I am in a continuous search for immunity habits for a healthy and relaxed life.
As a software developer, I spend a significant part of my time on my laptop, on a chair. And this says a lot – there are a lot of long-term risks that come: from diseases of the locomotor system to vision problems, digestion, obesity or cardiovascular diseases.
Our body is not adapted to a sedentary life, and the specifics of daily activities point us in that direction.
We put a considerable workload on our bodies while we just sit and eat our whole life. And except working out, I think we have some simple solutions just to make the body’s mission easier:
- not feeding it with harmful substances and
- improving our defence system, that fights against harmful substances which make their way in without any permission.
Since 2017, I constantly spent time studying the well-being and longevity of our body from many perspectives: psychological, spiritual, physical activity, nutrition etc.
These are the simple things I do daily to maintain my immunity system stronger.
I explored and tested many alternatives since I started to be more focused on these aspects and I drafted my simple to-do list below. Some of the things were probably better in the past, but it was complicated to accommodate them on my schedule – so I removed them. Others were worse, but I improved them. I am just trying to keep a good balance between a healthy lifestyle and a “normal” social lifestyle – not to go to any extreme points of “not eating this” or “not doing that” under any circumstances. Actually, my intention is to build a list of “to-dos” that are simple, do not stand out very much and are not time-consuming.
If you have any suggestions regarding any item here, or you think there is something new I can add, please let me know in a comment or privately. I am looking forward to receiving feedback and improving my habits every day.
My daily routines for the immunity boost.
Morning routine:
- Wake up 8:00. I am not an early person, so this is the best compromise I could do.
- Meditation – 10 min, after waking up. This helps me greatly to spend a few more minutes in bed but still wake my body up. For this, I use short Yoga Nidra sessions on YouTube.
- Drink 2 glasses of water. This is the first thing I do after waking up from bed. I drink them for 30 min.
- Stretch my body – 15 min. Helps me start the day full of energy.
- Blow a balloon. It helps me to increase my lung capacity.
- Get sun exposure – 10 min. It’s good for Vitamin D.
- Do not use electronic devices in the first hour of the day, while I am busy anyway with the above-listed activities. I am still exploring this and for now, I am temporary adopting and testing this just because neurologists say this is healthy for your brain. Here I am between neurologists’ recommendations and the body’s capacity of adapting to the environment. A capacity that it is clear the body has when it comes to physical activities, especially for sports professionals. It may work for the brain as for any other organs, for professionals who work with the brain and machines extensively.
Mid-day:
- Deep focus time between 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 17:00. Here I deactivate all my notifications on all of my devices, as I am focusing on being productive on one single thing.
- Plank for 1 minute before lunch. It is a simple exercise that helps me burn some calories and to strengthen my core.
Evening:
- Mo, We, Fri – intense exercise to build muscles – 20 min.
- Tu, Th – running – 30 min.
- Alternative hot/cold shower before bed. Helps for better blood circulation.
- Read 45 min before bed. Helps my body by improving the quality of my sleep and also my mind, as I can actually spend also time with myself. I wrote a dedicated article on how I improved my sleep, here.
- Meditation – 10 min. Helps me to slide slowly to the favourite part of my day 😀
- Go to sleep at 00:00.
General rules I follow daily, even when I cannot practice my routine:
- Sleep a minimum of 7 hours.
- Drink water – 2L daily.
- Get at least 10 minutes of direct sun exposure.
- Fill my Apple Watch rings (>5000 steps).
- Take a break after 50 minutes of focus.
- Drink black coffee and green tea, alternatively.
- Consume only olive and linseed oils.
- Avoid added salt, sugar and fruit juices.
- Avoid carbs in the evening.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Avoid fried food.
- Avoid gluten.
- Avoid highly processed food.
- Follow the food plan recommended by my nutrition consultant.
What do you think about this list? Please let me know in a comment or write to me privately.
Thanks!