10 simple and healthy living hacks to get you back on track {Podcast Ep. 271}

This post is all about 10 healthy living hacks that will help get you back on track for a healthy lifestyle from Blissfully Ambitious podcast episode 271.

I hate to admit it but I have NOT been taking care of myself as well as I normally do. Several years ago, I discovered that I had issues with my gut and I’m highly sensitive to so many foods that I actually love. When I learned this about myself, I started eating a more Vegan diet ( not super strict because I absolutely love fish and cheese ). I also tend to stick with a strong gluten-free diet now that there are so many options out there. Banza pasta is my best friend.

With back to school season coming up and my little boy starting kindergarten this year, I am noticing that I’m not feeling so “ready” for my schedule load to get piled up. So, I have been feeling that it is a really good time for me to get back on track with my healthy lifestyle. I thought it would be not only a good idea to document the hacks that I am going to use to help me shift back into a healthy routine but also good for me to share with you so that I can be held accountable, too.

10 health hacks to help get you back on track for a healthy lifestyle

1. Swap alcohol for probiotic mocktails. I personally will be taking a 30-day break from any and all alcohol to give my body a complete overhaul. Alcohol slows down your bodily functions that help keep you in shape and healthy, like your metabolism, digestion, etc. So, if you give yourself a complete alcohol detox, you will reset your bodies natural health abilities.

   However, I totally understand the difficulty of taking an alcohol break when it is completely socially normal to have a glass of rose at a party. So, I like to keep several options in my fridge so I can grab a few whenever I am going to a party or event where alcohol will be present.

   My favorite? The Ginger Lemon Olipop probiotic sparkling water. It’s kind of like keeping a little mocktail at hand. I like to pour this over ice, garish with a lemon and drink it with a straw in my colorful wine glasses or even a to go water bottle. It feels so fabulous.

2. Swap scrolling your phone first thing in the morning for journaling. Did you know that when you first wake up your brain needs time to move from delta ( deep sleep ) to theta & alpha brain wave states and then finally to beta brain ( wide awake ). When you wake up and scroll your phone, you push your brain to move immediately to beta, bypassing your most optimal brain wave states.

Also meaning that you completely bypass your subconscious minds prime state for rewiring. “Big mistake…HUGE” as Vivian Ward said in the movie Pretty Woman.

So, swap it for journaling. I am a big fan of the morning pages. Where you just dump everything out of your brain first thing in the morning. This is super helpful for your mental health and wellbeing. You can also start dream journaling and just record whatever it is you dream about.

These are my absolute favorite notebooks to journal in. Something about the spiral notebook, the size and the lines.

3. Replace scrolling screens with reading books or listening to podcasts. Look, I love a good Real Housewives binge or Tik Tok scrolling session more than anyone. I will also be the first to tell you that I know just how much those very things bring about chaos in your brain. Just one scrolling session for me and I feel like my brain has 39242 tabs open all at once.

What this does is create clutter, confusion, stress, fatigue and overwhelm in your mind. When your mind is stressed, your body is stressed and it is going to hold on to every ounce of fat possible because your body feels that it is in fight or flight.

Drop the scrolling and opt for reading a really good book. Also, when you are reading or even journaling, your mind gets put back into that meditative state which is prime for rewiring your subconscious and manifesting your dreams. If you have a hard time reading a book, you can always download audible or get your self a kindle, too.

Here’s the one I have my eye on: the Kindle Paperwhite in Agave Green

4. Plan your meals daily. So, instead of rushing to grab a last minute bit, when you plan out your meals for every single day before hand, you will save so much time, stress and energy. I like to have a calendar on my fridge where you can plan out a week of meals and know EXACTLY what to buy at the store for each week.

This will also help your mind get out of decision fatigue and just already know exactly what it is going to eat every day of the week. It’s a fabulous brain hack that will also save you so much money at the grocery store.

Grab this magnetic calendar to stick on your fridge. It also comes with a shopping list so you can literally see everyday and start planning what you’re going to have for dinner for the week. You’ll also be able to have a glance at how well you are nourishing your family all month.

5. Schedule your workouts ahead of time. Even if it’s just a 20 minute walk, you need to move your body daily. I have a better time at committing to this daily habit, if I put it in my calendar. I’m big on workout classes.

You can join a membership like ClassPass and take a variety of classes or you can join a gym and take theirs. When you have a habit of sticking to a particular class, you will be more likely to make it a habit. You will also make friends which feels more like a sense of community which is nice.

On the days I don’t go to my classes, I either go for a walk or do workouts at home. Youtube has so many great options for workouts at home. I love to do 20 min pilates bar workouts. I got myself a cute pink pilates bar and I am obsessed, I’ll never miss a day of moving my body.

6. Make your water more fun. I talk about how much I love adding salt / electrolytes to my water in this post here. It is a habit I absolutely swear by, especially for women over the age of 35. There are so many benefits to getting in your nutrients while you are hydrating and half the time those nutrients help you to hydrate faster.

So often, when we think we are hungry, we are just dehydrated and need some water.

Another thing I LOVE to add to my water is Chlorophyl drops. It’s benefits include detoxing the body, clearing up your skin, fixing bad breath, neutralizes toxins, helps weight loss, etc.

7. Use a vitamin planner. I have been using my pink jumbo vitamin planner for years. I absolutely swear by my vitamin regimen and if I don’t plan them out weekly, I completely forget to take them. I have an entire video training on the specific vitamin routine I use for my age and cycle inside my workshop, Goddess Glow Up.

