Our decisions around our health are influenced by our environment. Things that we are surrounded by can act as a positive influence and drive us towards decisions that make us more balanced in body, spirit or soul or they can lead us to make decisions and take actions that are more detrimental to our health.

The good news is that we are in control of much of our environment and therefore can use it to help us on our health journey.

Here are 5 easy ideas for enhancing your environment and therefore your health!

1. Put a bottle or jug of water in the fridge, this will make reaching for another glass of water in the warmer weather more appealing. You can also invest in a metal water bottle which can keep drinks cool for up to 24 hours and make you more likely to drink throughout the day. Much nicer than the taste of lukewarm water tinged with plastic!
2. Invest in some comfortable exercise clothing that you actually like! Forget those crumpled t-shirts and baggy leggings. Wear something that you enjoy wearing, that makes you feel good and then that’s another barrier to exercise removed!
3. Whenever you chop, chop some more! Chopping veg can be quite a faff, so if you’re doing it anyway then why not chop an extra portion or some to snack on later? You’ll end up eating more vitamins and minerals than you would have done otherwise.
4. Put a good book or your craft project on display so that it’s your first thought when you have some ‘down’ time rather than scrolling on your phone or watching more tv than you would like.
5. Change what you ‘do next’. What is your trigger moment? What leads you to undertake unhealthy habits or actions? Is it as soon as you’re finished work? Is it as soon as the kids are in bed? Is it when you walk into the kitchen in the evening? How can you alter your pattern so that you do something else instead? Can you go to the gym straight from work? Can you walk into the bedroom and sort clothes out. Can you shut the kitchen door and go for a walk? Changing what you ‘do next’ can be really beneficial and before long it will become a new habit leading to healthier and more beneficial actions.

We would love to hear how you alter your environment to create a healthier lifestyle, do share your ideas!

Changing our environment is just one of the ways to make changes to our eating and exercise behaviours. It may be that you also need to look at any areas of self-sabotage or Emotional Eating. You can learn more about these in our online courses here.