Start off 2020 and the new decade with these suggestions to transform yourself into a new, happier and healthier YOU, while helping the planet and environment at the same time!

6 Tips for Healthy Living:

  1. Consume Raw, Natural, Organic, and Un-Processed Foods - Substituting natural foods for processed ones will bring you multiple health benefits. While processed foods are convenient, they also harm your health. In fact, following a diet based on REAL food may be one of the most important things you can do to maintain good health and high quality of life. 

Try to avoid buying pre-packaged, pre-made, or artificially preserved boxed and canned foods. These products have preservatives, chemicals, and unnatural ingredients added to them that enable them to have a shelf life way longer than normal. Why eat this when you can buy fresh foods? 

Next time you go to the grocery store, make a conscious effort to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables! Produce is high in antioxidants, packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber while being low in calories. Make a habit to eat a veggie or fruit at every meal. Pick up a fruit or veggie you have never tried before the next time you shop to add variety and keep your meals or snacks interesting.

    2.“Unplug” Once a Week - Technology is an incredible advancement and tool that will forever be a part of our lives. However, technology in excess can be harmful to our mental and emotional health. Many people have become obsessed with constantly checking in on social media sites, playing games, or endless hours of web surfing. This consumes our time and makes us less productive, and even can lead to anxiety and depressing feelings or tendencies. Completely unplugging once a week for a screen-free day will open up that time for self-care, or for engaging and spending your time with another person who is important for you!

     3. Get an Adequate Amount of Sleep - You can’t overestimate the importance of sleep. For adults, sleeping a minimum of seven hours per night is what you need in order to regenerate your body and stabilize energy levels to feel good and be productive the next day. Children need even more hours of rest. Among the many benefits from sleep, it helps you live longer, decreases stress, and improves memory.

     4. Exercise – Finding a form of “exercise” is crucial to a healthy and happy life. Exercise can be what ever you want it to be, as long as it is physical movement for your body! Whether it is biking, jogging, yoga, swimming, playing a sport, or going to a traditional gym; find what best suites you and find at least one hour a day to dedicate to being active. Exercise has been proven to relieve stress and anxiety and can act as a form of meditation in freeing your mind. Not only does it help your mental health but your physical as well, bringing you DOUBLE the benefits!

     5. Quit a Bad Habit – Everybody has a habit or tendency that has a negative effect on them, whether it be small or big. Pick one negative habit this new year to try and cut out of your lifestyle. Do not be too hard on yourself or expect yourself to quit cold turkey! Pace yourself; and work on it little by little each day. Bad habits could include drinking less, cutting out sugars and sweets, biting your nails, etc! To help yourself break your habit, surround yourself with positive influences and people who will not enable your bad habit, visualize yourself succeeding, have strong willpower, and stay positive. However, don't beat yourself up for slip-ups or use them as rationales for quitting your habit.

     6. Be Present – While we are so busy planning for our future, and working towards our goals, we often forget to live in the moment. You can’t change the past and worrying excessively about the future is sometimes futile because situations and conditions in life are constantly changing. The present moment is all you have. Embrace it and appreciate it! The here and now is the only place to be, in fact it’s the only place you can be!

 

6 Tips to an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle: 

  1. Bring Re-Useable Bags to the Store – Bagging your groceries and products with reusable bags everywhere you shop is an easy way to reduce ocean pollution and prevent unnecessary deaths and harm to sea creatures. It also helps you reduce consumption, prevent deforestation, and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.
  2. Buy Natural Cosmetics without Chemicals - Did you know that everything you put on your skin gets absorbed into your bloodstream? Therefore, your personal care products should be so pure and natural…that you could consume them! This may sound silly, but it is true. That is why here at Briut Essentials we make raw, earth-friendly, sustainable and REAL cosmetics / hygiene products that are beneficial to your body and health! For example, our Moringa Toothpaste, Charcoal Toothpaste, Organic Deodorants, Organic Lip Balms, and more, are all made from natural ingredients like coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, etc. These products are not only eco-friendly and non-toxic to our enviroment, but friendly towards your body as well!
  3. Drink out of Re-Useable Bottles – Instead of going through hundreds and thousands of packs of plastic water bottles, make the initiative to use a reusable bottle or thermos to keep yourself hydrated during the day. Eliminating plastic would help protect and improve our ecosystems, conserve resources, decrease waste and harmful pollution, and even save you money! 
  4. Re-Cycle – This is a practice that can be applied in your daily life that can help you maintain a green home and lessen your negative effect on the earth. Many things we use on a constant base can be recycled such as plastic, paper, cardboard, aluminum, and even glass. Along with rSecycling your own waste, try to also buy products that were made from recycled materials! When you purchase items made from recycled materials you are using your dollars to vote for environmentally friendly business practices. This lets companies know that products produced in an eco-friendly manner matter to their consumers. On top of this, products that are made from recycled materials are likely to be recyclable again once you are finished using them.
  5. Conserve Energy – Incorporate ways to save energy in your daily life. 

Here are a few examples:

  • Hang up your clothes to dry versus using washing machines.
  • Turn off lights, fans, electronics, and other appliances off if they are not being used.
  • Take shorter showers and run less water when you can.

     6. Use Plant-Based Cleaning Products – Look for brands that are produced from natural, sustainable, and plant-based ingredients that are biodegradable and don’t leave chemical and toxic residues behind. Not only will this help the environment, but this is healthier for you, and your family as well.