8. Use a planner & a habit tracker. You MUST begin to somewhat get your life organized. I use the calendar on my phone AND a daily planner. I also keep my habit tracker on my desk. If you can get in the habit of scheduling out your healthy living habits, I promise you, you will feel so much more calm and like you have your life together.

I have tried out so many different planners and for some reason, these large blue sky planner layouts are always my favorite and I use them consistently.

9. Greens at every meal. This is my daily rule. I have to add something green to every meal. In the mornings, I love my green smoothies. If I have an iced coffee in the AM, I drink a match in the afternoon. If I order french fries, I also get brussel sprouts. I add spinach to my eggs, etc.

If that’s hard for you, you can also add the daily green powder to any drink, I add this to my smoothies but also, if I haven’t had a vegetable all day, I will drink this at night. It is so so good for you.

10. Get to sleep by 9:30 every night. Or at least try getting to sleep at the same time nightly, preferably before 10. At 9pm, your natural body rhythm produces melatonin. So, if you stay up too much later than you are wasting your natural sleep aids and it will be harder for you to get to sleep.

HOT TIP: put your phone down and screens off by 8:45, 9:00 at the latest. Save that show for the next day. The way that a good night sleep aligned with the natural circadian rhythm will change your life has always had me in a chokehold. Just try it.

I recorded a podcast episode to go along with this blog post and dive in a little deeper into each hack. Take a listen here:

6 House plant hacks that will keep your houseplants happy

This post is all about 6 houseplant hacks that will keep your houseplants happy and just make sense.

As you probably already know, I believe having houseplants is one of the most healing things you can do for yourself. Plus, they are excellent Feng Shui. There are countless benefits of plants in the home. If you haven’t seen my blog post about my Sunday houseplant ritual, well then you must read this asap. I’m a very proud and recently new houseplant addict.

It all started about a year ago when I went shopping at my favorite plant shop in Houston, Buchanan’s Native Plants in the Heights. Something came over me that December and I brought home three house plants that completely changed my life.

Since then, I have grown my little plant babies into full on mature, gorgeous plants and I absolutely adore them. My little one has even given each of them a name according to their plant personality. This one, he named her ‘love’ because we just looooove her. Her big, beautiful leaves are so rich and thick and she is constantly giving us new life which always brings such excitement.

I’ve had several friends and people in my community ask me for my house plant advice and to be honest, I have no idea what I am doing. However, I have tried a lot of different hacks that I’ve read about or seen on tiktok and thought I might share a few of the things that I find have really worked for me.

Here are 6 house plant hacks that will keep your houseplants happy and that just make sense:

1. I use orchid fertilizer. A woman who works with my uncle has the most incredible collection of orchids. I’ve seen her bring back orchids to life that I never could imagine. So, per her suggestion, I got this Orchid Food spray for my orchid that I was trying to keep alive. Honestly, it didn’t really work. However, I started to spray it on my plants for a little extra love and I swear it has helped them grow faster ever since I started using it. I just spray it every few weeks and they seem to love it.

2. I give them ‘sparkling’ treatment. I look at my plants like they are my pets, so I like to treat them to the same luxurious treatment as I would give any little house pet. Sparkling water is no exception. So, one day I found a half drunk can of sparkling water that was Romans and I didn’t want to waste it, so I poured the rest in one of my plants. Days later, I came across a Tik Tok that said plants love the potassium and other minerals found in most sparkling waters. And these minerals, when mixed with regular water can actually be growth promoters for your plants.

This article has some helpful hints when it comes to what sparkling water works best for plants and what doesn’t.

3. I keep my plants close together. Did you know that plants help each other grow and thrive. There are certain plant types that are more fast growing like a monstera or a pothos, their vibration and speedy growth energy can encourage other plants around them to grow faster, too.

So, because of that, I like to keep my plants close to each other and I also move them around different parts of the house often so they can get various amounts of sunlight.

4. I use moss poles to help them grow up. When a monstera plant grows, she grows quickly. I was noticing that my plants were starting to droop and grow in weird ways. So, I learned about using moss poles to help guide them to grow vertically which makes them happier plants. These specific moss poles come with this plant tape that helps you tie the plant to the pole so it will learn to climb the poll.

This has been a game changer for my two monsteras, I love the way they are learning to grow.

5. Spa days and words of affirmation. Okay, so I sometimes I make a special concoction for the days I want to clean my plants. I put banana peels in a jar of filtered water, add it to a spray bottle and spray that on the leaves before I wipe them down to remove dust.

I do not like to let my plant leaves have dust, its like not taking care of your hair. And as I wipe them down, I’m always saying words of affirmation to my plants. It sounds silly but I swear it works for me and my houseplants. ;) I like to treat them to little spa days every so often. They get their leaves sprayed, a full leaf massage and some loving words.

p.s. Here’s a little list of all the things I put together, that I specifically use to take care of my houseplants.

6. I propagate my plants. Almost every plant I have, I propagate. Meaning, when they have lots of growth, I trim their longest growth off and put in a container of water to have them grow new roots. I learned all about propagation on Tik Tok and in Hilton Carters book, Wild At Home. This book has literally taught me everything I know about caring for my houseplants and growing my collection.

Well, I hope this list of hacks helps you in your house plant journey. If you haven’t already, maybe this is your sign it is time to adopt some. Read here and here for more inspiration.

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