4 Easy Steps to the Healthy Writer Life Series

The goal as writers is to move our readers to the desired action. To inspire them, make them smile, shed a tear, feel gratitude … But how can we do that if we are not our best selves? Physically, emotionally, spiritually?

If you’re like me, writing is how I make my living. Any time off for ill health or an injury is detrimental to my income and emotional state. It is so much harder to do what needs to be done daily if I’m unmotivated, unhappy, and unwell.

So, how do I combat the negative effects of sitting for hours on end, day after day, manage the stress of deadlines, and stay motivated and confident, while delivering content that earns money for myself and my clients?

I follow 4 easy and realistic steps to the Healthy Writer Life.

1. Drink plenty of high-quality water to alleviate numerous ailments.
2. Drink electrolytes for energy, neurological function, and optimal hydration.
3. Conscientiously move throughout the day to keep my body comfortable.
4. Take breathing breaks to alleviate stress and the ill effects of shallow breathing.

In this short series, I’ll share how these four simple steps can help you, as they help me, stay a healthy weight or even lose a few pounds, enjoy sustained energy, minimize aches and pains, and keep your writer’s mind humming. You’ll also find tips and suggestions on how to incorporate these easy actions until they become part of your daily lifestyle.

Ready to feel great with Step 1 to the Healthy Writer Life? Let’s go!

Step 1 to the Healthy Writer Life: Drink High-Quality Water & Lots of It

I am a water junkie! I love a big glass of pure, clean water. It refreshes and makes me feel like I just did the best thing I could do for myself in a single moment. Drinking a big glass of filtered water is the first thing I do when I wake up. It calls to me and I gladly heed its call.

What’s the first thing you reach for in the morning? What is your go-to bev when you’re thirsty? If it’s not water, you are starving your body of the hydration it desperately needs to jump-start your brain and body.

The Benefits of Water

Drinking 64 oz. or more of high-quality, filtered tap water (not plastic bottled water) can help improve nearly every health complaint. It makes sense since we are 90% water, that proper hydration helps to keep our minds sharp and our bodies functioning. Conversely, even mild dehydration can cause issues you’ve probably never considered.

Do any of these ailments sound familiar? Have they become a way of life?

• Lack of concentration
• Brain fog
• Fatigue
• Poor memory
• Agitation
• Restless sleep
• Mood swings
• Anxiety/depression
• Feeling sluggish/low energy
• Aches and pains
• Systemic or localized inflammation
• Headaches
• Stubborn weight gain
• Difficulty losing weight
• Muscle cramps ­
• Constipation

Proper hydration with water and water-based beverages can help turn these and other health issues we accept as “normal” around. Additionally, if you struggle with autoimmune disease or permanent injuries, without adequate water, they will be unmanageable.

The good news is that drinking more, high-quality, filtered water is quite possibly the easiest first step to the Healthy Writer Life!

How to Get the Water Your Body Craves

1. It is important to drink water first thing in the morning. Before you drink coffee or tea, drink at least 10 ounces of high-quality, filtered water right away. Your body is deprived of fluids while you sleep, so you wake up with a hydration deficit.

If you go straight for a caffeinated beverage upon waking, you’re dehydrating your body even more as caffeine is a diuretic. This makes it extremely hard to catch up the rest of the day. In fact, most people live in a constant state of dehydration and don’t know it.

2. The general recommendation for most adults is to drink a minimum of 64 oz. of good-quality, filtered water daily – NOT plastic bottles of water. Charcoal-filtered tap water is safer (in most places). Most plastic bottled water has thousands of chemicals per bottle. If you need to take some on the go, get a BPA-free bottle and pour your own.

Did you know if you feel thirsty, it’s too late? You’re in a state of dehydration. Dehydration is the enemy of good health. You simply cannot be well without enough fluids – namely water.

Other Sources of Water Besides Pure Water

Don’t like water? Get bored with it? It’s okay to get additional hydration from other sources like an organic selection of black tea, green tea, or herbal tea (fruit juice is not recommended as it is high in sugar), Swiss water decaf coffee, or sparkling spring water. It’s even okay to have a caffeinated beverage during the day, just limit it to one, and offset it with a glass of water. I like to have a glass of water and a warm beverage on my desk all the time.

You can also get water from fruit and veggies, but nothing hydrates immediately like a big glass of water.

Fun tip: Put your water in a gorgeous glass, add lemon or cucumber slices to give it pizzaz, and you’ll feel like you’re spoiling yourself!

The Moral of the Story – Give Your Body the Water it Needs to Feel Great & You’ll Feel the Benefits

When we give our amazing bodies what they need, they reward us – sometimes in subtle ways and other times with gusto! To get a jump on the healthy writer life and see your work improve, it really can be as easy as adding several big glasses of high-quality water to your daily routine.

Next time, we’ll explore Step 2 to the healthy writer life. You don’t want to miss it as it goes with Step 1 for maximum energy, brain function, nervous system health, fewer trips to the bathroom from drinking all that water, and so much more.

If you have any questions, be sure to reach out to me or feel free to join the conversation.