As daylight hours grow longer and spring flowers make an appearance, there’s never a better time to step back, reassess, and make positive changes to improve your sleep hygiene, exercise routines, eating habits, and overall mindset.
Optimize Your Sleeping Space
While daylight saving time signals the welcome arrival of more natural light, it can have an unwanted effect on your sleep routine. To keep your sleep hygiene in top form, consider the following tips for updating your sleeping space:
- If the arrival of extra daylight is making it difficult to fall or stay asleep, consider installing blackout curtains in the bedroom. Quality sleep masks, particularly those with hook-and-loop fasteners or a solid band, will also block out light and improve your sleep.
- Give your room a deep spring cleaning to improve air quality and reduce the presence of allergens and dust particles. Launder all bedding as well as blankets, duvets, pillows, and mattress covers. Dust and wipe down all surfaces, sweep and vacuum the floor.
- For improved sleep, keep up with mattress maintenance. Flip and rotate your mattress every 6 months to keep it in good shape. On average, most mattresses should be replaced every 6 to 8 years. You can deep clean your mattress by sprinkling the top surface with baking soda, lightly rubbing it in, and letting it sit for an hour before vacuuming it up. Add 10 to 20 drops of your favourite essential oil to the baking soda to experience some at-home aromatherapy. We recommend calming scents like lavender, rose, or chamomile.
Rediscover Outdoor Physical Activity
There’s no better time than the spring to get outdoors, get moving, and soak up some vitamin D. If you’ve spent the past four months working out indoors, here are some ideas for getting started:
- Become reacquainted with walking! Studies have shown the benefits of regular brisk walking include long-term weight loss, better immune function, a reduction in cravings for sweets, and improved joint mobility. Whether you choose to walk with a friend or prefer listening to music or a podcast, walking is great exercise for all fitness levels.
- Need some motivation to get out of the house? Joining an outdoor fitness group, such as a cycling or jogging clinic, is a proactive way to benefit from support from peers.
- Whether your bike needs a spring tune-up, or you need a new pair of running shoes, if your gear is in good shape, you’ll be less likely to run into an injury and more likely to be consistent with exercise.
Organize and Restock the Kitchen
When your kitchen is clean and organized, preparing food from scratch becomes a simpler, more pleasurable experience. Try these easy-to-execute tips to get started:
- Working one cupboard at a time, remove all items and clean all surfaces with an all-purpose household cleaner. Discard any expired food or save items with good dates for donation. Clean small kitchen appliances that are actively being used, donate anything you haven’t used in the past year.
- Take inventory of what’s in your pantry, fridge, freezer, and cupboards. Rotate stock so that items that are closer to their best before date are in front. Being aware of kitchen inventory is a good reminder of what you already have and what you need when you go grocery shopping.
- Decant bulk and packaged items into clear plastic or glass containers. This will give you a better idea of the items you have in stock and protects the food from kitchen pests. Use recycled jars with lids, deli containers, or stackable food storage containers.
- Use a magnetic whiteboard or pad of paper to create an ongoing shopping list the whole family can update. If you run out of something, add it to the list for your next grocery shopping trick.
Make Time for Meaningful Connection
Lower your stress and anxiety levels by making meaningful connections with yourself, your loved ones, and the greater community with the following tools:
- Feeling disconnected? Try a WW meditation right in your app, which will help to reduce stress through mindfulness and breathing techniques. You’ll be surprised at the impact even 5 minutes can have on your mental health.
- Improve your mood and commit to a good cause by finding a volunteering opportunity you feel passionate about. People who volunteer are more likely to have a sense of connection with their community, have an overall greater sense of satisfaction with their lives, and rate their general health as better than those who don’t volunteer.
- Find connection with other individuals who are on a wellness and weight loss journey using the Connect feature of the WW app. From finding new workout buddies to having a safe place to vent, the Connect community offers inspiration, support, and a chance to chat about recipes and interests unrelated to weight loss.