can reset the molecular circadian clock, thereby effectively ameliorating the negative effects of disrupted sleep patterns.

SUMMARY

Regular physical exercise, no matter if its low intensity or high intensity, can help with almost every aspect of sleep. Research has shown that regular exercise can help improve the duration and quality of sleep. It can also help to reduce sleep onset, reduce daytime sleepiness, improve the sleep-wake cycle, and help with reducing symptoms of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and hypersomnia.