HEALTHY HABITS: 10 Daily Habits That Changed My Life (as an MD) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00habits are such an important factor when it comes  to how you live your life and here I'm talking
2. 0:06about both good habits and not so good habits we  all have various habits whether we realize it or
3. 0:12not but if you have started to realize that your  habits could use a bit of a makeover then I think
4. 0:18you're going to enjoy this video I'm going to be  telling you about 10 different habits that I have
5. 0:23personally adopted in recent years and each one  has made a huge positive impact on my life now if
6. 0:30you've watched me here on YouTube before then  welcome back but if you are new to my channel
7. 0:35then welcome I'm Kim Foster and I'm an MD turned  coach and wellness expert and on this channel I
8. 0:42talk about wellness and business and designing  a beautiful life for yourself so if those things
9. 0:47resonate with you then I am so glad that you  found me here now with these 10 habits of mine
10. 0:53that I am going to describe I'm not saying that  you need to adopt these habits I firmly believe
11. 0:59that everyone is individual and what works for one  person just doesn't necessarily work for another
12. 1:04person so I am not prescribing these habits I'm  simply sharing with you some of the changes that
13. 1:10I have made in my life to improve my own health  and happiness and you know if there's something
14. 1:15in there that inspires you and you would like  to try then that's wonderful also this is not
15. 1:22a comprehensive list of all the things that I do  on a daily basis I've just kind of pulled out 10
16. 1:27somewhat random things that are a part of my life  and my routines and they are also in no particular
17. 1:33order so without further Ado let's get started  the first habit that I want to share with you is
18. 1:40journaling every day so I started journaling on  a daily basis several years ago and it has made
19. 1:46such a huge difference to my life this is where I  get to examine my thoughts and feelings and really
20. 1:51be intentional about my choices it's definitely  the best way that I have found of managing my
21. 1:57mind because what I've learned is that add all of  those thoughts and feelings they were already in
22. 2:03there but until I started journaling and writing  them down they were unexamined and unexamined
23. 2:09thoughts and feelings will just influence your  daily actions and decisions unconsciously until
24. 2:14you become aware of them so my journal is where  I work everything out and it's really the best
25. 2:20part of my day okay so the second habit is  an early bedtime and an early wake-up time
26. 2:26so I assumed when I was younger that I was not  a morning person because that's what my parents
27. 2:31always told me but I now realize that I was just  being a teenager with a later body clock totally
28. 2:37normal so as an adult though you know I began  to realize the benefits of waking up early and
29. 2:43there are a lot of them for me but waking up early  means going to bed early and protecting my sleep
30. 2:48is Paramount so I go to bed at 10 pm and wake up  at 6am and that's seven days a week whether it's
31. 2:54Tuesday or Sunday my body and mind are just so  used to this now it feels Perfectly Natural and
32. 2:59and I know that my system thrives on this all  right so to help me with that early bedtime I have
33. 3:06a simple evening routine that I follow and this  is habit number three now my routine does change
34. 3:11a little depending on the season but right now I  usually have a cup of tea I step away from screens
35. 3:18I listen to relaxing music and right now because  it's winter I make a hot water bottle which I tuck
36. 3:24into the sheets at the foot of my bed now I know  that this sounds a little Grandma maybe but while
37. 3:29it's warming the foot of my bed that is when I  go into my skincare routine which I think I'll
38. 3:35make a separate video about that but when I slip  into bed my toes are nice and toasty and I don't
39. 3:41care how old-fashioned it is to use a hot water  bottle I'm obsessed so anyway once I'm in my bed
40. 3:48my bedtime routine ends with a bit of time reading  a good book and then it's lights out all right so
41. 3:55let's move on to Habit number four okay so I know  that I'm going to lose a lot of you with this one
42. 4:00and I am not saying that this is something that  everyone needs to do but I'm just telling you
43. 4:06what I do that has made a big difference to my  well-being and it's switching to decaf coffee I
44. 4:13am now completely decaffeinated and the reason is  because of migraines so I suffered from migraines
45. 4:19for a long time and I was getting a lot of them  like weekly and sometimes more than one a week it
46. 4:25was really bad I have made a ton of changes to my  lifestyle over the years to try to get this under
47. 4:30control and a lot of things have helped but  the biggest Difference Maker was cutting out
48. 4:36caffeine entirely now I resisted this for a long  time because I love my coffee and I have been a
49. 4:42regular coffee drinker since my first year at  University basically when I need to just stay
50. 4:47awake through my 8 A.M physics class so I avoided  making this change because well I just didn't want
51. 4:53to but then I decided that I needed to try it and  see so I ease myself in with half calf for a few
52. 5:00months and then gradually reduced that too and now  I am completely decaffeinated so with decaf coffee
53. 5:06I still get to enjoy the taste and the warmth and  the smell of coffee in the morning but without
54. 5:12the dependence on caffeine and it has meant that I  rarely get migraines now I can't say that I never
