A healthy lifestyle or the almost perfect day of a naturopath in an ideal world world!

Wake up call

The best way to wake up is with natural morning light or a dawn simulator alarm clock followed by a good full-body stretch in bed. Next step would be to go to the toilet for an initial ‘elimination’, preferably light yellow. If your urine is clear, you may be drinking too much water. If it's dark yellow, you're not hydrated enough, and if it's a little ‘fluorescent’, watch out for a possible vitamin B12 deficiency; if the urine is frothy, you may be losing protein. In this case, it would be a good idea to check your kidney health with your family doctor. Finally, if the urine is red, this may be due to medication or too much beetroot, for example, but if it persists it could be a health problem worth checking.

Next, your ritual would be to slowly and calmly drink 2 glasses of water of at least 20 cl each, either filtered tap water or bottled water at room temperature so that it is absorbed as well as possible. Choose water with a low mineral content and low in sodium to avoid the risk of water retention. Choose water with a dry extract (residue, mineral salt content) is less than 150 mg so as not to weaken renal filtration. Avoid carbonated waters, which can cause bloating.

Now you're ready for a few sun salutations or muscular awakening exercises. Standing or sitting, gently tilt your head to one side until you feel a stretch along your neck and opposite shoulder. Hold the position for 15-30 seconds on each side. This exercise relieves the tension built up in the shoulders and neck after long periods of work. It also improves your posture and reduces the risk of muscle pain.

Stand up and alternately raise your knees towards your chest while walking in place. Walk in place. This exercise stimulates blood circulation in your legs and activates your abdominal abdominal muscles. It also promotes concentration by oxygenating the brain and preparing your body for the physical activity that awaits you throughout your working day.

Stand with your hands interlaced in front of you, palms facing outwards. Push arms forward while rounding your back and stretching your shoulder blades. Hold the position for 15 to 30 seconds. You can then relax. This exercise stretches the muscles shoulders and arms. It relieves you of the tension accumulated when handling patients. It leaves you with a feeling of relaxation. It would be great if, at that moment, you felt like moving on to the second ‘elimination’. In this respect, it's interesting to know that if your stools are yellow, your transit is too rapid or there's a problem with your gall bladder. Red/black: possible traces of blood again, consult your family doctor! If the stools are green, you are eating too many green vegetables or your If they are white, you may have a liver problem. As for their consistency, if your stools are dry, you need to hydrate more; if they're greasy, it's a sign of poor digestion of fats (liver, kidneys). Diarrhoea can indicate a virus, poor diet or an imbalance in the microbiota. If you go less than 3 times a week you are clearly constipated. Finally, if the smell is regularly strong and unpleasant, your intestinal flora is totally disrupted.

To continue this morning routine in front of your sink, wash your nose with a lota with warm, lightly salted water, scrape your tongue or rinse your mouth out with sesame oil to eliminate toxins. Before taking a shower, you could dry-brush (contraindicated in cases of damaged or irritated skin, psoriasis, hyperthyroidism, thrombosis, lymphoma, infectious conditions) to improve both the quality of the skin and blood and lymphatic circulation. In the shower, use the water according to your needs. Warm: improves sleep, reduces tension tension, dilates the pores of the skin, relieves headaches, relaxes the muscles, decongests the nose, reduces fatigue. Cold: wakes you up, gives you energy, tones the skin, stimulates the metabolism, boosts the immune system, tightens the pores, beneficial for beautiful hair, frees the mind.

You could also learn how to perform a facial self-massage before applying your organic moisturiser and finish the session by tapping your adrenal glands with spruce essential oil.

Having breakfast

It is recommended to eat breakfast 1⁄2 hour after getting up. It would be interesting to include a hot drink such as unsweetened chicory or an herbal tea (hibiscus, lemon, peppermint, ginger...) in order of importance, the players in this meal should be protein, healthy fats and wholegrain cereals. For example: 2 slices of rye or sourdough bread with cottage cheese, smoked salmon and aromatic herbs on one, and an egg on the other, another idea would be a soft-boiled egg and 1/2 an avocado, sprinkled with chia seeds and/or spices + 1 kiwi.

