Managing your weight and eating a balanced diet will contribute to your overall well being by helping your body to become healthier in every way, by improving digestion, metabolism, concentration and more. Even though it may not feel like it when you have to cut down on your favourite snacks such as chocolate and crisps, you will eventually begin to feel more energised and most likely have a better night’s sleep. Although eating healthily and losing weight are usually the key contributors to well being for a lot of people, there are other areas of life that can be changed slightly to make you feel better in yourself.

One of the biggest causes of feelings of imbalance in people’s lives is restlessness or lack of sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, then most likely you will become grumpy and irritable and, if it persists, it can have a long-term impact on your health. Some studies suggest that increasing your intake of magnesium can help make it easier for you to relax, which you can do by eating more nuts, wholegrain, beans, dark green vegetables and fish; all part of a balanced diet.

Another way to more easily achieve relaxation is to change your bedroom decor. By eliminating clutter from your bedroom and making sure everything is clean and streamlined, you will be surprised at the calming effect it has on your mind. Similarly, you might want to think about painting your bedroom a calming colour; mellow colours such as blue, green or purple will have more of a calming effect than dynamic colours like shocking pink or bright red.

Another 21^st century problem that puts a dent in our well being is stress. Stress can be caused by a number of different things and will always vary from person to person, with some people not even noticing that they are stressed at all. Similar to sleep deprivation; stress can cause moodiness and irritability, as well as physical symptoms such as chest pain, nausea, aches and pains and a significant loss or increase in appetite.

When combating stress it is important to first recognise situations, feelings, events etc that trigger a stressful response, so they you can take steps to deal with them in the best way possible. The best combatant for stress is learning how to relax; this can be achieved more easily by steering clear of food and drink that has high caffeine levels and drinking something soothing like green tea. If you find yourself becoming more agitated or feel tense at the end of the day, then try going for a short walk; the fresh air will invigorate you and by concentrating on the movement of your body and thinking about specifically lifting each foot and moving each arm, you can focus your mind and tune out everything else around you. Similarly, you could try something new like yoga or meditation to help you relax, which will help to lower your overall stress levels overtime.