I came across the simple concept of MEDS in Brooke McAlary’s book Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World (Summary | Amazon).
It’s a wonderfully simple acronym for remembering a few of the most important elements of your health: Meditation, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep.
Enjoy!
A Simple Wellness Strategy: MEDS (Meditation, Exercise, Diet, Sleep)
In her book, Brooke attributes this simple concept to behavioral consultant, Nicholas Bate.¹
On a daily basis, Nicholas says we should be “giving consideration to M-E-D-S or meditation-exercise-diet-sleep.”
He explains it in a bit more detail:
“Wellness is about balance. M-E-D-S is a simple such strategy.
M is meditation. Take a bit of time out. Just to think.
E is exercise. Walk every day. Walk more. Take the stairs.
D is diet. Reduce the rubbish; increase the nutritious.
S is sleep. Get rid of sleep debt.”
How are you doing on your MEDS?
🔴 M (Meditation): This is where I’m currently failing. I’m all-in on slow living and do a lot of contemplation, but I honestly haven’t yet explored meditation (other than reading about the benefits and listening to a guided meditation a couple times). Lots of room for improvement here.
🟢 E (Exercise): Doing fairly well here. I exercise 3-5 days/week—mostly strength training, some mountain biking, and going on walks with our dog. However, exercise seems to be a constant roller coaster for me (up and down, in shape and out of shape, repeat).
🟢 D (Diet): My wife and I have taken inspiration from the Blue Zones and try to incorporate the Blue Zones longevity diets into our lives (along with elements from some of these 🔒timeless diets). We still eat some unhealthy stuff in moderation—snacks, chips, etc. And, we eat meals out every once in awhile. My latest win has been reducing alcohol consumption—I quit drinking liquor 18 months ago, beer 12 months ago, and just recently quit wine.
🟡 S (Sleep): Sleeping 7-8 hours most nights (with the occasional 6-7 hours). Sometimes I even throw in a short nap. However, now that I’m tracking my sleep with an Oura ring, I’ve realized there’s a big difference between time in bed and actual quality sleep. I often have restless nights of sleep according to my data. So, room for improvement here. Maybe meditation would help!
How about you? Please share your honest MEDS analysis in the comments!
You May Also Enjoy:
- The Five Balls of Life: A Very Short Story about Balance
- Mindful at Mealtime: The Zen Buddhism Five Reflections
- Blue Zones: How Ikarians Live Simply for 100+ Years
Footnotes & Sources:
- http://blog.strategicedge.co.uk/superwellness/
Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful post. I really appreciate your kind efforts. I’ve recently started to learn about meditation about 6-7 months back. It’s truly an inspiration for Beginners like me.
Thanks for sharing.
Sure thing, Jenny!
Well written article.
I appreciate it, Aishwarya.
I strongly believe in M.E.D.S coz it changed my life. As 2 years before I was overwaight , stressed and had no energy to do anything. After applying MEDS in my life I’m the lady of great body which I always wished to be and more energetic. It really chenged my life and make me so happy n healthy.
MEDS
Mediation I am failing in this.
Excise only walking around 1 hour in a day
Diet haveing junk food twice in a week
Sleep only 6 hours in night
Awareness is the first step toward change, Balram!
Cool! I like the MEDS term. Indeed, meditation is one of the most helpful for us to be more healthy and true there are lots of benefits we can get of it and one of the most I like is the FLOW which triggers when you are in the meditation. Flow is where you are becoming happy in dealing with things that are difficult or challenging and it makes you more productive, creative, etc. Most athletes practice it and it is an awesome one.
Thanks, leah! Indeed, flow states are a wonderful part of life (with or without meditation). Everyone should check out Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s research and book on flow.
Yes i also agree with this MEDS it is playing a very vital role in our business activities.
Yes, meditation is a very good and very simple way to keep our body healthy and stress free, I keep doing exercise in the morning time in gym that feels me very power full and strength full. And also we have to sleep at least 7-8 hrs. Properly just for our body needs that’s keeps our body fresh and well.
Thanks
Regards
Aakash
Thanks & love it really.
Thanks, Romita!
Perfect article. For meditation try Rupert Spira.
Thanks for the recommendation, Chenrezig. Rupert Spira is on my “people to check out” list!
I can feel you
My meds status is:
Mediation- nope
Exercise- 6 times a week sometimes 7 times.
