If you’ve followed me on social media or know me personally, it’s pretty clear that I’m big on fitness, working out, and eating (reasonably) healthy choices. We’ll discuss whiskey and beers later 🙂
First, let’s talk about something basic. If it separates you from the ground, that’s a good place to spend money. You want to wear good shoes, sit on good chairs, and sleep on good mattresses. Doing the best you can with these items will save you tons of pain with back and feet problems through your live.
Second, drink water. Drink water throughout the day. You need about 80 ounces of water (a little less than 2.5 liters). This will help keep your body operating well, and flush out waste products your body creates. Additionally, you’ll be able to avoid a lot of other people’s drama simply because you’re in the rest room 🙂
Third, you can get a lot of exercise simply by going for a 5 minute walk every hour. Whether you’re writing through the day or working a day job, just going for a short walk every hour will get you 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in a normal 8 hour work day.
Fourth, you can do body weight exercises anywhere and at any time. I suggest, if you don’t have a fitness program, that you do planks first thing in the morning and right before bed, and squats at least once an hour when you stand up from a chair or the couch.
Fifth, stretch. You can stretch whenever you want to. If you’re an author or use a computer heavily, stop and rotate your wrists every couple of hours to loosen up your wrists.
Sixth, sleep. Set an alarm to go to bed on time, and get up on time. You need about 8 hours of sleep daily to be rested, healthy, and largely functional. So make sleep a real priority.
Seventh, prioritize eating healthy foods. Plan your meals so you have good options for breakfast, healthy meals for lunch at your work, and you can be prepared for good dinners. Don’t keep lots of unhealthy snacks in your house, and do keep healthy snack options, like fruit and nuts, so you don’t go for a drive to keep unhealthy snacks.
While this isn’t a total list for every possible health and fitness option, it should provide a good start. If you need more help, or want to develop a more detailed plan, email me at keith@keithhedger.com
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