How to Be Healthy: A Practical Guide to Healthy Living

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “Health shouldn’t be this complicated,” I hear you completely. Everywhere you look, people (even experts) seem to have conflicting ideas about how to be healthy. One expert swears by intermittent fasting while another warns against it. Your friend tells you that high-intensity workouts are what matter, while your neighbor insists that gentle movement is the answer.

Remember when everyone said eggs were bad for you, but then suddenly they became good for you?

And vice-versa for milk. I can’t forget those “Milk does the body good” ad campaigns, complete with celebrities flaunting their milk mustaches. According to these ads, every single person should be drinking tons of milk daily.

And let’s not even get started on all the diet trends out there: plant-based, keto, low-carb, paleo, AIP, low-FODMAP, and the list goes on. Just writing this out honestly exhausted me a little!

No wonder so many of us feel overwhelmed and confused when it comes to living a healthy life! Why does healthy living have to be so darn complicated?

Why Knowing How to Be Healthy Can Feel Hard

Disclaimer: While I am passionate about healthy living, this content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. I am not a healthcare professional, so please consult your doctor before making any major health or lifestyle changes.

After years of navigating this maze of contradictory health information myself, I’ve come to understand why health feels so complex. It’s because it genuinely is!

Here are two big reasons I’ve pin-pointed that explain why health is so complicated.

Healthy living:

1. Isn’t one-size-fits-all
2. Isn’t an isolated solution; it includes understanding the complex relationship among all 4 core health pillars

Let’s talk more about each of these.

1. Knowing How to Be Healthy Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

Health isn’t a one-size-fits-all equation you can solve once and forget about. It’s multi-dimensional, deeply personal, and constantly evolving. Each person’s path to a healthy life is based on each individual’s unique body, genetics, life circumstances, and current season of life, among many other factors.

Here’s what I’ve learned that may or may not be surprising to you. Those seemingly contradictory health recommendations I mentioned above? They might actually all be correct in some way!

An easy example to help understand this idea is to consider how some people have allergies to eggs while others do not. For one person, that food is harmful for them, while for another person, it is not. You can use this simple understanding toward other health areas as well, such as sleep needs, susceptibility to nutrient deficiencies and diseases, and more.

Additionally, your health needs at 25 years old are going to look different from your needs at age 45. And what works during a calm period in your life might not serve you during a more stressful season. Women who are pregnant and nursing literally have different Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) compared to women not in these stages of life.

This personalized and multi-faceted nature of health is partly why the topic feels so overwhelming and just downright confusing at times!

2. Knowing How to Be Healthy Includes Understanding How the 4 Health Pillars are Interconnected

But there’s also another problem.

As a society, we tend to treat each health pillar as separate, unconnected pieces. We compartmentalize sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being as if they exist in isolation.

In reality, these components are deeply interconnected. Poor sleep sabotages your food choices and drains energy that could otherwise be used for movement and exercise. Inadequate nutrition impacts your sleep quality, mental clarity, and energy levels. Lack of movement affects both how well you sleep and how you feel emotionally.

When you understand these connections, everything starts to come together more and make a lot more sense. I know it sure did for me after all these years of trying to navigate the big question of how to be healthy!

How to Use This Healthy Living Guide

I’ve designed this guide to be your practical companion for living a healthy life each day. I wanted to make sure this guide was detailed and comprehensive enough, yet still easy to understand and to navigate. The last thing I want is to leave you feeling more overwhelmed and confused than before you found this guide!

Here are some details and tips that will help make this healthy living guide easily work for you in your daily life.

The Structure for Each of the 4 Pillars

My goal is to make navigating this huge topic just a little less intimidating. The sections for each pillar (Sleep, Nutrition, Movement, and Well-being) follow the below clear, consistent, and easy-to-follow format:

• Introduction: A quick introduction to the pillar and why it’s important
• The Essentials: What the most important take-aways are for each health pillar
• Action Plan: Actual steps you can implement today, this week, and/or this month to prioritize each health pillar

Making This Guide Work for You

When exploring this guide, I want you to keep in mind that there’s no one way to apply it in your own daily life. Here are some suggestions for helping make this guide work for you and your unique needs!

