Back to Basics For Better Health & Wellness

As the snow starts melting and the birds start chirping, it’s the perfect time to open the windows, air out your home, and do a little spring cleaning. But it’s not just your closets and carpets that could use a good de-cluttering and scrubbing — there are ways to boost your well-being by spring cleaning your entire routine.

“My approach to health and wellness stems from freedom, pleasure, celebration, gratitude, and joy,” says Lori Zabka, a certified person trainer and yoga instructor, a Certified Nutrition Coach, and owner of wellness company Life by Lori Z. “Sometimes I think health and wellness has become too complicated, and fads do not produce results. So let’s simplify by getting back to the basics.”

Zabka shares seven tips to up your wellness game, explaining that it’s best to start with a couple. Once you’ve successfully woven those into your life, you can add a few more.

1. Hydrate and detoxify. Every morning, pour yourself 16 ounces of room-temperature, purified water with ½ lemon squeezed in and 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar (ACV). Why? Both lemon juice and ACV provide countless health benefits like detoxifying the liver, balancing the body’s pH, and stimulating the bowel.

2. Reach for your higher power. Pray, meditate, chant, or flow — just let go, and reach up to that which is greater than you. The very act of offering up a prayer frees our souls from the assumption that we are in control of the universe.

3. Sweat it out. Move your body from slumber to motion in any way that you choose: yoga flow, stretching, or a HIIT circuit. The boost of endorphins will increase your productivity, enhance your mood, ignite your metabolism.

4. Fuel your fabulous. Choose the most nutrient-rich foods you can, instead of wasting calories on empty foods that cannot fuel and nourish your body. For instance, rather than cereal for breakfast, scramble 2 organic eggs and stir in some arugula and mushrooms.

5. Go green. Eat more greens than you think necessary, but don’t juice them — chew them. Eating greens encourages the growth of good bacteria, heals inflammation, gets rid of belly fat and excess weight, eliminates yeast, balances your pH, quiets down IBS, and boosts your energy.

6. Be a pleasure seeker. Have something to look forward to every week. It doesn’t have to be a beach vacation, or even a weekend out of town, but it must be something that lights your fire and puts a smile on your face each time you think about it. Schedule that “something special” on your calendar and keep that appointment.

7. Be the portion police. Sometimes, we assume that if we are eating the “good” stuff, we can eat as much as we want. The reality is that healthy portion sizes matter. You don’t have to measure or weigh your food if you learn a visual cue for proper portion sizes: a serving of protein is about the size of a small iPhone; a serving of beans is the size of a tennis ball; a healthy serving of nut butter is about the size of a golf ball; and a serving of cheese is the size of a small pair of dice.