The Pillars of Wellness Series: Sleep, Nutrition and Exercise.
Today we are setting the foundation for a series of blog posts related to the Pillars of Wellness.
The three pillars are wellness are:
🌿Sleep
🌿Nutrition
🌿Exercise
These pillars are applicable to anyone, but I’ll be spinning a twist on them to support all of my ladies in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s who are transitioning into or through your perimenopausal years. Things like how to hack your way into wellness and how to circumnavigate the hot flashes, middle of the night wake ups, and the weight gain that is sometimes associated with these years – all using the three pillars of sleep, nutrition and exercise.
PRINCIPLES OF A HEALTHY DIET
I’ll be deep diving into each of these principles in upcoming posts and I’ve already touched on some of them in previous blogs. For now, just consider each principle and see where you might be able to make small improvements in your own life.
1. Drink enough water each day. Aim for 2-3 litres of filtered water.
2. Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables each day. The more the better. Especially dark leafy greens.
3. Eat sufficient amounts of protein. At least 100 grams. You can read more about Perimenopause & Protein here.
4. Eat the right types of fats. Look to avocado, olive and coconut oils as opposed to inflammatory oils like canola.
5. Decrease your exposure to pesticides, food additives and heavy metals. For more on this, check out the blog I wrote about Estrogen Dominance
6. Eat to support blood sugar control. We’ll be tackling this one a lot in upcoming blogs. For now, here are a few tips to get you started:
TIPS TO SUPPORT SLEEP
I’m a big fan of having a solid wind-down/sleep routine. As kids, most of us had a bedtime routine but somewhere along the way we might have lost sight of this habit. Let’s work on redeveloping our ability to gently wind into our evenings and prepare for great sleep.
Limit your screen time before bed and start to dim the lights in your home as the sun sets.
Stick with a consistent sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Even on weekends.
Reduce stimulation at night – no loud music, no caffeine, no high energy activities. Forget the high intensity workouts after supper if you’re struggling to get quality sleep.
Do something relaxing in the evenings. Have a bedtime routine that includes a bath, tea, and some light reading (or whatever is relaxing for you).
I talked about sleep deprivation in a blog article a few months ago. You can check out the entire article here.
GENERAL EXERCISE GUIDELINES
Set yourself some goals. Put your #1 goal at the top and then break it down into 3 smaller, achievable goals underneath that. (For example, let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds (that’s the big goal). Some smaller goals might be to work out 5 days a week, walk 30 minutes per day and to do 50 extra squats per day).
Find a workout plan that works for YOU. Not your spouse. Not your colleague. Not your best friend. One that you’ll stick with because it works for YOU. Some ideas:
Join a gym
Hire a personal trainer
Join a free online challenge
Join an online membership
Use fitness tracker apps
Decide on the optimal time of day to do your workouts. Put it in your calendar. Do it. Make it non-negotiable.
Stick to your workouts with a regular routine, whether that’s every day, every other day or 3-4 times per week. Just decide and be consistent.
Choose exercise that suits your body. For example:
If you have joint issues, don’t choose an activity that will jar your joints.
If you’re new to exercise or coming off an injury, start slow (use machines, gentler movement, more recovery).
If you’re suffering from adrenal fatigue, skip the HIIT workouts for a while to protect your cortisol and opt for a gentler exercise like yoga.
If your otherwise healthy and ready for a challenge, find a more strenuous workout.
If exercise is new to you, my best advice is to keep it simple. Don’t overthink it. In a future blog post, I’ll be talking about some exercise hacks to save money, optimize results and make it all a little more social.