• Skip to What You Need: Feel free to jump to the sections most relevant to your current health journey and life situation.
• Try One Thing at a Time: If you have a lot going on in your life, pick just one small part of a single pillar to focus on (e.g., work on creating a wind-down routine for sleep). Once you feel good about that one piece, add another! Because all of the health pillars are interconnected, growth and positive changes you make in one pillar will naturally have positive effects on the other pillars.
• Revisit the Action Plans: In each pillar’s section, you’ll find an Action Plan. These steps are designed to help you break down health goals for each pillar into small, actionable steps. Revisit these plans often as you tackle your health goals for a particular pillar so you can realign your goals and stay on track.

What Makes This Guide Different from Other “How to Be Healthy” Guides

I believe in practical wisdom over perfection.

Instead of perfection, the goal is for you to progress toward living your happiest, best life, starting where you’re at right now. Because of this, I leave behind the stance of unforgiving, one-size-fits-all health advice. Instead, I focus on providing you useful, helpful information that you can fit realistically into your own life.

My hope is that by using this guide, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to be healthy and where to start your health journey. I also want you to feel empowered to realistically implement these practices in your own busy life.

Now that we’ve touched on the topic of health as a whole and have discussed how this guide is set-up to help your succeed, let’s get started with the health pillar that many experts argue is possibly the most important of the four: Sleep.

Sleep: Pillar 1

You’ve probably heard it countless times—sleep is incredibly important. But why exactly?

Ultimately, sleep affects everything! Your energy levels, immune function, food cravings, and the ability to handle stress. Research shows that people who sleep less than 7 hours are significantly more likely to get sick when exposed to viruses (Cohen et al., 2009), and poor sleep can disrupt hormones that control hunger and metabolism (Spiegel et al., 1999). Research has also found that improving sleep quality can lead to significant improvements in mental health and can significantly reduce mental health obstacles including depression, anxiety, and stress (Scott et al., 2021).

Good sleep lays the foundation for everything you do in your life. Without adequate sleep, all of your other health efforts will undoubtedly suffer. Some people even go as far to say that it is the most important component of health. Regardless of whether you think sleep is actually the most important health pillar, one thing is clear: quality sleep is crucial for optimal health.

5 Essentials for Better Sleep

1. Try to aim for at least 7 hours of quality sleep a night

Most adults need at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night (Solan, 2023). If you’re consistently getting less, you’re not giving your body enough time for essential restorative processes.

Equally (if not more) important is sleep quality. Good quality sleep includes:

• Uninterrupted sleep cycles (including deep sleep and REM sleep); each cycle is about 90 minutes, and your body should go through about 4-6 cycles a night (Patel et al., 2024)
• Limited waking during the night

2. Keep a consistent sleep schedule

Because our bodies are driven by biological clocks which influence various rhythms (e.g., circadian rhythm), they thrive on predictability. Go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time every day. Yes, even on weekends!

Try your best to maintain this consistency, and it will help make falling asleep and waking up much easier.

3. Create a sleep-friendly environment

Your sleep environment can have a huge impact on your sleep quality. Here are some ways you can create a sleep-friendly environment:

• Keep your bedroom between 62-70°F (17-21°C) during the night (Joshi et al., 2016), give or take a couple degrees.
• Use comfortable bedding and a supportive mattress that works for your body.
• Make it as dark as possible at night. Blackout curtains or eye masks can help, especially if there are artificial lights outside your window that you can’t control (e.g., lit signs, street lamps, etc.). But try to keep black-out curtain use to night time only, with the exception of using them during a short nap if needed.
• Minimize noise or use consistent background noise like a fan or white noise machine.
• Remove electronics from the bedroom or try to turn them off at night.

4. Make sleep-friendly lifestyle choices daily

Here are just a handful of the most important things you can do each day to support your sleep:

• Get at least 20 minutes of sunrise light each morning. If you wake up after sunrise, aim to get sunlight within the first hour of waking.
• Limit caffeine to before noon (I know, easier said than done!).
• Try to get movement in regularly throughout the day, but also make sure to avoid intense exercise right before bed.
• Try to catch as much sunset light if you can.
• Avoid large meals close to bedtime.
• Avoid blue light 2 hours before bed.

5. Consider hormones that affect sleep

Hormones like melatonin and cortisol directly impact your sleep-wake cycle. If you’re following good sleep habits but still struggling, hormonal imbalances might be a factor. To look into this possibility, talk to your healthcare provider about testing.

