Why You Should Take a Holistic Approach to Health
As we learn more about the connections between the mind and body, it is clear that achieving a healthy lifestyle can’t be accomplished with workouts and healthy diet alone. Health is about achieving balance between your mind, body, and nutrition, and all three areas are closely linked. Working out has incredible benefits for your mental health, practicing good mental health hygiene will give you more energy to dedicate to your fitness goals, and, of course, the food you eat fuels your body, impacts your moods, and so much more.
In order to be fit for the future, it’s key to focus on finding the right balance between your mind, body, and nutrition.
Mind
Around 1 in 7 people globally suffer from one or more mental health or substance abuse disorders. While there are a number of ways that our society needs to address this problem as a whole, it’s important that as individuals we have some tools and knowledge about how to keep our minds as healthy as we can.
Practicing good mental hygiene is a start. Similarly to how brushing your teeth, showering frequently, and washing your hair are good daily habits you can use to maintain your physical hygiene, there are several habits you can implement in your daily life to help maintain healthy mental hygiene. Here are a few of the things recommended by the Mental Health Foundation (full article here).
- Talk about your feelings
- Keep active (exercise regularly)
- Eat well
- Keep in touch with friends and family
- Ask for help when you need it
- Take a break and find time to de-stress
Start by implementing just one new habit at a time. You could schedule a weekly phone call with family or friends, or find a block of time in the week when you always do an activity you love. Many people find it useful to journal and check in with their mental health and goals on a regular basis. Choose something you’d like to work on and start building a new, healthy habit.
Body
Exercise has benefits for your body that extend far beyond what you see on any scale. Of course, the physical shape of your body will evolve, but it’s the changes happening on the inside that are equally (if not more) important. Exercise helps strengthen your bones and your heart muscles, reduce cholesterol, reduce blood sugar, increase your metabolism, and has a myriad of impressive health benefits. Exercise is even able to help your body slow the process of aging.
If that’s not compelling enough, it’s also clear that giving your body the attention it needs through regular, sustained exercise has significant benefits for your mental health like elevating your mood, improving the quality of your sleep, and helping to keep mental disorders like anxiety and depression at bay.
Nutrition
Following a nutritious diet is a critical component of your physical and mental wellbeing. The quantity and quality of the calories you eat become the molecules that build and change your body—including your brain. And, as you know, there are healthy calories and there are not so healthy calories. And eating healthy calories has innumerable benefits for your mind and body including helping you to ward off diseases and boost your mood.
So why do so many people struggle to meet their nutritional goals? One reason is that there are so many fad diets, expert opinions, and anecdotal evidence about how and what you should eat. It can seem really daunting to keep up with all the information. In reality, following a nutritious diet can actually be quite simple if you follow just a couple of guidelines:
- Eat when you’re hungry, and when you’re full, stop
- Eat lots of whole plants like fruits, vegetables, farro, brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains more than you eat other food groups
- Avoid eating too many processed foods
- Eat as many calories as you burn—whatever that means for you
- Drink enough water
Try not to overthink it. When it comes to nutrition, you probably already have a lot of the information you need to get started. If you want to dig deeper into dietary recommendations, check out these guidelines from the Harvard School of Public Health.
The key to nutrition is consistency. Again, you need to build good habits. Over the next six weeks, get some support during Revive & Thrive.
Revive & Thrive
After a year like 2020, it’s highly likely that you might want to set the reset button and refocus on finding balance between your body, mind, and nutrition. Over the next six weeks (from Dec 1 – Jan 10), we’ve lined up motivating challenges, workouts, expert advice, recipes, and a ton of content to help you get back on track and recalibrate your holistic health. Here’s what’s coming up.
How We’ll Help You Revive in December
In December you can expect:
- A fresh challenge in the adidas Training app to help you stay motivated and make fitness a priority.
- Content to support you with your goals around mind, body, and nutrition shared with you every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday in the adidas Training app.
- Live Instagram Q&As sessions with experts in mindfulness, fitness, and nutrition who will share their expertise (scheduled dates below—exact times to be announced on our social channels)!
- Mind: December 4th
- Body: December 11th
- Nutrition: December 18th
- Daily habit tools to help you plan and reflect on your holistic wellbeing
- New guided and featured workouts to help you relax, revive, and get back on track.
- A virtual race on December 31 to help you end the year strong (and start the new year with a flood of feel-good endorphins)!
- Lots of tips and motivation to keep you on track
How We’ll Help You Thrive in January
In January you can expect:
- New challenges in the adidas Running and adidas Training apps to help you kick off the new year.
- Tips and tools to set up and track your new, holistically healthy habits
- Recipes and clean eating advice to help you plan meals in advance and set yourself up for nutritional success
How to participate
To participate in the six weeks of Revive & Thrive, you’ll need to join the challenges. Start by joining the December challenge in the adidas Training app (if you don’t have it, download it here). You’ll also need to tune into our social media channels where you’ll get live Q&As with experts, links to helpful tools, and more. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.
***
