Spring clean your health!
With spring finally here, you’re likely ready to shed your cold-weather cocoon and return to the healthy habits of seasons past. Find below some tips for you and your family to spring clean your health.
Tips to help you and your family spring clean your health
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Prioritise good sleep
It’s so important for our bodies, but too often ignored. For the average adult the aim is eight to nine hours of sleep a night. Your bedroom needs to be as quiet and dark as possible to get your mind prepared for sleep after an active day, why not try meditating for five minutes, writing down your top three things from the day to be grateful for or reading a few pages of a great book before slipping into bed for a good nights rest.
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Find excuses to move!
With the weather warming up and days getting longer, now’s the time to get active and move more. Just getting out and about for a walk locally can give you countless benefits. Reduced stress, better sleep, feeling fitter – what’s not to like? So make the most of the spring weather – especially with our changeable climate – and go for regular walks, play outdoor sports like golf and tennis, do some gardening or release your inner self by getting on your bike.
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Set good alarms throughout your day
There are many good alarms that you can set throughout your day to give you a consistent routine. For example, a reminder to start winding down ahead of bedtime, to drink water throughout the day, stand up (for those that work on computers all day) or to remind you to eat a healthy meal, if you often work through your lunch hour.
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Develop better sunscreen habits
Love the skin you’re in and get in to good habits ahead of summer. We all know the drill when it comes to sun protection, yet many of us can get caught out with sunny spring days. Sunburn can be unpleasant and very sore and can increase your chances of developing serious health problems, such as skin cancer, later in life. Wearing sunscreen of SPF 50+ daily to help provide your skin with the best protection, for the longest period of time. Remember, if you are outdoors for a great deal of time, you will need to reapply throughout the day and try to cover up during the hottest part of the day (11am-3pm).
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Eat with the season
Make the most of nutrient packed fruit and vegetables that are in season during spring. You’ll be able to enjoy delicious foods such as spinach, purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, watercress, asparagus and rhubarb.
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Top up your vitamin D
Vitamin D supports healthy bones and immunity and is made by the action of sun on our skin, so our levels can drop quite significantly during the winter months. It can be difficult to get enough from our diet alone even in spring months, you can keep levels topped up with a supplement to support yourself.