Getting some exercice

If you had the chance, you'd have to walk or cycle to work or elsewhere. Physical activity remains essential and 30 minutes of sustained walking would be a minimum to plan on a daily basis, especially after meals. You might also consider 2 to 4 times a week, before or after lunch or at the end of the day, but preferably no later than 6 or 7pm.

Did you know? It has been proven that the higher the body temperature, the better your physical performance. Now, as body temperature is at its late afternoon. Throughout the day, between meals, you should drink between 6 and 8 glasses of water at room temperature, about 1.5 litres a day. If you like coffee, a maximum of 3 cups a day, without milk or sugar. Caffeine should not be consumed when cortisol levels are at their highest. The best times to drink coffee are between 9.30 and 11.30am and 2pm and 5pm. Outside these hours, it's best to drink it between meals. If you drink green/black teas: Good to drink, but no more than 2 a day and preferably in the morning (unless your intestines are irritated). They also partially inhibit the absorption of the non-haem iron provided by fruit and vegetables, and like coffee, cause significant losses of significant losses of trace elements (zinc, iron, chromium and calcium).

Having lunch

At lunchtime, the best choice would be a plate made up of 50% protein, accompanied by the remaining 50% with 2/3 cooked and/or raw vegetables and 1/3 starchy foods. If you can't resist a small piece of sheep's or goat's cheese + 1 small slice of Nordic or sourdough bread or sourdough bread, and/or a compote with no added sugar or homemade (even better!), or a yoghurt or any dairy product, once again from sheep's or goat's milk, either with a dash of Yacon syrup for a sweet note of no consequence. The best way to finish is with a digestive such as fennel, aniseed, verbena...
 

Afternoon snack

If you like to take a short break in the afternoon, plan to eat around 4.15/45pm 1 small handful of oilseeds or a red fruit smoothie or a banana and a square of dark chocolate from 75%. Of course, you could drink an infusion such as rosemary, dandelion, nettle, horsetail...
 

Late afternoon

It's the end of the day, allow yourself to relax a little and take some time to breathing exercises using an app installed on your phone, before tackling the next day. You could consider a relaxing footbath with essential oils such as lavender. If you feel like taking an ‘aperitif’ break, make Komboucha your first choice (read our paper). as probiotic drink. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to drink between 1 and 3 20 cl glasses of kombucha throughout the day (read our paper). It's a good idea to take Kombucha as a course of treatment for about 6 weeks with a break of the same length before starting a new period of consumption. In the end, it's up to you to decide how much Kombucha you need, depending on how you feel. You could also allow yourself a glass of organic red wine from time to time, but avoid beer!

Having dinner

Dinner would then ideally be taken at 7.30pm or 8pm, as it is strongly recommended that you go to bed at least 2h30 after eating. Your plate should contain starchy foods with a low glycaemic index and cooked vegetables, or you could make a good omelette with a green salad or a wholemeal pasta dish with small cherry tomatoes and courgettes and some grated mozzarella, but above all avoid red meat. You could finish with a cooked apple or pineapple carpaccio or a homemade cake made with eggs, fromage blanc, cornflour and red fruit (very simple recipes can be found on Instagram or the Internet). A final infusion of lemon balm, camomile, lilac, orange blossom...

In the evening

This would be a good time to relax in front of a good film or with family and friends. Take the opportunity to put a hot water bottle on your liver for a short 1⁄2 hour. You would switch off screens of any kind 1 hour before and sleep before midnight, trying not to heat the room above 18°C.

Read a good book, and could also diffuse 20 minutes of essential oils such as sweet orange, petit grain bigaradier, frankincense, etc. Then all you'd have to do is dream.... Sweet dreams.

The right address : Maud Simonelli, Equilibre & Vous, Uzès.