7 Daily Habits You Should Adopt!

We all know there are things that we SHOULD be doing, that we don’t do. We have plenty of excuses. We don’t have time, we’re too tired, or it is too expensive. I’m the queen of it, so you won’t find any condemnation here.

I have seven easy habits that you can start doing today. Don’t feel like you have to do everything perfectly, just start from where you are and take a couple of steps in the right direction.

1. Drink more water

Everyone knows we should be drinking plenty of water, but not all of us are doing it. You know who you are. “Experts”, (whoever they are) say that we should drink eight 8 oz glasses of water per day. It is nearly impossible for me to get that much water in my body in one day, but I do feel better when I drink more water. Many people stay dehydrated, but all your body systems work better when properly hydrated. Your skin looks better, it helps with digestion, and you have more energy. It helps flush toxins out of your body on a daily basis. 

“Experts” also say it is better to drink from glass than plastic. Glass water bottles can be expensive. You can get some great bottles online for less than you’d pay locally. Be sure to choose one that will fit in your cup holder. Another option that I like is Cuppow that allows you to use a glass canning jar as your cup. Please don't let not having a fancy glass water bottle keep you from drinking. Even drinking from a plastic bottle is better if you're increasing your water intake. 

2. Eat REAL food

Some of you might think I've lost it, but if you eat a lot of highly processed foods, you may not actually be eating food. You've probably heard that you should do the bulk of your grocery shopping around the perimeter of the store. That is where the REAL food is. You will find things like fruits and vegetables, meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and butter.

If you're not sure what qualifies as REAL food, ask yourself these questions. Did this product grow from the ground or on a tree? Was it ever alive? Did it ever swim in an ocean or fly in the air? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then it is food. If the answer is no, put it down and keep moving. Look for items that don't have a list of ingredients, like an apple or a sweet potato. 

If the item you are considering DOES have a list of ingredients, can you pronounce them? Do you know what they are? Here is a good example. You might find a bag of popcorn that says the ingredients are: popcorn, sugar, canola oil, salt. That is real food. If, however, you pick up an item and turn it over to look at the list of ingredients and see this:

Ingredients: WILD CHERRY WATER BEVERAGE WITH OTHER NATURAL FLAVOR – WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CITRIC ACID, SUCRALOSE (SPLENDA(R) BRAND SWEETENER), NATURAL FLAVOR. BOLOGNA MADE WITH CHICKEN & PORK – MECHANICALLY SEPARATED CHICKEN, WATER, PORK, CORN SYRUP, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, POTASSIUM LACTATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATES, SODIUM DIACETATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, FLAVOR, SODIUM NITRITE, EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, SUGAR, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE. PASTEURIZED PREPARED AMERICAN CHEESE PRODUCT – MILK, WHEY, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MILKFAT, SODIUM CITRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, OLEORESIN PAPRIKA (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, CHEESE CULTURE, WITH STARCH ADDED FOR SLICE SEPARATION. CONTAINS: MILK. CANDY BAR – CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, GROUND ROASTED PEANUTS, HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL OIL, COCOA, MOLASSES, AND LESS THAN 1% OF WHEY (FROM MILK), CONFECTIONER’S CORN FLAKES, NONFAT MILK, SALT, LACTIC ACID ESTERS, SOY LECITHIN, SOYBEAN OIL, CORNSTARCH, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), YELLOW 5, RED 40. CONTAINS: PEANUT, MILK, SOY. CRACKERS – UNBLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, SALT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), WHEY (FROM MILK), SOY LECITHIN, NATURAL FLAVOR.

THROW IT DOWN AND RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! What is this stuff? I don't know, but it's NOT FOOD. 

Does that mean you can never buy a package of Oreos? No. You can still have your Oreos or whatever your favorite snack is, but I recommend going with the 80/20 rule. Try to eat real food at least 80% of the time. (It is best if its non-gmo and organic, but don't worry about that yet. Just focus on eating real food.) If you can do better than that, great! But don't feel like you've failed if you eat a cookie. Do the best you can and keep going.

By the way, that list of ingredients was from an Oscar Meyer Lunchables. RUN, don't walk!

3. Exercise

It is a well-established fact that I do not love to exercise. It's not really that I don't like it, I just struggle with the discipline of making it part of my daily life. There is ALWAYS something else that seems more urgent or important and this one gets pushed to the back burner. You don't have to be in training for the Ironman, just get off your onion and move around a little. 

There are several ways to start. I highly recommend finding a friend from work or one who lives in your neighborhood and setting a specific time of day to walk on a regular basis, or find a podcast that you enjoy and listen to it as you walk,or use the time to pray. In addition to walking or running, there are numerous other options. You could find a local Zumba class that meets a couple times a week or a DVD series that allows you to exercise at home. 

Again, you don't have to get crazy with this one. Just find SOMETHING that you enjoy and adjust your schedule to make room for it several times a week, if not daily.

4. Get enough sleep

Now we're talking! Seriously, getting enough sleep is important, but many of us don't get enough. It's simple really. Figure out what time you have to get up and subtract the number of sleep hours you need from that time and GO TO BED at the designated time. Add an extra thirty minutes to allow time to get ready for bed. If you have extensive grooming rituals you might need to start sooner. 

