My Favorite Cozy, Easy Health and Wellness Tips (Affordable & Beginner-Friendly)

I'm not a medical or mental health professional - just sharing what's worked for me! Always consult with healthcare providers for personalized advice.

I am not a clean girl. Sometimes to my chagrin, but I accept this about myself. I do not have a drawer full of perfectly folded Alo sets in a rainbow of colors. I do not have beautiful clean New Balances and spotless marble counter tops and a stainless steel fridge full of avocados. Nor do I lament the wonderful girls who do, who are just trying to exist and feel healthy and pretty and good about themselves as we all are by the skin of our teeth most days. My mom and I get Korean food every Sunday and she takes a picture of my first bite as a running bit every time. If I had to choose a picture that describes the essence of who I really am, I would choose this one:

I have pilling Amazon cropped yoga pants and beat up Nikes I got at DSW. My countertops are some amalgamation of chip board and a lovely proper coating of veneer. My fridge is white and I’m sure from the 1980s and makes a sound like a horse kicking a stable door about three times a day. And I am grateful for all of these things as if they were the shiniest, newest, trendiest gifts. I am grateful to have comfortable clothes that fit and shoes to enjoy the outdoors in and a fridge so I can always have fresh food. These are life’s truest luxuries, as is our health. 

I do not come from a health conscious family. My parents loved and cared for me admirably but we didn’t have one of those dinner tables where I had to eat my broccoli or go outside and play if I was watching too much tv. We were a spaghetti and meatballs family, a walk to go get ice cream family, a chicken nuggets before math tutoring family. And I think we were a realistic family. I do not yet know the Herculean magic trick of raising children, making a living, taking care of a house, getting the car fixed, maintaining a relationship, and having a social life. I’m sure one day I will understand the full gravity of how well my parents really did. 

But as an adult I’ve been on a couple years long journey to really incorporate sustainable wellness habits into my life. My father always struggled with his health and he passed quite young at 62. I really had this wake up call of how different his life might have been if he had had the opportunity to give himself a bit more love and care. Not out of fear but out of a love for him, I wanted to go on a journey to give myself what he did not have the chance to. I wanted to learn to love my body, love the simple joys of being alive, and to love taking care of myself. We cannot love anything unless we cherish it with loving action. And I didn’t really know how to do that. 

Starting From Nothing with My Health Journey 

I had struggled with self punishment and mental health fairly severely throughout teenhood and especially young adulthood. This also made it much harder to tend to my physical health, which I did in short all-or-nothing bursts fueled by anxiety throughout my life until I burned out and gave up again. Rinse and repeat. But when my dad died, I was dumped completely back to square one with my health. I spent probably 23 hours a day on the couch and my appetite ranged from non-existent to a chicken finger and a milkshake for dinner. That was what I could manage. I talk a bit more about grief and how hard it can be physically in this post. If you’ve experienced it first hand, you know just getting through a day and eating anything is a win. 

A couple months of this though and I wanted my blood to feel liquid again. On a whim, I decided to do a Pilates video. My first session largely resembled a fish flopping helplessly on land. 

But grief was a bit of a blessing in disguise. I was so fragile that I somehow just didn’t have the energy to be mean to myself. I knew my mental health wasn’t going to get better until I was a bit more physically taken care of so I just started incorporating little acts of care into my daily ritual. I started trying to glean inspiration from health content online and through podcasts and magazines and stuff and found most of it is very much highly aestheticized cool girl vibes. And that just wasn’t my vibe because I! Was a mess! There could be no fooling myself or anyone of a polished, put together persona. I just needed to get to “good enough.” 

That grace for imperfection was the secret sauce I never had in my health journey. Because a very beautiful life is also very imperfect. A tattered old 80s kitchen can easily be your happiest place in the world (as it is mine.) It is the joy with which we explain things to ourselves that they become special. I just had to explain health to me in less of a harsh, judgemental tone. Call it a rebranding. My brand of beginner-friendly self-care is more Hobbit-ey. Cottagecore, stews over salads, hike in the woods over run on the treadmill type of homey, cozy vibes. Your brand might be different and that’s perfectly okay. But I’ve found what works for me and it’s such a wonderful feeling! I recently went to my first physical in a long time (too long) and received a sparkling health report that I was really proud of. Because I achieved it through really sustainable, fun, and comforting ways, three things I never previously thought health could be. 

So here are some of my favorite cozy, easy, simple daily health habits that won’t cost you too much (if any) money and you may very well enjoy. It’s not a comprehensive list but it’s a good place to start. The tips are separated by category so you can skip to whichever one you’d like a tip for. 

