After years of being obsessed with health optimization and spending far too much money on gadgets and supplements that promised the world but delivered very little, I have narrowed down just three non negotiable health habits that have genuinely transformed my energy levels, my mood, and overall well being. These aren't trendy wellness rituals that look good on Instagram but do nothing for your body. These are science backed practices that have made a huge difference in my daily life.
So today I want to share with you three simple habits that I swear by and they are all very easy to apply. Welcome to How I Work a show about habits, rituals and strategies for optimizing your day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imber. So let's get into my three non negotiable health habits. The first one is having a conceit distant wake time otherwise known as goodbye Monday morning jet lag. So something I do religiously is I
wake at the same time every single day, even on weekends. Okay, now I know what you're thinking, Amantha, those Sunday sleepins and what dreams are made of? Okay. I used to feel the exact same way until I learned about the science behind consistent rise times. Here's the thing. Bearing your wake time is basically giving yourself mini jet lag every
Monday morning. So if you typically wake at six am on weekdays but sleep in until nine am or even eight am on weekends, it's like flying from Melbourne to New Zealand and back every single week. I mean no wonder mondays can feel so brutal your body clock is completely confused. When I interviewed Professor Eric Prather for my book The Health Habit, he told me that getting up at the same time every day is the number one
thing we can do for our sleep. It helps train our circadian clock and sets in motion our homeostatic sleep drive, which you can think of that as a balloon that fills with sleepiness throughout the day. Since implementing this habit, I fall asleep more easily, experience fewer night wakings, and perhaps most importantly, don't start every week feeling like I've
just stepped off a long haul flight. Okay, let's move into my second non negotiable health habit, which is daily exercise, but with an important twist, I allow myself two hall passes each week. So my routine includes four weight training sessions where I'm now lifting weights that would have seemed impossible to my teenage self, and I go for two to three runs or more realistically slow jogs every week. Let me tell you though about the Hall pass system,
because that has been a game changer. So research shows that people who allow themselves occasional planned breaks actually exercise more consistently than those who set rigid, unforgiving routines. I learned this from Assistant Professor Marissa Shariff's research, which found that participants with two Hall passes per week, in other words, permission not to hit their daily step goal twice a week, hit their step target forty percent more frequently than those
without this flexibility. This approach prevents what psychologists call the what the hell effect, that moment when you miss one workout and decide your entire exercise plan is ruined so you might as well give up completely. Instead, I use my hall passes strategically, and this flexibility has helped me maintain my exercise habit for years, not just weeks. Alright. Tip number three, My final non negotiable is including twenty
to thirty grams of protein with every meal. As someone who once spiraled into a sugar fueled frenzy that culminated in eating raw sugar straight from the container. Yes, true story. You can read about it in the Health Habit, I have learned that protein is my secret weapon against blood sugar chaos. Professor Abby Ryan Smith explained this to me that adequate protein helps keep us full, it stabilizes blood glucose, and it prevents those midday slumps that have us reaching
for the biscuit tin. So by anchoring each meal with protein, I experience fewer cravings, more sustained energy, and improved mental clarity. It's not always easy, especially at breakfast when the world wants to push cereal on you, but the payoff in terms of stable mood, FOD and energy has been huge. So these three habits now form the rock solid foundation of my health routeam. They're simple enough to maintain long term,
but impactful enough to make a genuine difference. If you like today's show, make sure you hit follow on your podcast app to be alerted when new episodes drop. How I Work was recorded on the traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the Cool and Nation. A big thank you to Martinimber for doing the sound mix,