Also, limit caffeine and electronics in the hours before bed to allow you to go to sleep easier. There are other things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep. Sleeping in a dark room is best. Even the light from a bright alarm clock can interfere with your body's sleep patterns. If you are a light sleeper and are bothered by noises, I highly recommend a sound machine that uses white noise to block out background noises. These are great for babies who don't nap well and to use when traveling. I never sleep well in hotels because of the unfamiliar sounds, and this helps to mask them. Consider using lavender essential oil or drinking an herbal tea before bed if falling asleep is difficult for you. 

5. Daily Bible reading

There is something about starting your day with God's word that sets the tone for the whole day. Spending time with the Creator has a way of putting things in perspective. There are multiple ways to approach this. You can find a daily reading plan and go with that, or use a devotional that suggests Scripture passages each day, or you can pray and ask the Lord to direct your time. 

You don't have to spend an hour, or any set amount of time. Even if five minutes is all you have to spare, do that! It will be time well spent. You might want to factor this time in when you are deciding what time to go to bed the night before. 

6. Spend your time wisely

Take a good look at how a typical day is spent for you. How many times do we hear or say "I don't have time for that!" The fact is, we have the exact same amount of time in a day that anyone else does. If your girlfriend "has time" to read her Bible and exercise, but you don't, it's because she has prioritized those things and you haven't. We have time to do the things we REALLY want to do, don't we? It's because we MAKE the time to do them. They are our priority. 

So, if you aren't taking the time to do the things that matter, what ARE  you spending your time on? Maybe we need to turn the television off or log off the computer, or put the phone on the charger and spend time on the things that are actually WORTH our time. (Don't throw the breaker until AFTER you finish reading this post)

Who or what is getting the time and attention it deserves? And who or what is not? I'm stepping on my own toes right now, sister. I might be on a walker tomorrow. I can't tell you where you should be spending your time and energy, but in your heart, you know. For me, its my husband and my children that are sometimes neglected because I get so busy with what is URGENT, that I forget what is IMPORTANT. 

We only get one chance at life, let's agree to not waste it on things that are meaningless and invest in the people that God has put in our lives. In the end, its our relationships that matter. Our relationship with God, and with others. 

7. Finances

FIRST I told you that you can't eat Oreos, and then told you that you need to get off the couch exercise, THEN I made you feel guilty about spending too much time on your phone and not reading your Bible enough. NOW, I will top it off by telling you how to spend your money. I seriously doubt anyone will ever read one of my posts again. But, since you're here now, what the heck. Let's do this.

There is not a one size fits all solution to money issues. Everything is relative. For some people it would be a waste of time for me to tell you how you need to be saving X dollars a month and putting X amount into retirement and don't forget to about your kids' college fund. You have to start now for that. For some of you, paying this month's mortgage or putting gas in your car this week is a challenge. For others of you, talking about how to save $1 on produce by buying the fruit that is in season wouldn't be worth your time. 

So, considering that we are all in different places financially, I just want to encourage you to take a look at where you ARE financially, and where you WANT TO BE and start taking steps to get there. 

There are really only a couple of ways to improve your financial situation. You can either spend LESS money, make MORE money or BOTH. There are hundreds of ways to go about it.

To SPEND LESS, consider the following: 

1.Look at how much you are spending on insurance, and see if there are adjustments you can make to your policy that give you the coverage you NEED, without paying for services you DON'T need. 

2. Contact your cable or satellite provider to see if your monthly bill can be lowered. In the past when I've called to cancel service, they've always offer a reduced rate for the same service. 

3. Barter for services. I plan on writing a whole post on this sometime soon, but you can make a deal with another mom to exchange baby sitting so you can both have a date night with your husbands without breaking the bank. (Sorry babysitters. I'm not trying to put you out of business, its just that some moms can't afford a babysitter AND dinner out at a restaurant. You'll understand one day.) Think about your skills and don't be afraid to ask.

4. Cook meals at home instead of eating out. Yes, it can be expensive to eat healthy, but it doesn't have to be. As Dave Ramsey says, you can have rice and beans or beans and rice. Although a lot of grains aren't ideal for your diet or your waistline, they are definitely a way to stretch a meal and get more for your money. 

5. Make your own coffee. Radical, I know. I don't drink coffee, so its easy for me to laugh at the absurdity of paying $4 for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. However, if you LOVE it, you CAN make your own at home. It looks like a good bit of work, but you might think its worth it. You can find the recipe HERE

To MAKE MORE money, you could:

1. Have a garage sale

2. Sell items on ebay or craigslist.

3. Start a small business performing a service like babysitting or cleaning houses that you can work around your 'day' job. 

4. Make and sell items on Etsy like I do HERE.

5. Get a second job.

6. Consider direct sales.

Most of the things I just shared are things that you've heard before, but if you're like me, it is good to be reminded once in a while. I do hope you will make an effort to improve in one or more of these areas if not all of them. 

Do YOU have suggestions for some healthy habits I should adopt?

Kristy