How to have a perfect, healthy day

Hello, I'm Lei from Lei's Real Talk. As a YouTuber, my biggest challenge is working with my team in different time zones to meet production deadlines. My schedule is a bit all over the place. I often stay up late and skip meals or eat food at random times. Recently, I've wanted to make a change. I looked into TCM or traditional Chinese medicine for advices on healthy habits, such as the best time for sleeping and what to avoid in the morning. It was eye-opening and I can't wait to share with you what I learned. Let's dive in. The best time of the day is the morning. In the early morning, as the sun has just risen, the yang energy in our bodies begins to rise after a night of dormancy. According to traditional Chinese medicine, yang energy is the source of vitality and key to good health. After getting up in the morning, drinking a glass of warm water is a good health habit. Water that's too hot or too cold is not conducive to the rise of yang energy. Chinese medicine believes that one should never skip breakfast. From 7 to 9 in the morning is when the stomach meridian is in command. So it's important to eat at this time. What's a good breakfast? There's no strict definition, but one should eat a full breakfast, and there are certain foods you should avoid. The ancient Chinese left an important guideline on longevity, and it goes like this. When morning strengthens fire, and when noon leaks bodily essence, yang energy declines and life is shortened. It advises people not to eat food with strong fire properties for breakfast. In the morning, the body's yang energy is at its weakest. Eating large amounts of foods with strong fire properties will cause drastic fluctuations in the body's yin and yang, speeding up the loss of yang energy. Losing it excessively will lead to a situation of shortening the lifespan. Food with strong fire properties refer to those that are difficult to digest, as well as oily and strong foods such as hotpot, fries, spicy food, large amounts of meat and seafood. We should avoid eating them for breakfast. In the morning, it's also important to avoid emotions that cause excessive fire energy, which also disrupt the balance of yin and yang. Therefore, in the morning, we should avoid getting into arguments or become upset. For busy professionals, meetings can start as early as 7 or 8 am. Try avoid difficult negotiations or discussions early in the morning. Save those for later in the day. If you are an HR professional or a manager, do not fire people first thing in the morning. It's not good for your health or that person's health. Instead, having positive, uplifting meetings first thing in the morning will be a good start of the day. Noon is when our yang energy is at its peak. Chinese noon time is from 11 am to 1 pm. This is the ideal time for lunch. During this period, after yang energy has reached its peak, it will gradually decline while yin energy begins to rise. At this time, you should avoid vigorous exercises to prevent the loss of the body's essence and energy. Strenuous activities that make you sweat, such as working out, jogging, or sex, are not advised during the noon hours. Instead, it's best to take a short 15 to 30 minute power nap after lunch to replenish one's strength. Traditional Chinese medicine advises people to eat a full breakfast, a good lunch, and a light dinner. The key to breakfast is that it must be filling, so carbs are the good option. Lunch should be the most nutritious meal of the day. It should be rich in protein and can include greasy and strong food. Dinner, however, should be light, and one should eat sparingly for dinner. In the West, people usually eat a light lunch at work. Some even skip lunch and eat a dinner after work. This is not healthy eating according to traditional Chinese medicine. The most ideal time to sleep is from 9pm to 5am. Within those hours, the time from 11pm to 3am is the most critical. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that this is the most crucial period when your body goes through a self-restoration and repair. Deep sleep during these hours helps restore energy, promote blood circulation, and enhance the function and recovery of bodily organs. Chinese doctors recommend that even if you can't fall asleep, lying in bed to rest during those hours also has health benefits. If you take a shower at night, Chinese doctors would advise you to completely dry your hair and scalp. Going to bed with wet hair can lead to the body absorbing excess moisture, causing fatigue and a lack of appetite over time. This is particularly harmful to women and elderly people. That's the healthy habits I learned from traditional Chinese medicine or TCM. What do you think? A lot of it is common sense, right? I think I can follow most of it except going to bed before 11. I start live stream programs sometimes at 10 and finish at 11. It then usually takes another couple of hours before I go to bed. I can try to start my programs earlier but it involves moving everything up. A good habit takes time to develop but I will try. I wish everyone a happy morning, a quality noon, and a restful evening. This is my third Chinese culture video. Thank you for watching. Let me know what you think and leave me comments. See you next time.