Good Health Is Good for Business

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a career professional, your ability to be productive, profitable, and successful depends on your health. If you’re like a lot of us, we work so hard on our business or career, we become so focused on business that we let our health and fitness slide.

Too many skipped lunches, too many late nights working, too many glasses of wine to wind down all take a toll on our health, and, in turn, negatively affect the amount of success and satisfaction we feel from all our hard work. Here are 3 daily habits we want to incorporate into our routines to ensure that we put the right focus on our well-being.

Nutrition, hydration, and exercise may be affected by your medical condition or the medications you take. Always talk to your health care provider before changing your daily habits.

Include fresh, local, seasonal foods in your diet for increased vitality and energy

That bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast may taste good, but it’s not good for you. Any energy boost you feel when you put the spoon down will be soon gone, and you may feel even more tired than you felt before eating.

Fresh, seasonal foods, usually found at farmers’ markets, are the best bet for maintaining vitality since food loses nutrients the farther it travels from its origin. Supermarkets are convenient, but that convenience costs us since fruits and vegetables are often shipped in from other countries that may be several thousand miles away. These crops are harvested early and refrigerated to avoid spoilage during transport, so they can lose valuable nutrients and flavor. There is a huge difference in the nutritional benefits and taste of an apple picked yesterday and one that was picked a week or more ago.

Fresh, seasonal foods are loaded with vitamins and nutrients that can boost energy. Mix high-fiber complex carbohydrates with protein and healthy fat for a well-rounded meal, especially in the morning when your energy is at its lowest. They create satiety by satisfying your taste buds and adding variety to your diet.

From juicy blackberries to crisp carrots, they fill your body’s and your brain’s needs for nourishment with nutrients that boost your energy and your mood. Fresh, seasonal foods often are associated with pleasant, uplifting memories. Whether it’s the first strawberries of the season or home-baked apple pie at Thanksgiving, seasonal foods rekindle happy times with friends and family. The combination of good nutrition and a positive mood gives you the energy your brain and body need to maximize productivity and creativity.

Stay hydrated throughout the day

Want to lose weight? Drink more water. Want more energy? Drink more water. Feeling tired, irritable, and ready to scream? Drink more water. Concentration and focus flagging? Drink more water.

Water is the miracle drug and needs to be everyone’s drug of choice. Every tissue and organ in your body relies on water for maximum performance. The kidneys need water to function and remove waste products. Water lubricates your muscles and joints and helps maintain optimal functioning. Your brain also requires proper hydration to do its job.

The body loses water every day through breathing, sweating, and urination. The water content in the foods you eat and the beverages you drink combine to hydrate your body, but this often isn’t enough — especially if the food is processed, or the drinks are sugary sodas.

When your body loses more water than is replaced, you become overheat and dehydrated. Your heart works harder to keep up blood flow, and you may experience dizziness, fatigue, mental fogginess, impaired short-term memory, and more. If not remedied, you might faint or become disoriented. Severe dehydration is a serious medical condition.

Good health contributes to peak productivity, work-life satisfaction, and sustainable success

On an airline, you are instructed to put on your oxygen mask before assisting others. Think of these three daily habits as an oxygen mask for your business or career. Without proper nutrition, sufficient hydration, and regular activity your brain and body will not work optimally, nor will your business/career.

All it takes is one small change each day in what you eat and drink, and how you move. Eventually, all these small changes lead to major improvements that will benefit your health and your business/career.