Staying healthy is paramount for Prime Health Ambassador Felicity Bee. Juggling a career as a Junior Doctor with training as a professional athlete, Felicity shares her top tips on how she stays healthy from her protected hour at the weekend to getting out in the fresh air and listening to a podcast.

“If you search the internet for health advice we all know you get one thousand answers all contradicting each other on things to do to be healthy.

There are businesses plugging fat loss pills and green tea, personal trainers giving advice on why HIIT training is better than running and the Daily Mail has no reluctancy to broadcast that everything is both good and bad for your health. As a result, the advice is ambiguous and a lot of things are fads.

Personally, I think this highlights the fact that advice on healthy living needs to be personal and it needs to involve behaviours that you can integrate into your lifestyle through discipline and enjoyment. I, therefore, want to express my overall recipe for having a healthy, happy life that can be customised to you.

My top 5 tips for staying healthy

1. Do something for your body

The health benefits of exercise and movement are widely acknowledged for both aiding your physical and mental health. The national guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intense exercise a week and 2 sessions of muscle-strengthening exercises.

This split across the week is not a huge invasion of time and works out approximately. 30 mins that you look forward to in the day.

My recommendation is to find a form of movement you enjoy whether that be a yoga flow, a brisk walk in the outdoors or a 30-minute swim.

As an elite athlete, my training is structured into my weekly routine with set sessions. I am disciplined knowing that not attending sessions impacts the end goal but I find huge enjoyment from training and hence it is never deemed a chore.

This positive attitude can be implemented by everyone. Find a time of day that works for you whether you are an early riser or a night owl. Do 15 minutes of stretching before commencing your day or an evening gym session. Make it adaptable for you and make it part of your routine.

The clothing brand Gymshark did a campaign in 2018 based on the idea that it takes ’66 days to form a habit’, and whether that is factually true there is wealth in the concept that if you practice the discipline in finding time to exercise for 30 mins in the day, you’ll be surprised at how it becomes an in-built part of your lifestyle.

2. Do something for your mind

My healer to my mood and well-being is the outdoors. I find an immense escape from going for a walk with a podcast on.

I won’t track my steps or care how far I go but at that time I am so present in the moment, and feed my mind.

At the moment, I’m knee-deep in Steve Barlett’s podcast: Diary of a CEO – it’s thought-provoking, educated me on topics I was previously ignorant of and enabled a time for me to critically evaluate and shape my own opinions and moral compass.

3. Do something for your soul

Absorb yourself in a passion that is separate to work, whether it be music, journaling or simply having a long, hot shower.

I know my audience is unlikely to resonate with my idea of an hour of self-care but adapt at your discretion.

Thursday or Friday nights I have a protected hour. It’s my hour and sometimes it won’t be until 10 pm but I will make it happen. I have a bath, exfoliate and moisturise.  A workout in itself but one that lets me just focus on the present, show appreciation and self-love for the body I have and gives me that little endorphin boost that makes me feel good within myself.

It may seem like the most trivial situation, or externally some may call it vanity but it’s my time and with routine, you’ll be surprised by your increased recognition of your self-worth.

4. Get the right amount of rest

This is something I’m still learning, and the shift hours that come with being a junior doctor make this ever so more challenging.

However I think that sleep is something we all neglect. I like many others, desperately wish I could ‘bank’ sleep, and hope that an extra hour in bed on a Sunday will carry me through the week. Sadly, this isn’t the case.

I’d be ignorant to suggest we all go to bed earlier, the modern life doesn’t facilitate 9 pm bedtimes for many of us. So instead, my real focus is on rest; learn to stop.

Acknowledge in advance where you are going to be sleep-deprived and/or exhausted from work… and find ways to compensate.

I often look at a 7-day stint of days working as a Junior Doctor with 3 of those being 12 hour shifts, if that’s the case I will speak to my coach and reduce my training load that week, and I’ll go home early from dinner with friends on Wednesday knowing that I need to preserve my energy to avoid burnout by the end of the week.

5. Fuel your body

Eat well, and find the right balance for you. Don’t undernourish yourself, even if your goal is weight loss. Create a healthy relationship with food by educating yourself on sustainable adaptations you can make to get you to that goal weight.

Restricting food and undereating predispose you to injury, fatigue, low mood and consequential overeating.

On the days you feel strong and energised, spend a moment taking note of the food you ate, the people you surrounded yourself with and the way you moved your body.

Become in tune with your body’s demand, and encourage those ‘good days’ by practising the behaviours you undertook to replicate a similar feeling.

CONCLUSION

Healthy habits are personal to the individual and will vary depending on your lifestyle and goals. Like Felicity take time to carve out your own healthy habits and identify what works best for you.

At Prime Health we believe that prevention is better than cure. We empower you to take control of your health by adopting healthy lifestyles coupled with having easy access to high-quality healthcare.