Treating yourself when trying to take care of your health can be difficult, but it isn’t impossible. Luckily, treating yourself doesn’t have to mean indulging in sweets or forgoing your exercise routine for a few days. If you’ve decided it’s time to treat yourself but don’t want to do anything that could be unhealthy, consider the following healthy ways to practice self-care and give yourself a treat.
This is a guest post in collaboration with Alycia Coloma.
1. Prioritize sleep to treat yourself
Sleeping is something you do every night, so it’s hard to imagine it as a treat for yourself. However, if you’re not getting enough quality sleep, then treating yourself may mean giving yourself enough time to sleep and relaxing well enough before bed so that you can fall asleep easily.
If you are someone who works late and stays up even later so that you can do something you enjoy before bed, then it’s time to take a step back and see what you can do to prioritize sleep, at least for a little while.
Prioritizing sleep may mean telling your boss that you need to start leaving work at a specific time and can no longer work overtime because you need to get sleep. It may also mean shutting the television off earlier than you’re used to so that you can start teaching your brain when it’s time to get to bed.
2. Work out
While working out may not seem like a way to treat yourself, it can be. Most people work out so that they can lose weight or keep the weight off. Fewer people work out because it can improve their mood and make them feel more energized.
We’re not telling you that you have to hit the gym every morning at 5am to treat yourself. However, we are saying that if you begin treating your body to a decent workout in the morning, such as a relaxing yoga routine, then you’ll start feeling more awake throughout the day.
Another way to get in exercise and treat yourself is by going on a hike in the forest where you can get fresh air and leave your worries behind.
3. Try dessert tea
If you’re focused on nutrition, treating yourself and your taste buds may seem difficult. Luckily, you don’t need to consume extra calories to treat yourself. For example, instead of baking yourself a whole tray of cupcakes, try dessert tea that will give you all of the taste you need from your sweets without packing on extra calories, carbs, and sugar. SupplementRelief.com has a great blog that can help you with tips and tricks to help you find your healthy medium through nutritional chemistry
4. Take a day off to treat yourself
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to take a day off of work to stay at home and relax or go shopping to focus on yourself for one day that isn’t a weekend. In addition, many workplaces now promote a healthy work-life balance that allows you to take time off when you need to rejuvenate your mind and body. Whatever you do with your time off, make sure that it’s something that positively impacts your mood, such as getting a massage or sleeping in.
5. Splurge
If there’s something that you want to buy, but its price tag has held you back, consider splurging every so often to reward yourself for all of your hard work. While it’s the norm to go to work every Monday to Friday for at least eight hours a day, no one ever said it was easy.
Make sure that you reward your hard work and dedication by using the money you earn from your job to pay for something that makes you happy every once in a while.
6. Having a spa day at home is the perfect way to treat yourself
You don’t need to go to the spa to have a spa day. Instead, you can pamper yourself at home with a foot spa and a relaxing bath. With bath bombs, you can breathe in essential oils and soak in Epsom salt to relax your muscles while you drift off into a state of pure relaxation.
Make sure to treat yourself to something nice every once in a while. Life shouldn’t be all about stress and work—allow yourself to let loose and have some fun with the above tips.
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