President- Emma Kakish 

Vice President- Abigail Rowland

Secretary- Madalyn Jenkins

Treasurer- Mirabella Matson 

Reporters- Emily Erdossy and Savannah Adams

A:Maintaining a healthy weight by creating a vibrant lifestyle doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Explore the resources available to you, on the house! 

Work regular activity into your routine

• Walk more: Walking is a simple, free, and accessible way to burn calories and increase overall movement. Explore local parks and walking trails.

• Strength train with body weight exercises: Exercises, such as squats, pushups, planks, and lunges, can be done at home without equipment. You can find free strength training videos online.

• Move more throughout your day: Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away from your destination, or get up and move while watching TV. Any movement burns calories and gets that blood pumping.

Practice mindful eating

• Take your time and savor your food: Enjoy the textures, tastes, and aroma of your meals, and allow your body time to register fullness.

• Listen to your hunger and fullness cues: Don’t wait until you’re hangry before eating. Avoid eating when you’re not truly hungry.

• Eat more plants: Make mindful food choices when possible by adding more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains into your diet while reducing the intake of sugary and high fat foods.

• Minimize distractions while eating: Turn off the TV, put down your phone, and close the laptop. Eat sitting at the table, focusing on your meal and enjoying the company of others. (Join our series on mindful eating in one click!)

Focus on self-care

• Meditate: Mindfulness meditation can help reduce stress, improve focus, and promote overall well-being. Many free resources, such as guided meditation videos or apps, are available online to help you get started.

• Make sleep a priority: Establish a consistent sleep schedule and a relaxing bedtime routine. You need 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep a night.

• Journal: Writing down thoughts, feelings, and experiences can be a therapeutic self-care practice. Journaling can help promote self-reflection, emotional processing, and stress relief. Spend time dreaming big and visualizing what can be.

RUTH ABATE, HEALTH COACH 

Want to learn more about food, diets, cooking, or some other nutrition subject? Let us know at nutritionedition@healthline.com and we'll look into it for you! (Heads up, we may use your response in an upcoming newsletter.)

AThere are so many routes you can take. Today, we’re going to focus on the power of glimmers and joy lists. 

✨ First up: Glimmers!

These are little moments of happiness, peace, or comfort that exist throughout the day that most of us overlook. Think: the first sip of your morning coffee, warm sunshine on your face, or slipping into cozy pajamas after taking a hot shower. 

Noting your glimmers can help retrain your brain to refocus on positives, rather than anxiety triggers. The more you practice tuning in to them, the easier it’ll be to become more mindful of those joyful experiences and reach for them during hard times. 

To get started, try listing all the glimmers you notice throughout your day, then reflecting on how they made you feel in a journal at night. 

📋 Next up: Joy lists

As you might expect, this is a list of whatever brings you joy. It can change and expand over time, and some items might overlap with your glimmers. 

Joy listing is a simple yet powerful practice that helps shift your focus away from the negative stuff in your life (and the world) to things that help you to feel abundant and grateful. They’re also a good reminder that you don’t have to wait for X, Y, and Z in order to be happy. There are moments of happiness to be found in your day, wherever you are in your journey — you just have to keep an eye out for them. 

To learn how to create a joy list and see examples of what one might look like, read our full guide below. 

START A JOY LIST

If you’d like to request a specific topic, offer feedback, or chime in with your answers to our weekly questions, feel free to email us at newsletters@healthline.com. We look forward to connecting with you and supporting you on the path to mental well-being.