Create Your Sleep Action Plan

And now, finally—your roadmap to better sleep!

Remember, you don’t need to do everything at once. If life is feeling particularly crazy right now, just pick one or two things to focus on that you think will make the most impact for you. Even small changes will make a big difference in how you feel!

Choose what works best for you right now and build your own path to better sleep.

1. Tonight, I will…

• Choose a consistent bedtime and stick to it.
• Adjust my room temperature to 62-70°F (17-21°C)
• Choose a wind-down routine (reading a hardcopy book, gentle stretching, meditation, deep breathing, etc.). If 5-10 minutes is all the time I have, that is completely fine!

2. This week, I will…

• Try to get morning sunlight exposure daily within the first 20 minutes of sunrise or of waking up.
• Try to get plenty of sunlight throughout each day (I’ll also keep in mind safety and use sunglasses and sunscreen if needed when out in the sun).
• Integrate as much movement as I can throughout each day (e.g., take the stairs instead of the elevator, park a little further away, etc.). But I will also make sure to reserve any intense exercise for earlier in the day.
• Create an electronics-free bedroom environment or turn off all electronic devices at bedtime.

3. This month, I will…

• Track my sleep patterns to identify what helps or hurts my sleep quality.
• Experiment with what bedtime temperature works best for me within the recommended range (give or take a couple degrees).
• Experiment with different wind-down activities to find what works best for me.

Nutrition: Pillar 2

It may be super obvious that nutrition is important. After-all, people seem to constantly be obsessing over it! But let’s look at exactly why it’s so vital.

What you eat directly shapes how you feel, think, and perform every single day. Research shows that quality nutrition provides a huge array of benefits, including strengthening your immune system (Williamson, 2024; Munteanu & Schwartz, 2022; Pronschinske, 2021; Alwarawrah et al., 2018), reducing chronic disease risk (Gropper, 2023), supporting brain health (Dyall, 2015; Very Big Brain, 2025), and providing the building blocks for cellular repair (Puca et al., 2022). When you fuel your body well, you set the stage for having the energy and vitality to live your life to the fullest.

As obvious as it seems, I myself am guilty of forgetting the very basics of nutrition when life gets hectic. Some days, I get so busy I literally forget to eat (hello mom life to kids under 4)! I find that reminding myself of the actual research that shows the real benefits of good nutrition gets me to prioritize it more these days, even when things get busy.

While nutrition can seem complicated at times, you don’t need perfection or complicated rules to see real benefits. This guide focuses on five of the biggest ways you can set a solid and healthy foundation for nutrition.

5 Essentials for Better Nutrition

1. Prioritize whole foods over processed foods

A huge part of nutritional wellness is choosing foods that remain close to their natural state. This not only maximizes nutrient density, but it also minimizes harmful additives and processing methods.

Here are some quick tips to remember when navigating whole vs. processed foods:

• Use the “one-ingredient rule” for snacks when possible (an apple, nuts, hard-boiled egg).
• Start with simple swaps for widely used staples (water with lemon instead of soda, sourdough with simple ingredients instead of bagged white bread with a mile-long list of ingredients with strange names).
• Read ingredient labels and try to aim for products with fewer, recognizable ingredients.
• Although you want to avoid highly processed foods, be realistic and allow yourself flexibility. Aim for better choices most of the time, and reserve highly processed foods for rare occasions and/or times of necessity.

2. Balance macronutrients and include sufficient micronutrients

Your body needs certain nutrients in large amounts (macronutrients) and others in smaller quantities (micronutrients) for important functions like immunity and energy production. Both macro- and micronutrients work together to keep you functioning at your best.

Macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) on their own is a pretty hefty topic. But the big take-away I want you to focus on right is to be aware of them and think about how your body can get enough high-quality amounts of each of them (but not too much either)! Balance is key.

Here are some quick tips:

• Aim for quality protein sources such as regenerative and grass-fed/grass-finished meats, smaller fish, eggs, legumes, tofu, and dairy products.
• Focus on complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes rather than simple carbohydrates found in processed foods and added sugars.
• Include healthy fats from sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, ghee, tallow, grass-fed butter, and fatty fish while limiting saturated and trans fats. On a side note, don’t fear fat—your body needs it for optimal functioning!
• Whole foods should remain your primary source of macro- and micronutrients since they contain beneficial compounds that work synergistically with vitamins and minerals (Streit & Jones, 2024).
• If you’re a woman looking into how micronutrients could optimize your health, start by investigating iron, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and magnesium. Work with a health professional to get lab results before taking any supplements!