Food: Easy Ways to Eat More Vegetables (Without Suffering)

I promise this is not going to be another unending internet tirade about some weird and complex thing you need to be making and eating every day. I am neither qualified nor interested in talking about the “ideal” diet. But I used to be a certified Big Kid who Hates Vegetables and now I eat vegetables regularly and without choking! Going from someone who used to drink a full sugar coke for breakfast, these are major strides. Here are some affordable wellness tips I use to sneak nutrients into my diet like I’m a picky little kid. 

Blended Soups 

We all need to be talking about blended soups more, the hotter, more interesting twin sister of the smoothie. You’re tellin’ me I could just simmer together a bunch of different ingredients, blend it with a stick blender, then eat it for dinner and it will just taste like cheese? 

Some blended soups are probably heavier than others but there are so, so many recipes on the internet for tomato soup, potato leek soup, butternut squash soup and it’s such a quick meal that also makes for great lunch leftovers. Fiber, nutrients, hydration without having to chug a bunch of water. Perfection!

My two secret ingredients are 1) a can of beans and 2) nutritional yeast. The can of beans tip I think I got from Colleen Christensen @no.food.rules. She just recommends blending in a can of beans into blended soups so the meal is a bit more complete and filling. It just tastes like you added cream. The nutritional yeast is because sometimes the soup needs a lot of salt for the flavor to come out but I find the nooch gives it a rich, cheesy, salty taste without the extra sodium. 

Put a Chicken Finger on It 

I will not eat a kale salad but I will eat anything with a chicken finger on it. A great go to lunch for getting more veg in without suffering is one of those Trader Joe’s bagged salads with an air fried chicken finger all chopped up on top of it. Is a chicken finger the best thing in the world for me? No, but if one chicken finger is going to get me to eat a whole bowl of kale, I say it’s worth it. If the texture is still yuck to you, wrap it all up in a whole wheat tortilla or pita. 

Find Your Refried Beans 

I love refried beans. Up until a year ago, I was under the impression refried beans were bad for you and I only ate them when I was enjoying a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Turns out, when you make refried beans at home with certain ingredients, not only are they super cheap and taste the same, they’re good for you? Some days a slop of bagged rice and some refried beans from the batch I kept in the fridge was the glue that kept me going. 

Maybe your comfort food is not refried beans but chances are there’s a version of it you can make at home that’s pretty decent for you. It doesn’t have to be like black bean brownies if that’s not your drift (but those can be pretty good too.) For instance, I saw this chicken cutlet recipe but the breading was those dried chickpeas all blended up for more fiber and nutrients. Try recreating a food you love at home with a healthy twist. 

Tumbler with a Straw

I drink a lot of water and the only way I achieve this is by having a giant tumbler with a straw on my desk at all times. Fill it up in the morning, set it on your desk, and you will find yourself just subconsciously draining it while you type away. If it’s a glass or a sealed top water bottle, forget it. I won’t even touch it. But there’s something about the straw that’s just habitual.  

Movement: Beginner-Friendly Exercise Routines

I’m not really a gym person but I still like to have a routine of formal movement. It really helps my mental health and it’s been fun to see how much strength and energy I’ve built over time. These are some non workout-ey workout hacks that helped me go from flopping fish to decently capable on a mat and on my feet. 

The TV Stretch 

Some days a formal workout is just too daunting to wrap your head around. And I think it’s totally fine to forego it on those days but if you’re like me, getting my blood moving even a teeny bit helps me not go crazy quite a lot. This tip is also great for anyone trying to build a consistent, enjoyable movement routine and it starting from zero. 

Just plop down a yoga mat (I like this one) when you’re watching an episode of something and stretch a bit. Do whatever feels good, flop around, and tune into your body. If you do nothing else that day to take care of yourself, this has surprisingly powerful benefits. It helps me sleep better, it calms me down, and it makes me feel accomplished. After a while it has a snowball effect. You’re like, “Well, it might feel good to go for a little walk.” one evening after doing it every day for a week. And then you’re like “I’ve always kind of liked the idea of playing a sport.” and you look into joining a recreational league. It gets you used to the habit of moving for fun because it makes you feel better without being overwhelming. 

Walk with a Friend 

You know what sucks! Forcing yourself to go to the gym. You know what’s fun? Hanging out with your friends! Catch up with friends over a walk through the park. If you’re a person who likes working out (or wants to like it) try some classes or join a gym with a buddy so it feels more like hanging out than working out. You could even take up some group activity like disc golf (super fun) or tennis. 

