Are you a busy business owner juggling the demands of running a company while keeping up with your health? This blog post has several excellent health tips for CEOs from Regan Archibald, functional medicine practitioner, entrepreneur, and one of our featured guest experts on The Beyond 7 Figures podcast.
CEOs often face intense pressure when running a business. However, many entrepreneurs forget how important diet and sleep are for their well-being — especially during times of high stress.
While multitasking is necessary for entrepreneurs, taking care of yourself must remain a top priority. How you fuel yourself — from proper nutrition to getting adequate rest — has an enormous impact on both your physical health and professional success.
“As entrepreneurs, we tend to forget to recharge our body and mind until the decisions we make become sloppy,” says Regan Archibald, a licensed acupuncturist, peptide expert, and functional medicine practitioner. “This could have been avoided if we just took a minute to focus on our health.”
If you want to maintain good health while leading a multimillion-dollar company or working with dozens of employees, this post is for you.
Here are a few choice health tips for CEOs to help optimize your performance:
1. Set your habits to optimize performance.
Setting healthy habits is critical to leading a balanced life and performing at the top of your game.
One of the most effective habits is time-restricted eating. This means that you limit your eating to a certain period each day. You then fast for the rest of the day, which is shown to improve health and performance in many studies.
Another great way to optimize performance is by getting enough sleep every night. Sleep is critical for physical and mental health.
Having routines around eating and sleeping will help keep you on track throughout your life.
Sleep is the foundation of health.
Getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night is crucial to being an effective CEO. Sleep deprivation can lead to health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
Sleep is important for your immune system and brain function. It helps repair cell damage caused by stress and reduces inflammation that can lead to disease.
A key ingredient to being productive, sleep is also essential for your mental health. As you sleep, your brain consolidates memories and information into long-term storage.
During deep sleep (also known as slow-wave sleep), the brain produces chemicals that help you stay focused and alert during the day.
Learn more about time-restricted eating.
This dietary strategy restricts your eating hours, encouraging your body to burn fat instead of storing it.
You may be familiar with intermittent fasting (IF). Yet several types of time-restricted eating can be beneficial, depending on your goals.
In the case of intermittent fasting, for example, the restrictions call for a feeding routine that doesn’t include food or water intake between certain periods each day.
Restricting your feeding window over 24 hours, such as not eating after dinner until lunchtime the next day, can help improve metabolic health and reduce obesity in overweight individuals.
How to set your own pattern through healthy habits
Some people function just fine on coffee and snacks all day long. However, if you want to be at the top of your game for as long as possible, it’s important to take care of yourself physically.
- Eat a healthy breakfast every day. This helps jumpstart your brain to make more effective decisions throughout the day.
- Eat a healthy lunch every day. This keeps your energy levels up so that fatigue doesn’t slow down your productivity in the afternoon/evening hours.
- Eat a healthy dinner several hours before bedtime. This gives your body time to absorb nutrients more efficiently.
- Avoid late-night snacks. This ensures your body properly digests your food, and you avoid problems such as heartburn or indigestion.
2. Start the day with a 30-minute break to decompress.
Instead of grabbing a coffee or hitting the gym straightaway upon waking up, begin your morning routine instead with a 30-minute break.
“That first 30 minutes is a really critical time to stay grounded because your cortisol levels are literally rising for 30 minutes after you wake up, which means your body’s natural stimulatory patterns are kicked in,” Regan explains.
So what do you do instead?
“Go give your spouse a hug. Grab a good book. Go outside and get some sun,” Regan recommends. “Do something that’s not stimulatory and you’ll find that at night you’ll see much better.”
You can use the time to practice mindfulness techniques such as meditation or yoga, do a bit of journaling, or simply sit in silence. This small investment of time in the morning can help you approach your work with a clear mind and renewed energy.
3. Stay hydrated.
Being dehydrated can lead to fatigue and decreased alertness.
Drinking enough water throughout the day helps you stay productive. Keep a bottle of water handy at all times — make it part of your daily routine.
4. Focus on what you love.
Make the most of your time by engaging in activities that bring you joy and energize your spirit. Devote moments to a cause or project near and dear — something that ignites passion within you. This helps keep motivation at its peak.
5. Avoid using stimulants.
Whether it’s caffeine, nicotine, sugar, an energy drink, or some other pick-me-up, using stimulants comes at a cost.