3. Stay properly hydrated with quality water

As someone who lives in the deserts of southern Nevada, I know all too well how important healthy hydration is. But even if you don’t live in the desert, drinking plenty of high-quality water is just as important! Aside from the fact that water makes up an average of 60% of our bodies, every single cell in your body relies on water to function properly (Sissons & Kubala, 2020).

There’s so much more to say about drinking enough water, but here are the key things I want you to focus on right now:

• Create hydration routines that suit your lifestyle – Usually feeling thirsty is a late sign of dehydration. Try to combat this by being proactive and creating routines in your day that incorporate hydration (e.g., morning glass of water, carrying water with you to work, etc.)
• Use numbers as guides if it helps, but try to focus more on fine-tuning your bodily awareness and intuition – It’s okay to use numerical guides (e.g., eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, 1 ounce for every pound of body weight, 12 ounces for every 30 minutes of exercise, etc.). But in the grand scheme of things, try not to fixate too much on hitting the numbers and instead use them as a loose guide. Focus more on gaining awareness and intuition and listening carefully to what your body needs.
• The quality of your water matters! A LOT. – Make sure your water is filtered and free from harmful contaminants like chlorine, heavy metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals residues, leached plastics and microplastics, etc. Also, use glass or stainless steel containers instead of plastic if possible.

Speaking of water quality and eliminating contaminants in drinking water, let’s talk more about environmental contaminants and how they impact nutrition as a whole.

4. Minimize environmental contaminants in food and drinks

Water isn’t the only thing we need to be aware of when it comes to environmental contaminants. The sad reality is that toxins like heavy metals, pesticide residues, microplastics, and industrial chemicals have unfortunately become part of our food and drink system as a whole.

That being said, there are simple ways you can reduce exposure to these environmental toxins:

• Be strategic about organic produce purchases (e.g., buy organic for the Dirty Dozen and prioritize buying organic for foods with edible skins).
• Rinse grains like rice and quinoa thoroughly.
• Mix up your diet instead of eating the same foods daily.
• Trim fat from meat where contaminants can concentrate, particularly if the meat isn’t regenerative, organic, etc.
• Choose smaller fish species that accumulate fewer toxins.
• Consider swapping plastic containers for glass or stainless steel, especially when heating food.

At the end of the day, remember that the nutritional benefits of whole, minimally processed foods generally outweigh the risks of trace contaminants. So just keep that in mind!

5. Choose quality supplements wisely (if needed)

While whole foods should be your primary source of nutrients, supplements can help fill specific gaps when used carefully with the guidance of a health care provider.

Before supplementing:

• Discuss your unique situation and health history with your healthcare provider, especially if you take medications.
• Consider targeted blood work with a health provider to identify actual deficiencies rather than guessing.
• Research ingredient quality, bioavailability, and third-party testing for supplements before buying them.
• Remember that supplements should complement, not replace, a nutrient-dense diet.

Create Your Nutrition Action Plan

Now that we’ve covered the nutrition essentials, let’s create your roadmap for better nutrition based on those essentials!

Start with what feels most manageable right now. Remember that even small changes will make a meaningful difference. We all have to start somewhere!

1. This week, I will…

• Make one simple whole food swap (e.g., choose a processed food that you consume regularly and replace it with something closer to its natural form with less processing).
• Include a quality protein source with each meal.
• Carry a reusable water bottle whenever I leave the house (non-plastic, if possible).
• Create one hydration routine.
• Stock up on easy, no-prep or low-prep healthy staples (regenerative yogurt, nuts, fresh berries, etc.).

2. This month, I will…

• Dedicate 2-3 hours one to two days a week for strategic meal prep using simple “building blocks” (protein + healthy fat + vegetable + healthy carb).
• Experiment with herbs and spices to make nutritious foods more flavorful.
• Research restaurants near home/work that offer healthy options for when I eat out.

3. This season, I will…

• Experiment with budget-friendly nutrition boosters like beans, legumes, and frozen produce.
• Practice applying the 80/20 rule to my meals and drinks—focus on nutrition 80% of the time while allowing 20% for flexibility and enjoyment.
• Work with a healthcare provider to assess my micronutrient status if needed.
• Build sustainable habits by making small, consistent changes rather than attempting complete diet overhauls.

