6 Simple Changes For Improved Health and Energy This Spring - for the Lazy Entrepreneur

I run eco-friendly businesses for entrepreneurs I admire, run an organic body care line, and blog. I work out (sometimes...), teach tea blending, smoothies/juicing and gourmet raw vegan cooking classes. I'm writing highly-requested detailed nutrition classes for Florida Holisitic School of Health and more online courses. I live and breath healthy living and continue to learn the clinical side of nutrition every day, so you'd think I'm an active gun-ho Type-A person, but I'm not. I'm lazy. I have to actively fight my natural inert state. I'm happiest when I'm sitting on my ass writing, reading, or crafting something. I don't even like to stand too long unless it's for my art markets or in nature. My spirit animal is a sloth. I accept this now. But I've recently made some small changes that help me combat the inner-sloth, I hope they help you this spring!

1. I wrote down every single thing I ate for a few days

I eat clean (vegan, nearly all whole plant foods) so I thought writing down everything single thing I ate would be useless and redundant, but this was a game changer! Try it, you may be surprised how fast things add up! I only had to do this for a week to get an idea for how to portion myself in the future for active days vs. inactive days.

2. I start the day with four cups of water.

Everyone's water needs will vary per individual. I need lots of water or I feel the difference and regret it. (I'm in hot, humid Florida and don't use my car's AC + ride my bike a lot for starters.)  Starting my day with four cups is a helpful boost. How easy can it get for a lazy person? Wake up, drink, be healthier. Win/win.

3. I've made myself catch up on sleep.

I struggle with sleep and used to stay up extra late working keep working. This gets you NO WHERE because your cognitive function is crap the next day. Now I make myself sleep in no matter what and I'm looking and feeling much better for it. All the cells in your body repair when you're sleeping, remembering that helps me let go of work and get the extra zzz's.

4. Cooking ahead of time as much as possible.

I cook in big batches ahead of time as much as possible. I can just stop and whip something up with pre-cooked ingredients instead of stopping to make food in the middle of doing something, halting productivity.

5. I'm using my bento boxes again.

I pulled my bento boxes out of mom's attic (along with other kawaii-collectibles) to sell them but I've ended up using them! They're excellent for portion control and small and portable to take anywhere.

Bonus, Add More Greens and Plants: Wherever possible I like to add more whole plants to the diet. A big green salad for lunch (like my recent fav) and a couple of smoothies for snacks help.

6. More Fitness Classes and Fun Exercise + Make it Fast

Weight lifting alone gets boring. Classes like yoga (SO good for your body's joints/lymphatic system), dance, and spin really help you break a sweat better than you can alone because a professional is leading you. Plus, there's that extra peer pressure element, I'm more likely to do well when being watched than when left to my own devices, we all are. There's always hiking, bike riding, gardening, swimming and other active-rest activities that don't feel like exercise at all.  Break a sweat and do your reps fast so you can get back to the best thing in life...sitting on your ass making stuff. My god, that beats gym-torture hands-down. Hell is a treadmill on high speed that you won't let you off for all eternity. Or an eternal plank.

(The best part, working out hard just three days a week is enough for good health! Yes, more excuses to stay out of there!)

As always: Take small steps, make it fun, and make it work for you. Swap out favorites for healthy ones you enjoy and treat yourself along the way. I'm going to order some vegan protein powder for my smoothies soon, for instance. Writing everything down was humbling for me, no matter where you're at, it's good to evaluate and see if what you're doing is in line with your goals.

Doing anything special for health this spring? Any favorite recipes or tips? Would love to read them.

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