“It’s kind of like spending money out of your savings account,” Regan says. “You can only do that for so long before you take a hit.”
Instead, try natural ways to boost your energy such as exercise, healthy eating, and getting enough sleep. Taking breaks throughout the day to rest and refocus can also be beneficial in keeping your energy levels up.
6. Exercise regularly.
Regular physical activity helps reduce stress levels, boost energy, improve mood, and enhance cognitive performance.
Do some physical activity during the day, even if it’s just a short walk around the block or playing with your kids in the backyard. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and helps you think more clearly.
7. Don’t over-commit yourself.
Learn to prioritize. Setting boundaries and saying no when needed frees up your time, so you can focus without feeling overwhelmed.
Also, break down your goals into manageable chunks.
8. Consult with health experts.
In the Beyond 7 Figures podcast, the biggest tip Regan has for busy entrepreneurs is this: have someone look under the hood who knows what to look for and how to optimize your pathways.
“Have somebody who is, an expert at functional medicine, look at your blood labs and let you know where the dangers are that lie ahead,” he explains. These are the things that are going to keep you from making great decisions, keep you from having the mental clarity that you need in your life, and to have the horsepower to do great things.
“If you haven’t ran them, then get some testing because death by neglect is a real thing,” Regan advises. “We don’t want anyone to have surprise visits to the hospital or to the grave.”
9. Take microbreaks throughout the day.
Taking microbreaks throughout the day can help improve focus and increase productivity. Whether it’s a short walk outside, a quick stretching session, or a moment of mindfulness, these small breaks can provide a much-needed mental and physical refresh.
Microbreaks also allow for a change of scenery and can help boost creativity. It is important to schedule in regular microbreaks throughout the day, as they can help prevent burnout and improve overall well-being.
10. Learn how biorhythms affect your productivity and success.
Your body has a natural cycle that affects how alert or tired you feel. Not knowing how to harness this information to help make decisions can lead to stress and burnout.
Biorhythms are specific behavior patterns that occur over at least 24 hours.
These cycles last anywhere from five days to several years. (For example, people born during spring tend to be more optimistic than those born during winter).
The key is knowing which parts of each cycle correspond with specific tasks so they can be accomplished at peak efficiency (or avoided altogether).
11. Explore more advanced health techniques.
As a high-performing CEO, your good health habits can realistically take you 80% or even 90% of the way in. Getting past the 90% mark is going to be a little harder. And this is where more unconventional health techniques come into play
Peptide therapy
One option to consider is peptide therapy, which can help to boost energy, build muscle, and improve overall well-being.
Peptides are small chains of amino acids that play important roles in the body’s functions, and when used as a therapy, they can help to regulate hormones, reduce inflammation, and improve cell growth and repair.
Cold therapy
Another unconventional health technique that CEOs can explore is cold therapy, which involves exposing the body to extremely cold temperatures to boost metabolism, increase blood flow, and reduce inflammation.
Cold therapy can be done through cold showers, ice baths, or cryotherapy. It has been known to be helpful for recovery from injuries and also to improve overall wellness.
Hormone optimization
Hormone optimization is a relatively new yet increasingly popular method of achieving optimal health. It involves using bioidentical hormones, which are hormones that have the same molecular structure as the hormones that the human body naturally produces.
By supplementing with these hormones, it’s possible to correct imbalances that may be causing a variety of symptoms, such as fatigue, low libido, or weight gain.
These are just a few advanced health techniques that can help you take your health and wellness to the next level.
By exploring these options and finding what works best for you, you can continue to push the boundaries of your performance and reach new heights in your personal and professional life.
About our Featured Health Expert
More health tips for CEOs on the Beyond 7 Figures podcast with our featured guest expert, Regan Archibald. In this episode, he shares his ideas and insights on peptide therapy, fasting, creating your own health pattern, and other essential health tips.
Regan Archibald is a successful entrepreneur, functional medicine practitioner, licensed acupuncturist, and peptide expert. In 2004, he founded the award-winning East West Health clinic. He is also a founding member of Anodyne Pain and Wellness Solutions and sits on the clinical advisory panel.
Conclusion: A Final Word on Health Tips for CEOs
As a CEO, it’s essential that you give your body the attention it needs.
By implementing the simple tips we discussed today, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a healthier and more energized CEO.
Remember, achieving better overall health doesn’t just improve your professional success, it also leads to vast improvements in other areas of your life.
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