While it is important to focus on eliminating less healthy options, don’t forget to also focus on adding in nutritious foods.

And most importantly, be patient with yourself as you develop new food and drink habits. Always remember to give yourself grace and strive to have a healthy, balanced perspective when it comes to food and nutrition!

Movement: Pillar 3

When many people think about exercise or being physically active, superficial ideas like losing weight and getting a six-pack tend to immediately come to mind. However, movement and exercise is not just about looking good or losing weight. Most importantly, it is a critical pillar of good foundational health.

Regular and balanced physical activity has the potential to reduce the risk of chronic diseases (Anderson & Durstine, 2019), boost mental health (Singh et al., 2023; Saeed et al., 2019; Schuch et al., 2018; Chekroud et al., 2018; Chen et al., 2016), improve cognitive function and brain health (De Sousa Fernandes et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2016), strengthen the immune system (Czarnecki et al., 2025), increase bone density and muscle strength (Gries et al., 2018), and even regulate hormones and metabolic processes (De Nys et al., 2022; Chen et al., 2016). All of this research and much more backs up the understanding that movement truly is essential to having good health.

As someone who understands how overwhelming fitness advice can be (especially when you’re not naturally athletic!), I want you to know that movement doesn’t require spending hours at the gym or running miles every day. Even small, consistent actions can transform your health and energy levels.

4 Essential Components of Healthy Movement

1. Cardiovascular Endurance (Aerobic)

Cardiovascular endurance is your body’s ability to sustain activity over time, measuring how efficiently your heart, lungs, and circulatory system work together during prolonged exercise. It improves heart and lung health, increases energy levels, and enhances brain function.

You can build cardiovascular endurance through activities such as brisk walking, dancing, cycling, swimming, taking stairs, or active housework.

2. Strength and Power (Anaerobic)

Strength is your body’s ability to generate force against resistance for functional daily living. Building strength improves bone density, boosts metabolism, prevents age-related muscle loss, and reduces injury risk.

You can develop strength through bodyweight exercises, using household items (and toddlers) as weights, gardening, climbing stairs, doing yoga, or engaging in active play, just to name a handful of ideas.

3. Flexibility and Mobility

Flexibility refers to the ability of muscles to stretch, while mobility is the range of motion in your joints. Together, they ensure smooth, pain-free movement. Maintaining good flexibility and mobility prevents injuries, reduces chronic pain, improves posture, and helps maintain independence.

You can build flexibility and mobility through movements such as morning stretching routines, yoga, desk stretches, or gentle movement during typically inactive activities (e.g., TV time, working at the computer, etc.).

4. Balance and Coordination

Balance is the ability to maintain stable position while standing or moving, while coordination allows you to use different parts of your body together smoothly for precise movement. This involves your brain, inner ear, eyes, and muscles working together, and it prevents falls while maintaining functional independence.

You can develop balance and coordination by doing things like standing on one foot while brushing teeth, practicing yoga or dance, or walking heel-to-toe.

Create Your Movement Action Plan

Today, I will…

• Take stairs instead of elevators when possible.
• Do calf raises while brushing my teeth.
• Park further away from entrances.
• Set hourly (or half-hourly) reminders for movement breaks
• Walk or bike for one errand or task.

This week, I will…

• Implement one walking meeting or phone call weekly.
• Try a new form of movement that sounds enjoyable.
• Track movement in a way that motivates me (steps, time, or activities).
• Schedule regular movement like any other important appointment.

This month, I will…

• Mix up different types of movement to hit all four movement essentials (cardio, strength, flexibility, balance).
• Make time for physical activities I genuinely enjoy.
• Brainstorm ways to make existing activities more active.
• Practice the consistency-over-perfection mindset.
• Remember that rest and recovery are essential parts of the process.

Your movement journey is very personal, and it is your journey to create. It’s easy to feel pressured to take on a fitness journey that focuses more on superficial elements rather than what would be of most value to you. Try to tune all of that noise out (I know it’s easier said than done), and focus on what truly matters—your health and happiness.

At the end of the day, remember to choose what realistically works for you over “perfection”, and take the time to celebrate small victories.