55. 5:18get migraines because they do happen occasionally  usually with hormone shifts but it's so much
56. 5:24better than it ever was another benefit is that  when we travel I'm not in a desperate state to get
57. 5:30my coffee first thing in the morning it used to be  that if I didn't get a coffee early I would start
58. 5:36to develop a headache and I just really hated that  dependence obviously now I'm completely free of
59. 5:42that all right habit number five is to plan out  the week week of dinners ahead of time so I have
60. 5:49two kids and many years ago I noticed that a big  source of daily stress for me was the dinner time
61. 5:55what should we have for dinner drama it was always  a scramble and had me or my husband trying to
62. 6:01figure something out and if we were too tired or  busy or couldn't come up with anything good that
63. 6:07is when we were likely to just order something  or make bad choices so I started planning out
64. 6:13what we would have each evening a week ahead and  it changed my life so I have a chalkboard in my
65. 6:19kitchen where every Saturday I just write  out the menu for the week ahead of dinners
66. 6:24and that's where my boys know to look if they are  wondering what we're having and honestly because I
67. 6:31have been doing this since they were quite little  they don't even question it and they question me
68. 6:37on everything else I live in a family of people  who like to be in charge and there are a lot of
69. 6:43strong opinions it's definitely not without its  challenges but this one thing they totally accept
70. 6:48they might kind of grumble a little bit if they  see something on there that they are just not sure
71. 6:54that they're going to like but they don't really  challenge me on it which is kind of interesting
72. 6:58but for me it's great to see the week of dinners  I can make sure that I am striking a good balance
73. 7:04and variety and making sure that we're eating  enough fish for example and have a meatless meal
74. 7:09or two in there and when I order my weekly staple  Groceries on the weekend I know exactly what I
75. 7:15need to get okay number six for me is running  Outdoors every day so most days I go for a run
76. 7:22outside and this is possible because I live on  the west coast of British Columbia on Vancouver
77. 7:27Island and it's pretty mild here all year round  we don't really get snow here maybe just a few
78. 7:32days or a week around Christmas or in January so  the weather just doesn't hold me back at all so I
79. 7:39go for a run by the Pacific Ocean year round and  it's a daily habit for me on the occasions when
80. 7:44I don't run let's say but I'm feeling sort of I  did a heavy workout the day before or if I'm just
81. 7:49giving myself a little break I go for a nice long  walk now I haven't always been a runner though in
82. 7:55fact I used to have a story that I would only  run if I was being chased which I thought was
83. 8:00hilarious but then I then I kind of had a change  of heart and I decided that I wanted to try
84. 8:06running and so I got started using the couch to 5K  program which is just the best thing the easiest
85. 8:12way to gradually become a runner and then I really  started to enjoy it however even then with kids it
86. 8:19became kind of tough to find the right time to do  it on a regular basis so it didn't really become a
87. 8:25daily habit for me until I started pairing it with  another daily routine which was walking my kids to
88. 8:31school because I was already putting on shoes  and going outside to walk my kids to school I
89. 8:35decided to just try getting dressed in my running  gear and running shoes and just walking them to
90. 8:41school like that and then instead of just walking  straight home I would run home from their school
91. 8:46and just kind of take a longer scenic route home  so it became a total no-brainer just an automatic
92. 8:52thing it's just as easy to get dressed in running  gear as any other set of clothes that I might put
93. 8:57on for the walk to school and once I was in  my running gear and once I had dropped off my
94. 9:02kid because there was no reason not to just start  running at that point that's when I became really
95. 9:08hooked and now even though my boys are old enough  that they walk to school by themselves and you
96. 9:13know with their friends I still start my day with  a run it's so beneficial not just for my fitness
97. 9:19level but also for my mind and it feels amazing  to breathe fresh air in the morning and I know
98. 9:25also that getting a healthy source of daylight  early in the day is just great for my circadian
99. 9:30clog which helps to regulate all of my systems  okay so moving on to Habit number seven which is
100. 9:36intermittent fasting so I have made a number of  other videos about intermittent fasting which I
101. 9:41will go ahead and Link in the description box so  I'm not going to go into a ton of detail here but
102. 9:46I had to include this on my list of healthy habits  because this one has been huge for me so I was
103. 9:53super skeptical about intermittent fasting when I  first heard about it and it certainly went against
104. 9:58the conventional medical Viewpoint at the time  all the stuff that I had been trained in but I'm
105. 10:04so glad that I decided to do my own research and  reading about it and then gave it a try because
106. 10:09it has been a game changer so I follow a 16 8  eating pattern now which means that I only eat
107. 10:15between the hours of 12 noon and 8 PM the rest of  the time I'm in a fasting window which of course
108. 10:21is mostly when I'm sleeping but also importantly  during the morning I'm fasting then too now I used
109. 10:28to be a big time breakfast person and I thought I  couldn't possibly get by without breakfast but now