15 Minute YouTube Yoga Challenges 

I noticed one of my main mental hurdles to showing up for regular movement is deciding what to do. I’m now mostly in the habit of doing something every day because I want to and I’m used to it but getting here was a real slog. One thing that really helped was doing one of Yoga with Kassandra’s 30 day 15 minute yoga challenges. It’s just a fairly beginner short yoga video you do every day either in the morning or evening (she has a couple different series). And it took the guesswork out of what I was going to do that day. Everyday, whenever I could fit it in, I did my little video. Then my brain and body were used to fitting in the movement everyday so I could build on that habit with longer, harder, or different types of movement. Now I do anything from an hour long hot yoga class to just a 15 minute yoga video every day. You can do the videos even if you don’t have a lot of energy so they’re likely manageable even on your worst day. 

Piecemeal Workouts 

I work at a desk and if you work at a desk you know that “your limbs have turned to stone” feeling. Instead of one big workout, which can be hard to fit into a schedule, sometimes I’ll do 3-5 mini workouts. A quick YouTube dance video. A little walk after lunch. A couple of sun salutations. After 3-4, 10 minute sessions you’ve had a perfectly respectable movement session add up at the end of the day and you ward off the 3PM fatigue/despair. 

Mental Health: Simple Stress Management Tips 

If I don’t feel good mentally/ emotionally, nothing else good for me is gonna happen. These are easy mental health practices I try to do regularly that have really helped me to feel lighter and more joyful on a regular basis. 

Doom Scroll Alternatives

If you are depresso, you will lay in your bed. If you lay in your bed, you will scroll on your phone. If you scroll on your phone, you will feel worse. I’ve found the best defense against the doom scroll is always having something else to pick up that’s equally as easy for your brain to process and entertaining. For me it’s a Kindle. For you it could be a magazine, a junk journal, a coloring book, a word search, a novel, a magazine… ANYTHING BUT THE PHONE. Most of the time, we pick up our phone because we need a little time out, a little brain break. Then the phone takes the wheel and we blink and it’s 3AM. 

Not only does this replacement habit help prevent that awful scroll tunnel vision effect, it means you engage with a fun hobby pretty regularly! It’s like a nicotine patch. But for your phone. Here are some book recs if you need em. 

Blood Flow in the Morning 

I read this book that is most certainly an antiquated manual for agoraphobic housewives from the 1950s called Hope and Help for Your Nerves. Some of the suggestions were honestly so, so helpful though. I had also never heard them before and that’s coming from someone who has been in therapy and elbow deep in the self help section for years. 

One of the suggestions was that if you struggle with mental health challenges, to make sure you raise your heart rate first thing when you wake up. Anxiety and depression can be so bad in those first moments when you wake and the author explains that your low heart and respiratory rate from sleep can make this effect worse if it stays low for too long in the morning (i.e. laying in bed.) I get up and brush my teeth as soon as I can. I do an “opening shift” just putting the house in general order and make a latte. I don’t do some insane, Marine inspired morning routine but not sitting down on the couch or staying sedentary in that first half hour has drastically improved my anxiety levels. 

Two Week Check In 

I do my therapy through Grow Therapy and I’ve had a great experience with it if you are looking to start but don’t know where to begin. But you can still benefit from this tip if you don’t do therapy. 

The platform automatically sends me this questionnaire every two weeks to check in with how I’ve been feeling lately and it made me realize how selective my memory is when it comes to my mental health. Like I’ll be really stressed out and I think my subconscious is just like “Well that’s how it is!” and it becomes background noise until I have a meltdown because I undercooked my spaghetti (true story.) Filling out the questionnaire was super helpful because it made me go back and sort of take stock of how things have been going for me that I might have glossed over.  A lot of times it would help me catch patterns that were making life harder for me I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed. Things like not getting enough sleep, not eating enough, not talking to friends regularly. 

Set a calendar reminder to do a little check in every two weeks. Journal or check in with a mental health provider or sit and think about anything you need and haven’t been getting. 

Put Everything Off Around My Period 

If I am on my period or in the ten days before my period, I DO NOT CHALLENGE MYSELF. Serious conversation? No. Doing my finances? No. Trying a super hard new workout? No. If I am seeing the world through PMS glasses, one minor inconvenience that I wouldn’t have noticed in the first half of my cycle will turn me into a pessimistic sea monster in the second half. This may not be the case for you, but if you notice you have a shorter fuse near your period, don’t make it harder for yourself. We can’t avoid all inconvenience for half the month but we can make sure we don’t attempt to take up souffle making the night before our period. Put it off until you’re not in the red zone. 

I might do a second round of these! I’d love to make a couple of different ones as go to lists people can reference when they’re down. They may seem small or ineffectual but small, gentle changes have been so much more powerful for me than big overhauls. With time they build up and you have this wonderful self knowledge and routine of self care. 

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading. 💌

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