Created in collaboration with Neat Nutrition.

When it comes to goal setting, whether you’re looking to go on a health kick, improve productivity, or build in some stress busting habits, it helps to take a holistic approach. In addition to implementing strategies, you’re more likely to achieve your goals by turning your attention to your diet and how supplements can help support you. Here, we look at some of the most common lifestyle goals and the strategies and supplements that can help you to achieve them.

Improve health

There are two foundational principles when it comes to health: diet and exercise. To implement a long-term healthy lifestyle, the key things to remember is everything in moderation, outlining a routine, and being kind to yourself.

By outlining a workout routine, you’re more likely to stick to it. However, we know that daily stresses can impact this, so if you miss a day or training session, acknowledge it, perhaps adapt the schedule if necessary- particularly if it may be a reoccurring issue and try your best to follow the next one.

As for diet, there is no point restricting yourself completely as numerous studies show that you’re actually more likely to put the weight back on, or more weight than you lost. Yo-yo dieting can also lead to heart disease and other health complications. It’s always best to think long-term when it comes to diet.

Additionally, it’s really important that you don’t punish yourself if you miss a workout session or have something off the dessert menu. In fact, allowing yourself a treat as and when you crave it is the healthiest thing you can do. Adding a supplement to help support your body function can also help ease some of that guilt, ensuring your body is always getting what it needs when it needs it.

Using supplements to achieve this goal:

Adding a protein supplement to your diet will be extremely beneficial when you start on the path to a healthy lifestyle as protein aids with muscle recovery and the development of lean muscle. There is a misconception that protein will actually bulk you up, but really, protein can be an effective mechanism to help you lose weight. The key thing to remember, always, is the muscle ways more than fat so those scales will be a little untrustworthy. Neat Nutrition’s Plant-Based Vegan Protein is packed full of essential amnio acids and is suitable for all diets, including those who suffer food intolerance’s as there is no gluten or soy products.

In addition to a protein supplement, it would be worth considering a supplement that can help bolster immune function. Your immune system is your first line of defence and when starting on your new regime, this can be initial stress to the body. An immune support supplement can help to defend against cold, flu and infection and manage inflammation. The Immune Support from Neat Nutrition contains Elderberry- for antiviral, anti-inflammatory functions, Vitamin D3, which helps to strengthen bones and muscles, Vitamin C to help neutralise free radicals- which increase when you start a new regime, and Lactobacillus Acidophilus (a probiotic) to help balance and promote healthy bacteria in the gut, giving your body everything it needs at all times.  

Improve sleep quality, reduce stress levels

Sleep an essential component to good health. But hectic schedules and high stress can really impact the quality of sleep you get. Additionally, you may find it difficult to even wind down and switch off at the end of a busy day. If you feel like this is you, implementing a couple of these strategies into your routine, can really help you to relax, rest and get better quality sleep. After all, you’ll feel like you can take on anything the day after a good night’s sleep!

  • Wind down time: Be sure to give yourself some wind down time before you want to get to sleep. Re-focus your brain by tackling a puzzle or reading a book; avoid watching TV at least an hour before bed as this can be too stimulating, making it more difficult to fall asleep when you want to. If you want to use your phone, adjust the light settings to night mode so that the lighting is less likely to impact your ability to drift off when you’re ready- avoid taking on tasks, shopping, or general browsing which can be too distracting.
  • Stimulate the senses: Try a relaxation tape or aromatherapy scents to help you feel calmer and more peaceful.
  • Room temperature: The optimum temperature in the bedroom for sleep is 15-19 Celsius. Of course, it’s quite difficult to achieve in a heatwave, but changing your duvet weight with the seasons- or opting for a sheet only, as well as finding ways to circulate the air can be really helpful. Creating the right temperature can help draw you into and keep you asleep.
  • Banish the light: As you want to settle, preparing for sleep, it can help to use low light lamps or dimmers to gradually decrease the amount of light, which in turn will help you to feel more sleepy. It can also be very helpful to install blackout blinds and curtains if you do struggle as even the slightest bit of light, from another room or streetlamp can affect your ability to drift off.

For a little helping hand, try Neat Nutrition’s Sleep + Relax supplement. It’s a plant-based supplement that uses Ashwagandha and Chamomile blended with a natural serotonin to aide your mind and muscles to relax at the end of the day. Being a natural supplement, you’ll not wake groggy, instead you’ll feel more refreshed. 

Improve productivity and energy levels

The dreaded brain fog!

Are you finding you’re having to rely on coffee to make it through the day, or feel that you just have a constant fog hanging over you? You wouldn’t be alone. We each go through periods where we get this feeling, it could be following an illness, but increasingly, it is down to lifestyle too; namely, stress, diet, and sleep. Here are some things you can do to help alleviate your dependence on caffeine and sugar to make it through the day and improve brain function:

  • Consume more brain foods: Oily fish, nuts & seeds, berries, unsaturated fats- such as olive oil and avocados, eggs, and green veg such as broccoli, spinach and kale are all good foods that help support brain function.
  • Stimulate the brain: With tons of series and movies available at the touch of a button and with the ability to access a ton of information so easily; most of us spend the nights watching endless TV and scrolling through nonsense on our phone. This isn’t particularly helpful to the brain, where no engagement is required. Instead, turning to puzzles and games, where you need to think, process and action can help with alleviating brain fog.
  • Reduce the stimulants: Cut down your alcohol, caffeine and sugar consumption as well as reducing your intake of processed foods. We have a tendency to turn to these when we’re stressed and busy but actually, they contribute to impaired function.

Rhodiola Rosea- which helps to regulate Cortisol (the stress hormone), Cordyceps Sinensis- which helps to reduce inflammation and stimulate neurotransmitters, Ginsing- which improves blood flow, as well as Vitamin B12 & B6 are all found in Neat’s Focus + Energy supplement. They work together to improve cognitive function, reduce biological stress, and combat fatigue. Helping you to have a clear and focused mind and energised body. There isn’t anything you can’t tackle!

You may also like...