Last month, Melissa outlined the first five commandments to follow to achieve health and vitality. Read on to learn the rest of her top ten list!

6.    Thou Shalt Drink 50% of Thy Body Weight in Ounces Daily.

Our bodies are designed to use water – not soda, energy drinks, commercial protein shakes, processed juice, coffee, alcohol, and any other processed beverage you can think of.  These liquid chemicals are very toxic and stressful to your body.  About 75% of your body is made up of water, and the slightest shortage can lead to serious health problems.  Don’t wait until you’re thirsty; get in the habit of drinking water through out the day (your liver and kidneys will thank you for this one too).

 7.    Thou Shalt Get to Bed by 10pm.

To truly be healthy and fit, your body needs adequate amounts of sleep.  At 10pm, your body begins its physical repair cycles and at 2am, it shifts into psychogenic (mental) repair, which lasts until about 6am.  When you go to sleep after 10pm, you deprive your body of much-needed recovery time.  You may find that you get sick a lot easier when you don’t get sleep.  To keep your body strong and able to fight off disease, get to sleep by 10pm.

 8.    Thou Shalt MAKE TIME to Move EVERY Day.

A healthy body is a moving body!  We are not meant to be sitting all day long, and it’s because we’re going against nature with our modern, sedentary lifestyles that we’re getting so sick and tired.  I’m sure you know that your body needs daily movement; you just need to make the time every day to do it!  Take a walk, go for a hike or bike ride, swim, do some stretches—do whatever you enjoy, just move your body!

 9.    Thou Shalt Work Hard and REST Harder.

Every woman over the age of 40 should do resistance training exercises to maintain healthy, lean muscle mass.  And if you’re looking for an added get-fit bonus, interval training is highly effective for increasing metabolic rate, without “bulking up.”  Some intensive training is very beneficial, BUT ONLY IF you’re applying the previous 8 commandments.  Only a healthy body, that is nourished with the right foods and adequate amounts of rest, can handle the intensive training necessary to sculpt a strong, sexy body.  When you do train hard, it’s important to take lots of time to recover; your body actually gets stronger while you’re resting.  So, if you don’t give yourself the right amount of rest in between your workouts, or if you train too hard, you WILL not reap the benefits of your exercise program.

 10.  Thou Shalt Live by the 80/20 Rule.

If you make a pact with yourself that you will be committed to following all of the other commandments 80% of the time, that leaves 20% for imperfection.  You really don’t have to live by the commandments 100% of the time to be healthy and fit!  If you treat your body right most of the time, it can absorb a little abuse every now and then.

Now put these commandments in a place where you can look at them every day as a reminder of the simple steps you need to take to get you closer to a healthy, fit you!

Leave me a comment on FriendYourBody.com, and I’m happy to help you!

Melissa Koerner