Diet- Diet is going great, in the morning having boiled vegetables every alternate day, new experiment haha.
Sleep- sleep is going great too now it’s a habit of mine to pass out by 10:30pm and and get up by 4:45-5:00am.
Thank you so much for the article.
Regards
Ankit
Nice work, Ankit! Like you, I still need to add the meditation piece. Regarding sleep, the latest research is saying 7-8 hours of sleep is absolutely critical, so I’d try to add another hour in there if you can.
After reading, I am going to incorporate M.E.D.S into my daily routine.
Awesome, Tanya!
M- No acostumbro meditar
E-Trato de hacerlo dos veces ala semana
D- Trato de comer balanceado
S-Duermo de 7 horas al día
Nice job, Henry!
Nice
👍
Hi Kyle, your short article on M.E.D.S. is awesome and an inspirational block for me…. I am a professional… Have two kids…But I never took out few minutes to do exercise…I am 39 years old… I read articles and blocks on benefits of Meditation and Exercise… But Now onwards Out of 24 hours I will take out 15-20 minutes to do meditation and Exercise… Thanks once again… Keep posting such articles…. All the best….
Regards
That’s great to hear, Sulakshna! You’ve hit a key point. Many of these activities don’t require a ton of time. It’s amazing what just a little dedicated time each day will do.
Hi,
Thank you very much for this article.
Regarding meditation, I recently started to follow American Academy of Mind-Body Healing on youtube. It’s EFT tapping for physical pain and emotional distress. I do it mostly at night to help me sleep, but it’s a great alternative technique to create a balance in my energy system daily.
Best regards and stay safe.
Thanks for sharing that tip, Iulia!
Nicely articulated, thanks Kyle.
M – I am doing meditation though not regularly but 3-4 times in a week.
E – I do Yoga 2-3 times in a week.
D – I am vegetarian and home food lover. Also I don’t eat out much, only 2-3 times in a month. And I also avoid junk food.
S – This is my concern. I sleep 4-5 hours usually.
But now I focus on my improvement areas.
Thanks again.
Very nice, Piyush! Good to have awareness about the lack of sleep. I seem to be getting enough sleep lately, but I tend to stay up too late. Need to shift my sleep routine up a couple hours.
I am doing this daily like yoga diet sleeping …etc doing correct and we are following like this
Keep up the good work!
Meds is important in our life.
Agreed, Sanjay!
I really enjoyed this .
Thanks, Cody!
I would consider this lockdown as a blessing, since it gave me enough time to self-reflect. I am exploring more, learning new things. Trying to get out of the self-built cocoons which had some norms without any facts or proofs. I am in for the MEDS concept.
M- Tried hard to incorporate it as a part of my daily life-cycle. Still struggling to get in terms with it.
E- do different workouts on a daily basis. 3 times running in week.
D- My wife and i have decided to adapt healthy eating habits. Its too early to celebrate since we have started it a fort night ago.
S- Cannot sleep more than 6 hours in the night, but would definitely adapt the powernaps during the day. This was one of the norms i considered having bad implications on my professional front. After reading the articles, i feel that its good to make it a habit.
Way to look on the bright side of these uncertain times, Kiran!
Good for Health and Mind stress, not everyday, sometimes in a week.
Whatever works best for you, Vijay!
Really Helpful…:)
Thanks, Neha!
MEDS Sounds wonderful. Just read it and I am gonna try it for sure.
Thank you very much for writing beautifully 🙂
Thank you, Tanveer! Enjoy your MEDS.
I really enjoyed this article! Thank you.
Appreciate it, Mario!
I like it. This is a good article and I’m gonna to improve all this tips 😊
That’s the spirit, Ștefania!
Well said👍
Thank you, Arpana!
Thanks a lot for “The Great tips for being healthy”.
My M-E-D-S report is
Meditation : Good
Exercise : 3 – 4 dsys a week
Diet : i am very lazy in eating, eating stomach full is a dream of my family haha.
Sleep : this is currently seems to be worse from 2:00am to 07:00 am.
🙂
Thanks for sharing, SK! As you can see in the comments, we are all better at certain areas than others. There’s always somewhere to improve!
Thanks a lot for “The Great tips for being healthy
You’re welcome, Jitender!
Great Article
Thanks, Bhawna!
I try to take walks with my dog and family for excercise, and talk about our week for meditation,
Good work, Kishawnee!
Me and my husband mediate to gather sometimes and take walks with each other
Good work, Karla!
