21 days (plus a few more) later...

In my last post, I went on raving about Meghan Telpner's 21 Days To Health. Well the 21 days have ended and what have I took away from it? Lots! Let's recap.

So as a refresher the premise of the 21 days is to incorporate one new change each day and build until the 21 days are complete. This is based on the idea that it takes 3 weeks (21 days) to form new habits.

Now it's pretty hard to incorporate all of them, but I'm doing my best and I know many of the changes I have made have stuck so that in itself is something to be proud of. I'm not going to go through the full list of 21 changes, but I will touch upon some of the things I have incorporated and maybe bring a little inspiration to you!

My new habits!

• Drinking lemon water first thing every morning. This was the very first point in the book. Drinking warm water with a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (i.e. from lemons, not squeeze bottles) is a great cleanse for the liver. Meaning it flushes out the liver and gets rid of all the toxins that the liver works so hard at removing from the body.

• Meditating or sitting quietly for at least 15 minutes each morning. This is to stop the fidgeting and to bring calm to yourself and just focus on the breath. I was having a hard time at this one, but recently put together a little morning routine so that I made time for it in the morning. I now have put 15 minutes aside each morning to do this. I also drink my lemon water while doing this (always a multitasker!)
• Flossing - every time I brush my teeth. I've always flossed my teeth, but never with any regularity. I'd be really good for a few days and then slack off. But I can honestly say that in over a month I have flossed each and every day. I'm now working on doing twice per day -- morning and night. My dentist is going to be oh so pleased, I almost can't wait for my next visit!
• Getting to bed 15 minutes early. My old bedtime was around 11:00 p.m. and now I make sure I'm getting ready for bed by 10:30 so that I'm actually in my bed by 10:45. The extra sleep helps with getting up earlier for my quiet time.
• Brown bagging. I'm doing a much better job at bringing my lunch to work. I like how this affects my bank account.
• No more going for seconds. I now make a mental note to not eat a second plate of food no matter how good it is. One serving is all my body needs. The goodness can be saved for my brown bag.
• Cutting out all the refined sugar. I'm super aware of this now. By making your own food, this is super easy to do.
• Cutting out some toxic body products. I recently posted about my soap-making endeavours, but I've also recently changed my toothpaste, deodorant and have stopped using body creams and replaced them with edible oils, like coconut oil. Because anything that goes on the skin should also go in the mouth because it's all the same... either way it ends up in the bloodstream.
• Drink more H2O. I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water and herbal teas. Since doing so, I get a headache in the evenings when I don't drink enough water. Your body tells you everything you need to know if you listen closely enough.
• Meal planning! So important. But I had a head start on that one, I've been doing it for a while!
• Cut out the booze. I've drunk alcohol very sparingly for the last year -- just the odd glass of wine or cider here and there -- but it's a treat! And since going gluten-free I haven't had any beer. So check mark here too.
• Dry skin brushing. This practice is new to me -- I've only become familiar with it recently, but I'm doing it! So good for the skin and for the lymph. More to come on this in a future post, because it's an easy thing to do that I gather most people know nothing about. So stay tuned for that!

I'm pretty proud of what I managed to incorporate in just a few short weeks. Think about how much healthier a society we would be if we all just adopted one or two of these things!

What changes have you made recently to improve your health?