And please don’t forget that any movement is better than no movement. Your body will thank you for every step you take toward a more active life!

Well-being: Pillar 4

Now that we’ve touched on sleep, nutrition, and movement, let’s talk about the health pillar that often gets overlooked yet is also incredibly important—well-being.

Just like the other three health pillars, well-being influences and is influenced by the other health pillars.

Believe it or not, well-being has been shown to have an effect on physical aspects such as inflammation, immune function, disease progression (Barrett et al., 2021), and morbidity and mortality risk (Cacioppo et al., 2014). And on the flip side, physical aspects of health can worsen or improve mental health. For example, a meta-analysis found that improving sleep quality led to significant improvements in mental health and significantly reduced mental health obstacles including depression, anxiety, and stress (Scott et al., 2021).

As easy as well-being is to overlook, so much evidence shows just how important it actually is!

How I Chose “Well-being” as the Fourth Health Pillar

When I put together this guide, I wanted the main health pillar categories to really take into account the whole person. Well-being plays a special role in completing these pillars—it was that “something’s missing” piece I was looking for as I finalized my list of core health pillars. While sleep, nutrition, and movement are largely centered around physical health, well-being considers our minds, hearts, and souls. It takes into account those inner experiences and outer connections we encounter as humans.

When I was searching for a word to describe this fourth missing piece of the health puzzle, I struggled to find something comprehensive yet clear enough. The more I learned about well-being, though, the more it felt like the perfect fit for Present & Pure’s fourth health pillar.

Even though the definition can vary slightly based on where you read about it, to keep it as simple as possible, let’s just think of well-being as simply the process of nurturing that “inner landscape” of mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health so that we can live our best lives. This is specific enough to neatly categorize this health pillar without being so specific that it excludes key parts of well-being unintentionally. Let’s consider this the Present & Pure definition of well-being!

4 Essential Components of Better Well-being

Now that we know what well-being is and understand why it matters, let’s look more closely at what makes up well-being.

I’ve found it helpful to think of well-being as encompassing four key dimensions. Let’s take a look at each of these components.

1. Mental Well-being

Mental well-being is about the health of your mind—how you think, process information, and navigate mental challenges. As someone who’s battled issues like low self-esteem, overwhelm, lack of awareness, and negative thinking patterns, I’ve learned over time that mental well-being is crucial for attaining true happiness.

Mental well-being can include:

• Self-awareness and mindfulness: Understanding your thoughts, reactions, and mental patterns (especially recognizing destructive thought cycles)
• Stress management: Having tools and strategies to handle life’s inevitable challenges and pressures, whether that’s parenting challenges or performance anxiety
• Cognitive flexibility: The ability to challenge perfectionist thinking and adapt your approach when life doesn’t go as planned

2. Emotional Well-being

Emotional well-being focuses on the relationship you have with your feelings—how you experience, process, and express emotions in healthy ways. Not only do you need to have the courage to acknowledge and embrace your true feelings, but you also need the humility, diligence, and strength to work on developing the skills to work through those feelings constructively.

Some key elements of emotional well-being include:

• Emotional regulation: Learning to feel your feelings without being overwhelmed by them or losing control—whether that’s grief, anxiety, or anger
• Resilience building: Developing the capacity to bounce back from setbacks, loss, and life’s unexpected turns, traumas, and injustices
• Emotional processing: Having healthy ways of working through difficult emotions, trauma, and experiences that have shaped who you are

3. Social Well-being

Social well-being includes your connections with others and your sense of belonging in community.

This component of well-being is about building and nurturing relationships that actually nourish you while learning to protect yourself from ones that don’t.

Honestly, some relationships can really be down-right bad for your well-being. Having experienced abusive relationships and growing up in a home environment with a lot of relational dysfunction in my own life, I’ve had to learn the hard way that not all connections are healthy ones.

Here are some areas of focus that fall under social well-being:

• Meaningful relationships: Building, maintaining, and nurturing connections that provide genuine support, love, and understanding
• Healthy boundaries: Learning to recognize red flags, protect your energy, and say no, even when it’s difficult
• Community and belonging: Finding your people and your place, whether in family, friendships, or communities that truly see and value you

4. Spiritual Well-being

Spiritual well-being is about having a deep, foundational connection to purpose, meaning, and something greater than yourself. This doesn’t necessarily mean religion (though it can), but rather about understanding what gives your life significance and purpose. It is also about identifying core values and living in alignment with these values.

