10 Ways To Stay Mentally Healthy

Enjoying mental health means having a sense of well-being, being able to function during everyday life and feeling confident to rise to a challenge when the opportunity arises. Just like your physical health, there are actions you can take to increase your mental health.

BOOST YOUR WELL-BEING AND STAY MENTALLY HEALTHY BY FOLLOWING A FEW SIMPLE STEPS.

1. Connect with others. Develop and maintain strong relationships with people around you who will support and enrich your life. The quality of our personal relationships has a great effect on our well-being. Putting time and effort intobuilding strong relationships can bring great rewards.

2. Take time to enjoy. Set aside time for activities, hobbies and projects you enjoy. Let yourself be spontaneous and creative when the urge takes you. Do a crossword; take a walk in your local park; read a book; sew a quilt; draw pictures with your kids; play with your pets – whatever tickles your fancy.

3. Participate and share interests. Join a club or group of people who share your interests. Being part of a group of people with a common interest provides a sense of belonging and is good for your mental health. Join a sports club; a band; an evening walking group; a dance class; a theater or choir group; a book or car club.

4. Contribute to your community. Volunteer your time for a cause or issue that you care about. Help out a neighbor, work in a garden or do something nice for a friend. There are many great ways to contribute that can help you feel good about yourself and your place in the world. An effort to improve the lives of others is sure to improve your life too.

5. Take care of yourself. Be active and eat well – these help maintain a healthy body. Physical and mental health are closely linked; it’s easier to feel good about life if your body feels good. You don’t have to go to the gym to exercise – home workouts, gardening, vacuuming, and dancing all count. Combine physical activity with a balanced diet to nourish your body and mind and keep you feeling good, inside and out.

6. Challenge yourself. Learn a new skill or take on a challenge to meet a goal. You could take on something different at work; commit to a fitness goal or learn to cook a new recipe. Learning improves your mental fitness, while striving to meet your own goals builds skills and confidence and gives you a sense of progress and achievement.

7. Deal with stress. Be aware of what triggers your stress and how you react. You may be able to avoid some of the triggers and learn to prepare for or manage others. Stress is a part of life and affects people in different ways. It only becomes a problem when it makes you feel uncomfortable or distressed. A balanced lifestyle can help you manage stress better. If you have trouble winding down, you may find that relaxation breathing, yoga or meditation can help.

8. Rest and refresh. Get plenty of sleep. Go to bed at a regular time each day and practice good habits to get better sleep. Sleep restores both your mind and body. However, feelings of fatigue can still set in if you feel constantly rushed and overwhelmed when you are awake. Allow yourself some unfocussed time each day to refresh; for example, let your mind wander, daydream or simply watch the clouds go by for a while. It’s OK to add ‘do nothing’ to your to-do list!

9. Notice the here and now. Take a moment to notice each of your senses each day. Simply ‘be’ in the moment – feel the sun and wind on your face and notice the air you are breathing. It’s easy to be caught up thinking about the past or planning for the future instead of experiencing the present. Practicing mindfulness, by focusing your attention on being in the moment, is a good way to do this. Making a conscious effort to be aware of your inner and outer world is important for your mental health.

10. Ask for help. This can be as simple as asking a friend to babysit while you have some time out or speaking to your doctor (GP) about where to find a counselor or community mental health service. The perfect, worry-free life does not exist. Everyone’s life journey has bumpy bits and the people around you can help. If you don’t get the help you need first off, keep asking until you do.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR HEALTH COACHING PROGRAMS HERE

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Meal Prep for The Master’s Hammer and Chisel: Week 1 Plan B (1,500-1,799 calorie bracket)

Starting on January 4th, thousands of people will start The Master’s Hammer and Chisel together, and will support each other through the 60-day challenge on The Master’s Challenge Facebook group. And, as part of that group, you'll get exclusive tips from The Master’s Hammer and Chisel celebrity trainers Sagi Kalev and Autumn Calabrese! Don’t miss out! Click here to join the group.

While it’s crucial to give it your all during the workouts, it’s equally important to eat right if you want to lose fat and tone up or build muscle. Creating a weekly meal plan and prepping all your food for the week at once is a smart way to make sure you eat right every day. And it will save you a lot of time.

The team over at BeachBody created an awesome meal plan that happens to follow the calorie bracket that I'll be eating in, so I'm going to give it a go with a few small tweaks to suit my particular diet and needs. (You can see the original post here)

There are a few things in the meal plan that I don't eat (like eggs and dairy), and I wanted to add in Shakeology and the supplements that I take daily since a couple of them count as a part of the containers so it's important for me to add them in to my plan.

Namely, the fish oil I take counts as a daily teaspoon as does the coconut oil (or sometimes this raw coconut) that I like to put in my coffee in the morning, the brazil nuts I eat count as a part of a blue container (I eat 4/day for their selenium content), and I like to add in the Collagen Peptides to my Shakeology to boost the protein and help keep my hair, skin, and nails looking fab. I also substitute in the Vega Sport Protein for the red portion of the parfait instead of the yogurt found in the meal plan (again, I can't eat dairy). I also subbed in oats for the quinoa because I LOVE doing overnight oats because it's so easy.

The other recipes come from the nutrition guide that's a part of the program, so all the recipes can be found in there. I can't reproduce the recipes here...sorry! It's against copy write laws so if you want them you'll just have to buy the program :) 

According to the calculations I'd technically fall in the Plan A or 1,200-1,499 calorie bracket, but I've tried that bracket before when I did the 21 Day Fix and it is not enough food for me...or most people really. If you're doing the workouts daily you NEED to fuel your body properly. Doing the lowest bracket for three weeks is ok to see some results fast, but your body will quickly feel like it's in starvation mode and you'll stop seeing results and likely feel like crap.

The next bracket up leaves me feeling full all of the time (some days I can't finish all the food!!) and its the right amount of food to still see results. It's also the amount of calories I try to stick to the rest of my life, so doing it during a program is a great way to teach yourself how to properly portion your meals for everyday life.

If you want to loose fat (and you will, trust me!) then it's ok to do that plan for a little while, but listen to your body, do it for no more than three weeks, and go up a bracket when you need to. It might be a good idea to try going lower at the end of the program for a few weeks to shed the last few pounds if needed instead of starting out in the lowest bracket and running the risk of feeling hungry and tired.

Now on to the plan!

This is what my week will look like:

(You can click the photo or CLICK HERE to get a PDF version you can download)

I will use the portion containers that come with the program to measure out all of the foods in advance when I do my meal prep on Sunday.

Here's a shopping list to make life easy on you:

(You can click on the photo or CLICK HERE to get a PDF version to download)

P.S. I realized too late that I mis-spelled 'dry' before the quinoa in the shopping list...sorry!

A trick I use to save money is to buy frozen berries and frozen spinach for the smoothies, not only is it cheaper, but it saves room in your fridge, stuff is less likely to go bad, and you don't need to add ice to your smoothie to make it cold.

I hope this makes your life a bit easier if you're already doing the challenge, and if you're not hopefully this will inspire you to give it a try! 

As soon as you buy the program you get access to the workouts and program guide online so you don't have to wait for it to show up in the mail, you can get started right away.

Warning though, I've started the workouts already and they aren't for beginners, so you may want to go with the 21 Day Fix if you're just getting back in to exercise, this meal plan can be used for that program as well.

If you need to go up in calories from this plan, simply add more of each of the designated foods to each meal (and don't forget to buy more food at the store too!)

If you have any questions or want some support around making healthy lifestyle changes then make me your coach and then please get in touch so we can talk about your goals!

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