You Are Only 6 Steps Away from Your Best Vegan Year Ever

Everyone has great resolutions to start a healthy routine for the new year, and here’s the best part: you don’t need to miss the delicacies of life in order to live better in 2018. Instead, by following these six tips, you’ll discover ways to enjoy your life with less remorse and learn small but powerful habits that go long ways toward your long-term health and well-being.

1. Make “me time” mandatory
When we get stressed, it’s even more important to make that moment of “going inward” mandatory and part of your daily routine. Take the first few moments after waking up to breathe deeply through your belly in and out five times, and visualize how your breath in fills you with the healing life force, while your breath out releases the toxins from your body. Then, get up and stretch your entire body up, down and all around. Try to touch your toes! Set your alarm five minutes earlier to do this!

2. Move daily, even while traveling—your immune system depends on it
We tend to take short cuts with our exercise routines during the busier times or when we’re on the road. However, did you know that just 15 minutes of light exercise daily can help to activate your immune system? You also create new nerve cells in your brain when you move, so daily movement is a must to prevent cognitive decline. You don’t even need a gym! Instead, use the space you are in. Try a gentle yoga practice, jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and spot running. Do you watch TV or listen to the news? Use that time to move. This will keep your body and immune system in good shape. Even better: do this in the morning to help burn the calories you might consume that day.

3. Make at least one meal per day a healthy one
Dedicate one meal per day as a healthy option to reduce the impact of less healthier meals. Breakfast smoothies can be nutritious and done in just minutes with frozen fruit and greens, a plant-based milk, a handful of nuts, and travel-sized pouches of your favorite plant-based protein mix. Travel shakers make it easy to whip up a great smoothie even while traveling. If breakfast becomes your daily healthy meal, your indulgences will add far less weight to your hips and your overall health.

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
The healing power of water is drastically underestimated, as it can control allergens, aid digestion, and help flush out toxins from sugar, fat, and alcohol. Water is your best ally in battling over-eating, hangovers, virus attacks, and the acidity caused by all internal and external stressors, which can become a breeding ground for ailments. Select a high alkaline water, or put a drop of essential lemon oil into each glass of water you drink. Sip at least eight eight-ounce glasses, ideally at room temperature, throughout the day.

5. Take a digital detox
This can be a tough one, but it’s so important! Some of the greatest stresses in our body and mind are created by being constantly connected and infused with radiation from the wireless technology that surrounds us. Make a conscious effort to switch off, and truly be with your family and friends to enjoy the beautiful new year. Use this time to de-stress and give your body a break from all that digital noise and chatter.

6. Double-up on your supplements and essential oils
One of the secret weapons to not getting sick on the road is to double-up on your little helpers. Find a great source of whole-food antioxidants, and add them to your daily healthy habits. Great products in powders, chewies, and capsules now exist to make this easy. We also highly recommend therapeutic-grade essential oils such as peppermint, frankincense, lemon, and lavender to give you an extra edge to stay healthy.

Ina Mohan is the founder of Belsandia.com and the Health, Healing & Happiness event, which takes place in Las Vegas, NV.