I Meditate daily…
Good work, Simarpreet!
Well done.
Thanks, Ranjeet.
Well Done.
Thank you, Makayla.
This is really helpful
Glad to hear it, Rupesh.
This is very helpful.
Great to hear, Sanjukta.
Great article, made me painfully aware of certain deficits to improve on… Here is my MEDS report:
M – I’ve tried it, I’m inconsistent, and perhaps that’s why I can’t tell any difference. It’s been three months.
E – I don’t
D – Everything in moderation, of course! When I restrict things, I crave them, so what’s the point? My family has always done more cooking at home than eating out, but we enjoy both.
S – I too am a night owl, but I do most of my catch up on weekends… when I can.
So basically, I afford to improve on all fronts. Oy vey
Thanks for sharing, Claudia. An honest assessment and awareness are the first steps to change!
Thanks for sharing the post, I really appreciate your kind efforts. I am also facing the same meditation issues. I used to see benefit of meditation videos but on the ground I failed to implement.
Recently started to walking practice however I believe lot more pending to be achieve
Again Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Aditya. I may try Naval Ravikant‘s recommended meditation:
– Sit for 60 minutes every day for at least 60 days
– First thing in the morning
– Sit up with back straight
– Whatever your mind wants to do, you just let it do
“Eventually you will get to a mental state of inbox zero.” — Naval Ravikant
Thanks Kyle for the wonderful article on MEDS, my concern is related to sleep eventhough I sleep for 7 to 8 hours a day my sleep timings varies day by day
Sure thing, Lakshmi. Same here. I’ve been doing sleep tracking recently, and it’s been very eye-opening to visually see how different my sleep times are each day.
Great Article and I am far away from reality.
M- Living stressful life(personal & Processional). Difficult to concentrate for Meditation
E- Not regularly
D- Trying to control food habits and also avoid sweets.
S – Have at-least 7 hrs sleep from 11 PM.
Thanks for sharing, Sudip. Awareness is the first step toward change!
It’s really helpful learning new things improving skills adding more value to our life
Agreed, Jitendra!
Its a best way to lead a healthy life. We have to adapt it as a habit.
I do meditate, nature walk, little bit of exercise and also having an healthy diet daily.
But I have to improve my sleeping habit..so I m working on it and I will definitely Work on this MEDS strategy. Thanx.
Appreciate you sharing, Jyoti! Keep it up.
Thanks for sharing
You got it, Rajdeep.
Nice article. Honestly I do not make meditation.
I’m trying to do exersice 3-4 days a week and also I’m trying to eat healthy, but I need to get better.
Thanks for sharing !!
Sure thing, Sindy!
Thanks for sharing. I can make myself know more about meditation. I also begin to plan to do some meditation, and continue to do healthy things. I always work hard and refuel. It will get better and better.
Good attitude, Teng!
Hi kyle ! I did not have meditation yet but now I think I should have meditation and I do exercise when I feel tired 😊and about diet if I say so for diet I take only vegetables and chapaties sometimes I take paneer and rice when I feel weak . I sleep 6 to 7 hour in a day.🙂thanks !!
Thanks for sharing, Raja!
M – no acostumbro a meditar.
E – trato de salir a caminar de lunes a viernes, por lo menos 1 hora al día.
D – trato de tener una dieta balanceada.
S – En ocasiones logro dormir 7 horas, pero no es frecuente.
Debo mejorar en varios aspectos, mi salud está pasado la factura.
Sounds like you’re on the right track, Ivannia. Awareness is the first step toward change.
Thanks For Sharing This Nice Article On MEDS.
Meditation : I tried so many times but I’ll not able to do.but I know it help to make me cool and energetic.
Exercise:I try to make wake daily 10 to 15 min regularly.
Diet:As I am vegetarian and eat healthy food on time so that it can digest completely.
Sleep: I’ll take 8 hours sleep that keep me fresh and energetic.
Thanks a lot.
Good work, Sonal!
MEDS sounds good . I have to try it from today.
Give it a try! Come back and let me know how it goes, Mohammed.
Meds good way to put everyday life
Yes, Untrea! Key word “everyday.”