Sometimes you have a framework to follow, but for me and many others, a blank canvas may be your starting place. It’s also worth noting that simply having and following a pre-exisiting framework doesn’t necessarily guarantee that framework aligns with your true values and priorities.

Here are some areas of spiritual well-being to consider:

• Purpose and meaning: Understanding what matters most to you and finding significance even in difficult seasons
• Values alignment: Living in a way that reflects your core beliefs, especially when it’s challenging or countercultural
• Connection to something greater: Whether through religion, service, nature, or other pathways, finding what helps you feel like a part of something bigger

These four dimensions work together to create your overall sense of well-being. When one area is struggling, it often affects the others. The same can be said for the opposite situation; having strength in one dimension will strengthen the other dimensions.

As I always say, it’s important to remember that the goal shouldn’t be “perfection” in all areas. The goal should be continued and intentional awareness and nurturing of all areas.

Create Your Well-being Action Plan

Today, I will…

• Take three deep breaths during one daily routine.
• Name one emotion as it arises instead of ignoring it.
• Notice one small thing that brings me joy.
• Send one genuine message to someone I care about.
• Practice “good enough” instead of perfectionism in one area.

This week, I will…

• Create a simple joy list of 5-10 things that bring me peace.
• Practice one 5-minute reset when feeling overwhelmed (e.g., listen to a song, go outside, take a short walk, etc.).
• Set one gentle boundary to protect my energy.
• Spend brief moments in nature or looking outside.
• Add gentle movement that boosts my mood.

This month, I will…

• Focus on one component of well-being (mental, emotional, social, spiritual) that needs attention.
• Identify and honor one core value through small daily actions (e.g., I value caring for the planet, so I will ____.).
• Create simple digital boundaries for better mental health (social media, phone calls, texts, etc.).
• Practice habit stacking by pairing tiny wellness moments with existing routines (e.g., practice gratitude while on your daily commute, take deep breaths while washing dishes).
• Remember that well-being is an ongoing practice, not a destination!

The four main dimensions of well-being—mental, emotional, social, and spiritual—work together to create your overall sense of well-being. As mentioned before, when one area is struggling, it often affects the others. The same can be said for the opposite situation; strength in one dimension will strengthen the other dimensions. The beauty of this interconnectedness is that you don’t have to tackle everything at once to see results in multiple areas.

Maybe you start by nurturing one meaningful relationship (social), which gives you the support to work through difficult emotions (emotional), which then helps you think more clearly (mental) and allows you to more easily connect with what truly matters to you (spiritual). This is just one example of the cascading effect one change can make!

The key to approaching well-being is recognizing that these four areas exist and gently tending to whichever needs your attention most right now.

Speaking of interconnectedness and cascading effects, let’s dive more into how each of the four health pillars influence one another.

How the 4 Health Pillars Influence One Another

One of the most important things to understand about how to be healthy is that nutrition, sleep, movement, and well-being don’t exist in isolation. They’re all deeply interconnected, working together like a supportive web. When one pillar is struggling, it creates a ripple effect that impacts all the others. But here’s the encouraging news: small improvements in one health pillar naturally support the other health pillars too, creating positive momentum that makes healthy living feel more achievable over time.

For example, when you step outside for 15-20 minutes of morning sunlight, you’re supporting your circadian rhythm for better sleep that night. Better sleep gives you more energy to prep nourishing meals instead of grabbing quick fixes. Steady nutrition stabilizes your mood and energy, making you feel more resilient to daily stressors and giving you the fuel to incorporate more movement into your day. All of this creates an upward spiral where each positive choice makes the next one easier.

Instead of trying to optimize all four pillars simultaneously, focus on small, sustainable changes in one area based on your biggest needs and allow these natural connections to support your progress in all the others.

Examples of Cross-Pillar Effects

Understanding these cross-pillar health connections can actually simplify your approach to healthy living, especially when time and energy are limited.

I personally find the science behind these connections fascinating. Here are some really interesting cross-pillar findings supported by health research:

• Poor sleep disrupts hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin, making you crave more food the next day (Spiegel et al., 1999).
• Movement naturally improves sleep quality (Alnawwar et al., 2023) and builds stress resilience (Xie et al., 2021); just make sure to avoid rigorous exercise close to bedtime!
• Chronic stress depletes important nutrients (Lopresti, 2019) and negatively affects digestion (Konturek et al., 2011; Leigh et al., 2023).
• Good nutrition supports neurotransmitter production for better mood and mental clarity (Gasmi et al., 2022).

When you can’t address everything at once, consider the following tips:

1. If you’re exhausted…

Prioritize sleep support, knowing it will naturally improve your:

• food choices
• energy for movement, and
• well-being

Try this: Create a consistent bedtime routine and aim for the same sleep and wake times, even on weekends.

2. If you’re emotionally overwhelmed…

Focus on well-being practices like setting boundaries or connecting with your values, which will create mental space for other healthy choices involving all of the health pillars, such as helping you:

• get better sleep
• be more intentional about incorporating movement into your day, and
• make better nutritional choices.

Try this: Take a 10-minute walk outside when you feel stressed. You’ll be supporting both movement and well-being in one simple action!

3. If you’re struggling with food cravings…

Look at your sleep quality and stress levels first, rather than just trying to willpower your way through. Poor sleep and high stress both trigger cravings for quick energy foods.

Try this: Notice if cravings are strongest after poor sleep nights or stressful days, then address the root cause.

4. If motivation for movement is low…

Consider whether sleep deprivation or high stress might be the real culprit. Also consider how diet and nutrition may affect your energy levels (e.g., carb crashes, skipping meals, etc.)

Try this: Focus on eating balanced meals with protein and fiber, which can provide steady energy that makes movement feel more manageable.

Remember, you don’t need to perfect all four pillars to experience significant improvements in how you feel. The interconnected nature of health means that consistent small changes in any area will naturally support your overall well-being, creating momentum that makes healthy living feel more sustainable and less overwhelming for you over time.

Bringing It All Together: Creating Your Holistic Health Plan

Ready to create your own focused holistic health plan? Grab a notebook or open a document where you can jot down notes and revisit them easily.

Start by answering these five grounding questions:

1. Out of all 4 health pillars (sleep, nutrition, movement, well-being), which one am I struggling with most right now in this season of life?

2. What am I currently doing (if anything) to address this pillar?

3. What’s my biggest challenge or obstacle right now with this pillar?

4. What are some insights, practices, or tips from this post that I’d like to work on today, this week, and this month/season to help me work toward better health in this pillar?

5. What are some other things I could do to help me work on this pillar that fit within my unique situation?

Once you’ve reflected on these questions, you’ll have a clear starting point for your focused approach.

In addition to revisiting your answers daily, you might find tracking tools like apps or paper trackers helpful. But keep in mind that you don’t want to get bogged down by tracking if it’s going to lead you toward perfectionism. The goal of this simple holistic health plan is to help you focus on the pillar you currently struggle with most.

I know I’ve said this a million times already, but it’s just so important to remember. Because the pillars are interconnected, your focused work on this chosen health pillar will have positive ripple effects on the other health pillars, even if they aren’t your main focus right now.

Final Thoughts on How to Be Healthy

In our quest to be healthy, we often focus on individual practices while missing the bigger picture. True health comes from nurturing a balanced ecosystem where sleep, movement, nutrition, and well-being work together harmoniously. That being said, give yourself permission to start exactly where you are, with whatever capacity you have right now. Pick one pillar, choose one small practice, and just begin. Leave perfectionism at the door and trust that small, consistent steps (even imperfect ones) will create the momentum you need to build the healthy life you’re seeking.

The journey toward better health doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. By understanding how these four pillars support and enhance one another, you can create a sustainable approach to health that isn’t overly complicated and evolves with you through life’s many seasons.

What health looks like for you as a new parent will be different from what it looks like when your children are teenagers. What works during a busy season at work might need adjusting during a period of grief, major life transition, or even just the holidays. All of this is completely normal and expected. In other words, hold yourself accountable, but also give yourself grace!

Your future self will thank you for every small step you take today, not for waiting until you could do everything perfectly. Never underestimate the absolute power in small, consistent work (even if imperfect) when it comes to committing to better health!

I hope you found this article about how to be healthy truly helpful, motivating, and inspiring as you embark on your own personal journey. If you have any questions at all or would like to talk about this topic further, please don’t hesitate to comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

All the best to you and your healthy living journey!

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