How to Look After Your Health
SLEEP, SLEEP, SLEEP
It’s tempting to watch one more Neflix episode, but you really need eight hours’ sleep to preserve your immune system. Sleep helps your body and skin; it improves your attention and concentration span; and can help you maintain a healthy weight. Give sleep the time it deserves and you’ll keep your heart healthy, reduce stress levels and your emotional wellbeing will start to look after itself.
LOOK AFTER YOUR GUT
Take a probiotic every morning. Men need to look after their gut and probiotics have beneficial effects, including extending lifespans and fighting diseases. Your gut absorbs a lot of the pressure you feel on a daily basis – for example, it has to handle lunch and dinner times that constantly change because of busy schedules. A daily probiotic, which replenishes the gut with beneficial bacteria, will keep the gut in the best possible shape to deal with whatever you throw at it. Specifically, science has shown these bacteria can support digestion, reduce the risk of an upset stomach and decrease bloating, as well as being good for constipation.
TAKE A SUPPLEMENT IN WINTER
Invest in a men’s immunity support supplement especially in winter to ensure you get daily vitamin D and a full spectrum of vitamins, nutrients and botanicals. Anatomē’s Men’s Daily Essentials includes zinc, selenium and a vitamin B complex to help with this.
DO YOUR MORNING EXERCISES
Exercise in some way, shape or form each and every morning. Running, yoga, weights, tennis – mix it up as much as you can but most of all make sure you do it. Exercising before work is a good way of emptying the mind and setting yourself up for the day. Morning exercise may also initiate gene programs in muscle cells, making them better able to metabolise sugar and fat. Of course, it also means you’ve got your exercise out of the way early and can focus on everything else.
EAT BREAKFAST
Always. Muesli (with lots of nuts and seeds added), fresh fruit, live yoghurt and maybe some protein will set you up for the day and deliver a glow from the inside to the outside. A good breakfast will stop you from snacking through the day. It will also increase your glucose levels, as well as delivering essential nutrients and potentially helping with that all-important gut health.
CONTROL THE CAFFEINE
One or two coffees in the morning is great but don’t have more than that. Need to keep your mind and body engaged? Anatomē doesa Focus + Concentration Oil is loaded with benefits and has a routine to go with: apply few drops to each wrist, stand up tall and inhale the fragrance, then apply it to the neck and temples. To open up the chest and body completely, take three breaths and stretch your arms outward and back in a star formation. This helps support posture and neurological responses, and generally engage the body.
EAT WELL AT LUNCH
Prepare a balanced high-protein lunch. Salmon, eggs and greens will give you enough energy for the afternoon. Avocado, chicken, soups with beans and mixed salads with pulses are other good options. You can even try a protein shake once or twice a week. It’s hard working from home, so eating well is key – and you have the extra time to plan.
TREAT YOURSELF
Reward yourself each evening with an indulgence. If you know you are going to reward yourself, you’ll be much less likely to reach for that extra pastry or cake during the meeting. Go for a pure dark chocolate or a glass of wine, but keep it balanced through the week. A wine vacuum pump and stoppers are useful tool to discourage you from finishing the bottle every time you open one. Try to drink only three or four nights a week.
HAVE A BATH
If you’re brave enough, swimming outside is great. If not, nothing beats an occasional bath. Take your cue from the Japanese, who all know that regular bathing is great for the mind – studies there have shown baths are better than showers for reducing stress, tension, anxiety, anger and hostility. Meanwhile, a recent study from Germany showed that half an hour in a 40ºC bath is a wonderful mood booster, and that regular baths can be more effective against depression than aerobic exercise. Use the right bath salts and you will also hydrate the skin, while relaxing and stabilising the muscles.
VARY YOUR DINNERS
Balance and variation are the keys to dinner – and eating seasonally. If you shop in advance, meals will be easier to plan. Or for good fresh food, there are lots of delivery boxes that can help – Abel & Cole and Riverford Organics, for example. Avoid ready meals because you can’t control the salt content or the preservatives they use. You might also find cooking is relaxing.
PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN…
Go phoneless. Put it in another room after 8pm each evening. It will force you to switch off and keep the outside world outside your home. If you really need your phone, at least try this once or twice a week. You will feel so much better for it.
…BUT PICK IT UP OCCASIONALLY
Call one great friend a week. It’s important to talk, and we can forget to do that in the maelstrom of WhatsApp and Instagram. Now more than ever it’s so important to check in with friends..
Anatomē has just opened its first store at 16 Chiltern Street in Marylebone. To find out more about the brand, you can also visit Anatome.co
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