These are the good thing in our life meditation I do everyday in any thing I just do my very focusly this my meditation. I can’t sleep 6 to 7 hours this is my lack point. I do exercise everyday for fit body and glowing every day. And the last is diet part I don’t diet but I eat healthy
That’s great, Rinku. I also try to be meditative in anything I am doing. As my dad would say, “Do what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Don’t do what you’re not doing while you’re not doing it.”
this is very helpful but i have to do work in night shift and not a fix time to sleep it will be more or less by hour for everyday so could you please guide on “Sleep”, how i manage my sleep.
Thanks!
Good question, Mithlesh. I’m not a sleep expert, so I’m sure there are better resources out there on this than me. That being said, I would imagine that sticking to as much of a routine as possible would be a critical component to better sleep. If you’re able to work night shifts consistently that may help. If not, then maybe a few night shifts in a row at least. It may also be worth researching “polyphasic sleep” which breaks a normal 7-9 hour sleep into two or more segments.
MEDS is important in our daily routine.
“Daily” is the key word, Anuradha!
Great content!
Thanks, Lindsay!
MEDS is really an important element in our busy life.
100% Varun!
Great article, made me aware of certain points to improve on… Here is my MEDS report:
M – I used to do it earlier, but stopped doing for long time now. Will start again, and yes it helps a lot.
E – I do brisk walk daily and try to complete target of at least 10,000 steps a day.
D – I’m a foodie. when I restrict things, I crave them. But still trying to develop a healthy diet lifestyle. Because, that’s the need of the hour.
S – I am a night owl, but I do most of my catch up on weekends… when I can.
So basically, I too need to improve on all fronts.
Appreciate you sharing your honest MEDS report, Nikhila!
very good Article
👍
“MEDS” is really an important part of healthy life and MEDS are:
Meditation: Nope
Exercise: Yes, I do 4 or 5 days a week and walk for about half an hour on treadmill due to lockdown so can’t enjoy nature while walking.
Diet: I try to follow healthy diet but sometime failed to do so.
Sleep: My favourite thing, I sleep for about 6 to 7 hours.
Wonderful that sleep is your favorite, Saivta. Good start on your MEDS!
“MEDS” its really most important part of life.
its very helpful to manage present stressful condition.
You’ve got that right, Rupesh!
I agree on all of these. The only challenge with sleeping nowadays is having your mobile phone still active while taking the chance to induce sleep. Hope to get out on this bad habit.
Awareness is the first step toward change, Marlon.
This is the awesome blog to be energised at work
Thank you, Manoj!
This is a great post for living a better life and a healthy life style.
Thanks, Sheetal!
Hi Kyle,
I really loved the article and it is very helpful. But I’m really having trouble with setting up my routine. I’m confused how to set up my daily schedule. Currently it is so random and messed up, I can’t think of any productive thing for me.
It would be great if you can help me with that.
Thanks
Hi Ronit – I’d start with “Atomic Habits” by James Clear to figure out how to break bad habits and build good habits. That will help you build a routine and consistency. On a more tactical level, I personally use timeboxing to make sure I do all my to-dos each day.
Thanks Kyle,
For providing such wonderful article. After having an insight into article which helped to reframe my MEDS.
You got it!
Kyle, thanks for sharing your experience. M – I used to practice an 1 hour session of yoga 2 times a week and I went very well for 3 years, but since pandemia starts situation was not the same. E – I keep a 2~3 times a week exercise. I am doing it on line. I believe that do not stop was a great gain at this topic. D – I started a diet at 2019 and a lot of great results were good in my life. My strategy is create a healthy habit, discover the flavor of fruits, drinks and get energy to do what I like in life. S – Usually I sleep well. But I am always monitoring the time to go sleep as I like to watch soccer games and usually the games ends late night. But here I try a chamomile, or “erva cidreira” tea. A melatonin suplement helps as well. That it!!!
Very nice, good work Marcelo!
Thanks Kyle
Thank you for providing amazing article
Sure thing, Muniba 👍
Thank you
👍
I exercise daily it feel stronger
💪
It helps alot of people. Thanks for sharing.
👍
very good Article
👍
very interesting article
👍
Nice read
Thanks, Bhawana.
Nice article
Thanks, Syed!
Hey, Thanks for sharing that amount of wonderful advices. I am a fond of meditation and I love the way it feels when I daily practice it. I do meditate daily for minimum of 30 minutes. I do work out for 5days a week(150 minutes each week). I do sleep for 6 to 7 hours, though I’m a night owl still I take the adequate sleep. All I want to get a healthy habit of diet. I am a foodie, and I like to explore foods.