110. 10:34all I consume in the morning is my black coffee  decaf as I mentioned and black or green or herbal
111. 10:40tea and lots of water and then all my meals happen  in that eight hour window after noon intermittent
112. 10:47fasting has helped me control my weight given  me more energy and focus than ever before it's
113. 10:52improved my digestive system improved my skin  and I know that it is also helping me to Stave
114. 10:58off chronic disease and serious illness again for  more detail on how it does all of that check out
115. 11:04the other videos that I will link here if you're  curious okay so since we are on the topic of
116. 11:08mornings that's another healthy habit that is  such an important part of my life my morning
117. 11:14routine so just like my evening routine I change  my morning routine around a little depending on
118. 11:20the season and some other factors but currently  my morning routine involves a glass of water my
119. 11:26coffee music a candle a short meditation and my  journal then after I've taken care of myself and
120. 11:33centered myself then I'm ready to start getting my  family organized for the day ahead with breakfast
121. 11:38for my kids and getting everyone off to school  and then I get my workout in starting with my
122. 11:44daily run outside that I just talked about a key  part of my morning routine is that I do my best
123. 11:50to avoid looking at email or other notifications  first thing this one is a tough one for me as I
124. 11:56think it is for most of us but I know that when I  resist the urge to pick up my phone and just focus
125. 12:02on my own self-care and then my family that sets  the right tone for the day all those notifications
126. 12:08and needs from other people they can wait I know  that they will be there when I'm ready for them
127. 12:14okay habit number nine is my pamper day so once  a week on the weekend I do a bit of pampering now
128. 12:21this isn't an entire day of pampering let's get  real but we're talking about an hour or so of some
129. 12:27deep self-care and luxury so I have a bathing  ritual that includes dry brushing before I get
130. 12:32in the tub I put on some soothing music and light  some candles I add Epsom salts and essential oils
131. 12:39to the water usually lavender which is my favorite  and then I put on a face mask and bring a book
132. 12:45into the tub with me so I always have a glass of  cool water with me on my little bath bridge I have
133. 12:51one of those old-fashioned clawfoot tubs and a  really cute wooden bath bridge and occasionally if
134. 12:58it's a special occasion I have a glass of wine in  the tub for just extra celebration or relaxation
135. 13:03or whatever but that's kind of a rare treat okay  so my final healthy habit is maybe more of a
136. 13:08productivity one but it's something that really  helps keep me on track and live an intentional
137. 13:13life and it's writing out my plan for the day the  night before I suppose this is technically part
138. 13:19of my evening routine but sometimes I actually do  this earlier in the day like once I stop working
139. 13:25for the day and before I start making dinner and  moving into those evening routines so I look at my
140. 13:31calendar for the next day and my also my project  management system and I write out by hand a list
141. 13:37of the things that are going to need to get done  the next day I have appointments at certain times
142. 13:41I make notes about that and then I create lists  of both personal and professional things that I
143. 13:47intended to do and I also go one step further to  prioritize those lists this is a huge addition
144. 13:52that I made to my system a few years ago because  when faced with a list of things to do I would
145. 13:58sometimes experience that indecision or overwhelm  about what to start with so when I have a list
146. 14:04I always ask myself if I only have time to do  one of these things tomorrow which is the most
147. 14:10important one to get done and then I put like  a little number one beside that thing and then
148. 14:15I ask myself okay so let's say that I got that  one thing done and I have time for the next thing
149. 14:21which one should it be and then that item gets  a number two and then I just keep going until I
150. 14:28have a priority number beside each item and then  the next day I don't really have to think about
151. 14:32it I just look for number one do that thing and  then keep moving I get so much more accomplished
152. 14:39in a day because of it and without a lot of drama  or indecision or fatigue all right that brings us
153. 14:45to the end of my 10 healthy habits I hope that  it was helpful to hear more details about the
154. 14:50habits that I have adopted to live a healthier  life and I hope that I have given you some ideas
155. 14:56to get your juices flowing about the habits that  you might like to adopt and bring into your life
156. 15:02I also want to mention that if intermittent  fasting is something that you are curious
157. 15:06about and you would like to learn a little more  about it than I did put together a checklist
158. 15:11of my top 10 intermittent fasting tips you can  download that PDF for free by just clicking on
159. 15:17the link in the description box all right so now  it is your turn I would love to hear about your
160. 15:23Healthy Habits drop them in the comments below  this video just let me know about one thing that
161. 15:27you do as a regular habit maybe even a daily habit  that helps you to live a healthier happier life
162. 15:33that way the comments can actually be a source of  even more ideas for people okay that's a wrap for
163. 15:39this video take care have a wonderful day and  I will see you again very soon foreign [Music]