A forex trader’s health goes hand in hand with successful trades, high engagement and optimal performance

Take responsibility of your body and pay attention to its reactions from working as a forex trader. With a non-stop market, a forex trader's health is one of the most valuable assets for a rewarding career. By maintaining better physical and mental well-being, forex traders can consistently create a positive and productive work environment.

Why is healthy living important?

Health conditions of both body and mind can determine the profits of a long trading career. An overworked trader could possibly jeopardize an effective trading plan because of lack of sleep. Unpleasant muscle strains could cause mistakes on calculations or miss a crucial detail. To be physically fit in a sedentary job like forex trading, you need to maintain a workout routine or schedule walks outside. As long as you give yourself time to be active, the physical strains expected from desk work will lessen.Poor mental health can also affect your attitude towards daily trading. Correct decision making or proper analyzing are not possible when the mind is not in good shape. In some cases, the pressure and expectations from trading can lead to anxiety disorders and depression. Make sure to learn about proper Stress Management and other relaxation practices to avoid nervous collapse. Set aside opportunities to unwind and rejuvenate for mental wellness.

How can you tell if you are healthy?

Being a healthy trader requires proper diet, daily physical activity and good sleep. If you aren’t sure about your current body condition, ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Do you easily get tired and worn out even after sleeping the right number of hours?
2. Are you drinking more coffee than water?
3. Are you easily agitated by uncontrollable situations?
4. Do you find yourself constantly reaching for unhealthy food?
5. Is your trading schedule draining your energy?

If most of your answers are YES, you might want to take a step back and study your present trading environment.There are also plenty of online tests that can help assess your health. Try the How Healthy Are You? quiz or the Healthy Lifestyle Test to check. Mental well-being is a common struggle for most traders. If you want an indepth look at your mental health, check out Psychology Today’s Mental Health Assessment.

What is your body telling you?

A forex trader’s health requires simple observation. Here are common health issues from forex trading and what your body could be trying to tell you:

You are experiencing weight gain.

What is your body telling you? Both mental and physical issues can cause weight gain when forex trading. Normally, the body is reacting to the amount of calories you're eating and drinking. Think about your recent diet, physical activity and the triggers that could have resulted in an appetite increase. When you are putting on weight, you are most likely taking more calories and not getting enough movement or physical activity to burn them. Common trading problems like stress or lack of sleep can also be culprits in a sudden weight gain. Also check for any new medication like steroids or antidepressants.What to do:

• Keep track of your calories and complement with daily activity.
• Resolve underlying causes of overeating and see which problem caused the weight gain
• Try the Optimal Diet for Flawless Forex Trading and quantify any progress

You deal with constant exhaustion.

What is your body telling you?Your body is letting you know that it is experiencing fatigue. Lifestyle factors and mental health contribute to how much fatigue you are handling. If you are constantly having migraines, muscle pain or lack of concentration, it means your body needs to re-energize. If you have accumulated stress or moodiness from trading, take some time off to relax.What to do:

• Stay active and meditate to improve body functions and efficiency
• Practice good energy management and get to know your body clock
• Avoid dehydration as well as lack of sleep to help decrease tiredness

You are always stressed and nervous.

What is your body telling you?The unpredictable business of foreign exchange can make anyone anxious. If you feel stressed or nervous in every trade session, your body is giving a warning that it cannot handle the worries running through your mind. Anxiety can cause restlessness, panic attacks or palpitations. The best thing to do is to work out an effective trading system that you can be confident with. It can give you structure and reduce any nervous feelings during a trade.What to do:

• Research and test a reliable trading style. You may start with a demo account to gain confidence
• Reach out to forums and websites aimed to help traders improve their system
• Stay within your limitations and be conservative when taking high risk trades

You have trouble sleeping.

What is your body telling you?According to National Sleep Foundation, the causes of insomnia stem from psychological conditions, bad sleep habits or certain substances. When forex trading, lack of sleep is a sign too much activity during time of rest. You might be thinking about market conditions or feeling overstimulated from the day. Other factors also include irregular hours of work, excessive caffeine or nicotine. Even watching television before bedtime also affects sleep. To learn more about having a good night’s rest, get to know the Best Practices for Better Sleep.What to do:

• Create a reasonable and consistent bedtime routine based on your trading schedule
• Make your bedroom as dark as possible and turn off all electronics before bed
• Practice setting aside any thoughts or concerns when it is time to sleep

You always get sick.

What is your body telling you?With the pace of forex trading, it is easy to set aside good health and push the body to overwork. Once you begin to frequently get sick, your body is telling you to slow down and take better care of the immune system. You might not be drinking enough water. You might also lack nutrients which weakens the body’s defenses. Too much stress and not getting enough sleep are also common triggers that put your body at risk.What to do:

• Eat nutrient rich food with probiotics or vitamin C to increase antibodies
• Go outside. Have fun and take in some Vitamin D
• Give your body a break and time to heal itself through proper amount of sleep

You are always having negative thoughts.

What is your body telling you?Negative thoughts come from anxiety or trauma. When you are always going through bad feelings, it means that your mental health is weakening and needs uplifting. Emotional trauma from forex trading can sometimes have more impact than having a successful trade. Large monetary losses or continuous forex losses are one of the biggest upsets when trading and can easily cause a distressing experience. Although it is natural to think negatively, uninterrupted pessimism can be harmful for your mental well-being and your career.What to do:

• Keep a trading journal to jot down mistakes, ideas as well as emotions
• Try not to focus on recovering past losses but building a better trading strategy for the next session
• Improve Emotional Hygiene

You have strained eyes.

What is your body telling you?Labored vision is one of the more common concerns for forex traders. With most of the work done on the computer, the likelihood of strained eyes is high in a trading career. Having strained eyes means you are working too much onscreen than your eyes can handle. When you are a full time trader, working more than 12 hours daily on the computer will eventually result to eye related stress. Untreated eye stress can lead to blurred eyesight, headaches and slow refocusing. First, visit your eye doctor and talk about your situation.What to do:

• Optimize the work area with better lighting including the display settings on your computer screen. Adjust color, contrast and glare.
• