I think it is safe to say that most of us probably do not drink enough water. We talk ourselves into understanding our weaknesses and how we could possibly go about addressing them with various methods of toughness on the mind. Self-improvement may often be something completely unrelated to physical health, with a strong focus on something that could otherwise be solved with much more significance. So, before I continue, if you are reading this: go and get yourself a glass of water to drink before you continue.
For many, the diet is something we are typically oblivious to. We only really begin to take it seriously once we fall into the realm of phsyical appearance. We fail to realise the importance a decent diet can make on all aspects of our being. It can be quite easy to fall victim to the idea that having a good diet is to be dieting. That is definitely far from the truth. And I myself have fallen victim to this for such long periods of time in the past. I definitely did not drink enough water before, and I definitely did not eat well. The ways in which we neglect ourselves through food and drink is akin to insanity. How we push forward knowing something does not feel right but not quite connecting the dots that allow us to make the change necessary.
There is a very good chance your body is telling you it wants and needs something different. I say this because I felt it for so long before I one day just made a few changes, only to notice an incredibly fast result. For example, you may be a person that feels they need energy drinks in order to get through the day due to extreme fatigue and a lack of concentration, but that fatigue and lack of concentration may very well be due to your body firing off signals that it doesn't want more of it. That it needs something else to be satisfied.
I used to be an insomniac, struggling to sleep at night and incapable of maintaining a decent sleeping pattern. I could barely go a week with a regular schedule and it seemed as if everything was just not meant to be normal in my life. Looking back at those years, I realise now that I neglected myself to such a terrible degree. Where I would effectively poison myself with trash and then question why I never felt that great. My diet consisted of carbs, fat, sugar, and I almost never consumed water.
The moment I dropped that diet and began to listen to what my body wanted, I felt different. More energetic. More alive and at peace. Capable of concentrating on things I could not before. More motivated and noticing my body was thanking me for it. The energy and health I felt was like an aura of bliss that surrounded me. I followed this up with lifting weights and generally just exercising more: going for runs and even using a treadmill at home. The feeling of sweat and heat emitting from me merely amplified how good I felt. I felt as if I knew that sweating and feeling the burn of muscles and an increased heart rate was a method of ridding my body of the many toxic things it held within it.
I discovered that very quickly I made the switch from the fast and lazy foods to the healthier, more nutritious ones. The result from that has been crazy: I am rarely hungry now, and I definitely can't as much as I used to. And I was never someone that was overweight, but I definitely was far from being at my peak. Drinking more water, eating better and less, has resulted in weight being lost as well. I have noticed certain clothes don't quite fit like they used to, and that I have dropped a few sizes.
Though, I want to state that these developments were purely accidental. I even began intermittent fasting purely by accident. I was never someone that could stick to a schedule, so I would never eat at regular intervals. I would merely eat whenever I wanted and felt I needed to. Now that I eat less and don't feel the need to eat as much, I have noticed that now I have a specific time in the day tht I choose to eat something, and then won't eat anything or much else for the rest of the day; I'll just substitute food with water and I'm happy.
If you have made it this far, and you too are on the road to self-improvement, take all of this into consideration. Drop the toxic energy drinks and the fast-food and try something different. See if your body has been actually trying to tell you something all this time, and see if it results in not just your physical health improving, but your mental health as well. Because it can be incredibly difficult to focus on one of those without the other being in great shape too. Ignore deliveries and snacks and replace it with fruit, prepare your own meals and avoid anything frozen. Even the process of preparing food can result in a better wellbeing; the reward of creating something you know is good for you will make a difference. Perhaps even purchase some vitamin supplements to help give you that extra boost if you aren't sure you are getting enough.
You don't have to go crazy with changing up your diet. You don't have to make a routine of eating a single almond each day and nothing else. You aren't dieting, just improving your diet! Take breaks from what you're doing if you feel things aren't going your way, but use that break to get up, stretch your legs, and grab some water for when you return to the activity. These minor steps make such a huge difference.
Also, I didn't have an image to use for this post, so I replaced a terrible one I made with some evidence of drawing again today. An early start on understanding the shapes and structure behind drawing noses.