5 Things You Need to Do Everyday.

1. Drink Plenty of Water: Everyone knows they are supposed to "drink plenty of water," but how much is enough? According to the Institute of Medicine, an adequate intake for a healthy adult male living in a temperate climate should consume 3 liters (about 13 cups) and females should consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups). Water is critical in ensuring that a wide variety of functions in the body perform properly such as lubricating your joints, helping the liver and kidney flush out toxins, cushioning vital organs, regulating body temperature, carrying nutrients and oxygen to cells, and many more. Make sure to carry a reusable water bottle around with you during the day and you'll be surprised how much more you'll drink just by having it with you.

2. Get Enough Sleep: The reasons why enough sleep is paramount to good health are endless. From brain function to physical and emotional health, it is crucial to get enough sleep each night to preform optimally each day. According to the National Institute of Health, the recommended amount of sleep for Newborns is 16-18 hours/day, Preschool-aged children is 11-12 hours/day, School-aged children is at least 10 hours/day, Teens is 9-10 hours/day, and Adults is 7-8 hours/day. Commit to creating a regular sleep schedule for yourself, and if you have trouble winding down at night, turn off electronics and media an hour before you plan to head to bed. Here are 16 Tips for Better Sleep. If this isn't enough, it would best to add some meditation in during this time. Here are some quick tips on how to start an easy mediation routine.

3. Eat Enough of the Right Things: We all know eating 3 healthy and balanced meals each day is easier said than done, and at times can feel like an unsurmountable task. You need to know that it's not, and it's much easier than you think. Here are just 2 things you'll need to make this an effortless part of everyday life. First, you'll need to know what your nutrient preferences are for a balanced daily diet, and you can get that info by checking out this easy chart. Second, you'll want to download the Loseit app to your smartphone and set up an account today. There are many tracking apps out there, and whether you're looking to lose weight or not, I suggest this one as I find it the most comprehensive, accessable, and easy to use. If you don't have a smartphone, you can always login on their website Loseit.com. From here, you'll be able to track the nutrients you eat each day, compare it to the nutrient preferences you need, and adjust accordingly. If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comment section.

4. Eat Real Food: There is nothing that disrupts the healthy functioning of your body more than artificial ingredients, stimulants (caffeine), depressants (alcohol), and medication entering your system. Avoiding this 100% of the time and eating all organic, real, whole food, is of course ideal, but not always realistic. Even with all of the planning and prepping you can do, sometimes life gets ahead of us and we are stuck making choices we'd prefer not to make. In those times here are 5 Ingredients to Unconditionally Avoid and 8 Tips to Get You Through the Supermarket. Remember to limit the amount of alcohol you consume, and don't rely on caffein for energy. Sleep, the right food, and exercise should be exactly what your body needs for the energy you need everyday.

5. Exercise: Last but certainly not least, you need to exercise. From stress reduction to heart health, exercise is an undeniably important component in your everyday life. Whether it's an intense workout, or just figuring out how to add more movement to your day, it needs to be done, and you don't need to go to the gym to do it. Here are some previous posts that can help make sure exercise happens everyday: 5 Full Body Exercises You Can Do Anywhere, 6 Ways to Jump Rope, 6 Ab Exercises You Can Do Anywhere, and 40 Ideas for Outdoor Exercise. Everyone has an ideal exercise time that is unique to them, check out the post Find Your Peak Exercise Time to determine yours.

Supermarket Survival - 8 Tips to Get You Through.

8 ways to ensure your trip to the supermarket helps you reach your goals 
instead of sabotages them.

1. Always make a list - Go with a purpose, plan you meals, lunches, and snacks and only grab what you need. This will help eliminate unnecessary impulse purchases of food that you don't need and are probably better without.

2. Always shop on a full stomach - Avoid being influenced by hunger and make sure to go to the food store on a full stomach so you can focus on buying the ingredients you need for the week, not the food you want at the moment.

3. Always read the ingredient label - What matters is what you're actually eating, not what the manufacturer is selling you. The only part of the packaging that should interest you is the information in the nutrition label. Read the ingredient list, the shorter the ingredient list the better, avoid foods with ingredients you are unfamiliar with or aren't food at all and always make sure you have this list in mind: 5 Ingredients You Should Unconditionally Avoid.

4. Always read the nutrition information - Pay attention to sodium, cholesterol, and sugar as things that should be as close to "0"as possible. Make sure to avoid trans fat in everything you eat and look for a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For those amounts click here.

5. Pay attention to serving size - Manufacturers often slice the serving size of a package you would normally consider to have just one serving to make it appear as though there are less calories, fat, etc. in it than there actually is. So make sure to do the math, chances are if that is the case, it's probably better to leave it on the shelf anyway.

6. Shop the perimeter - The healthier, "real" food that you want to buy is always located along the outside perimeter of the store. Focusing on these items, not the pre-packaged, manufactured, processed foods located in the isles, will help you reach your goal.

7. Only buy things that are "real" - Make a commitment to never purchase anything with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, in it. Some ingredients to never purchase: high fructose corn syrup, Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Acesulfame-K, neotame, Sorbitol, shortening, hydrogenated and/or partially hydrogenated oils, MSG, or "enriched" anything.

8. Know what "organic" means and switch to organic whenever possible if you haven't already. Your body knows the difference, even if you don't. - For fruits and vegetables to be USDA Certified Organic they must be grown without any of the following: genetically modified seeds, fertilizers made from chemicals or sewage sludge (yes, companies do that), chemical pesticides or herbicides, and irradiation. For meat, this certification means the animals were only fed organically certified food and no by-products of other animals (yes, farmers do that also), they were never given growth hormones or antibiotics and they must be allowed access to the outdoors and treated humanely.