Most articles on health and fitness focus on two things: diet and exercise. But really it takes much more to build a healthy foundation for your life dreams. My essentials for living well are:

Water

Water is essential for life and good health. It is the single most critical nutrient in your daily diet. Our bodies are composed of approximately 70 percent water. It is, therefore, critical to the balance of all the body’s systems, especially your neurological, respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Your brain, the engine that drives your body, is 95 percent water. Being dehydrated can cause a small but critical shrinkage of your brain that impairs your ability to think and respond effectively. If you are suffering from daytime fatigue and headaches, you most likely are mildly dehydrated. It makes sense that being adequately hydrated is the most essential aspect of achieving good health.

How much water you need varies by person.  To calculate the minimum amount of water you need, take your body weight and divide by two. The result equals the minimum number of ounces of water you need to drink daily. All fluids have water, but at least some of your daily intake needs to be pure clean water. If you live in a hot climate, intake lots of caffeine, or exercise, you will need to increase your water consumption even more. Start each day by drinking 16 ounces of water. Throughout the day try to drink 6to 8 ounces of fluid every hour.

Sleep

Getting regular and sufficient high-quality sleep is as important as being properly hydrated. Sleep is critical to our sense of well-being, day-to-day performance and long-term health. Sleep – or lack thereof -- impacts your productivity levels, motivation, mood, thinking ability and reaction time, and it is directly linked to health risks such as infections, obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The amount of sleep you need also varies by person. Factors like age, general health, stress and how well you sleep all contribute to how much sleep you require. Babies sleep up to 18 hours a day, and preschool children should sleep between 10 and 12 hours daily. Older children and teens need between nine and 11 hours a night to be well rested. For most adults, seven to eight hours a night is generally recommended. However, for some people, "enough sleep" may be as few as five hours or as many as 10. Sleep is like exercise: Both call for training. The simplest advice – for sound sleep training to get those restful nights -- is to have a consistent routine. It might look like this:

• Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, seven days a week.
• Forgo naps longer than 10 to 20 minutes especially close to bedtime. A 20-minute power nap midday is a good thing!
• Bed should be reserved only for sleeping and intimacy.
• Turn off all electronic visual media for at least two hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine at least eight hours prior to bedtime; take your last bite of food and sip of alcohol at least two hours prior to bedding down. (This is assuming you do consume alcohol; if you don’t, this portion of the missive doesn’t pertain to you!)
• Have a relaxing bedtime ritual. Since you are not watching TV, surfing the Internet, or playing video games you now can read a book, do gentle relaxing yoga and take a hot bath. Having the same ritual every day also helps you fall asleep right away, night after night.
• Listen to gentle, soothing, sleep-inducing music while you fall asleep.
• Make your bedroom sleep-friendly. That means a comfortable bed, dim lights and no noise, save your soporific music.

Diet and Nutrition

Nutrition is like sunscreen: apply it daily and wait 20 years. Actually you can see dramatic improvements in your health in as little as 90 days, but the real benefits are realized over the long term.

Endless volumes have been written on diet and nutrition. We will keep it simple:

• If it is not food don’t eat it. This applies to all kinds of dyes, artificial flavors, preservatives, fillers and pesticides.
• Eat fresh, whole foods whenever possible.
• Focus on the nutritional power house “Superfoods”:

• Almonds
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin and sweet potatoes
• Beans (especially dark-colored beans)
• Salmon
• Spinach
• Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Yogurt

• Consume five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
• Try to eat your daily calorie requirement in six evenly spaced mini-meals.

Even if it is healthy it may not be right for you; you may not tolerate many wholesome and healthy foods due to, say, an allergy or sensitivity. So it is important to know which foods or food groups whose consumption you should minimize or completely avoid. Food intolerance does not have to be dramatic like a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. Many times intolerances show up as skin conditions, arthritic pain, frequent yeast infections, chronic fatigue, sinus infections, irritable bowel syndrome and headaches.

Also, it is not possible to get all the micronutrients through your diet especially if you are eating only locally grown foods. Vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients must be supplemented. Ideally, the formulation of these supplements would be customized for your unique needs.

It is possible to affordably and easily test for food intolerances in the privacy of your own home, as well as determine the best blended nutritional supplements you need to improve and maintain your good health. If you are interested in learning more about micronutrient supplements or your personal food sensitivities, please contact me today.

Meditation

Meditation has been practiced in many different cultures for thousands of years. Its staying power through our history comes from the fact that it is the most effective way to reduce stress, enter a deep state of relaxation and have a tranquil mind. Meditation gives you a sense of calm, peace and emotional stability that stays with you throughout the day. Everyone can participate in and benefit from meditation. Like all good things for your body and mind, make sure you schedule time for it daily.

There are many different ways to meditate but the goal is the same: To be filled with inner peace. There are three major groupings of meditation practice: moving meditation, object-focused meditation, empty-head meditation.

Moving mediation is where your body and mind are moving as one, and 100 percent of your thoughts are focused on the movement and breath of your body. Moving meditation includes:

• Yoga
• Tai chi
• Qi gong
• Walking meditation

Mindful mediation is perhaps more well-known: It occurs when sitting comfortably and silently and focusing on an object or process, such as your breath or a lit candle. Mindful mediation practices include:

• Breathing deeply
• Scanning your body
• Guided meditations

Concentration meditation is when you hold your attention on a particular object such as:

• Repeating a sacred mantra or prayer, silently or aloud
• Repetitive singing or chanting

Alternative meditative practices include:

• Reading or listening and reflecting on sacred texts or music
• Keeping a gratitude journal and reflecting on that for which you are grateful

Be kind to yourself as you start incorporating meditation into your life. It's common for the mind to wander during meditation, no matter how long you've been practicing it. Just bring it back gently to your practice. Breathe.

Exercise

What is the single most important factor in an exercise regime? Making the time for it! The number-one reason people give for not exercising is they do not have time. But if asked, they do have time every day to read the paper front to back, surf the Internet, watch TV, or play video games. Just think how much your health would improve, if you swapped out these activities for an hour of exercise. If your are not currently exercising, be realistic and ease into an hour a day by starting with 10 to 15 minutes of the activity and building up to an hour over time.

A well-rounded exercise regime has three key elements: training for strength, endurance and flexibility. To accomplish this it is important to have a variety of activities that are incorporated into a regularly scheduled exercise program. There are three basic groups of exercise training: aerobic, which focuses primarily on the cardiovascular system; strength and toning, which focuses on bone and muscle strength; and flexibility, which focuses on joint, tendon and muscle elasticity.

Your cardiovascular system requires sustained aerobic activity for 30 minutes, at least five days a week. Aerobic activity can be fun! You really must test out a variety of activities to find the ones you love to do. Examples of aerobic activity include walking, running, hiking, cycling, jumping rope, swimming, dancing and bouncing on a trampoline.

Strength training does not require lifting heavy weights or using complex exercise equipment. An excellent strength-training program can be done in your own home using your own body weight and exercise ball, medicine ball, weighted bar and simple, light hand weights. If you do want to use free weights or weight machines, please consult a personal trainer to ensure you are exercising with proper form and an appropriate weight for your ability. Strength training injuries are far too frequent and recovery periods are often very long.

Post-exercise stretching rounds out a cardiovascular and strength-training program; it prevents feeling stiff and sore later in the day (or week!). Don’t skip this step! In addition to post-workout stretching consider adding a form of moving meditation such as yoga, tai chi, or qi gong. Doing any of these for just 20 minutes in the morning is a wonderful way to start the day, as they gently warm up your body and center you mentally.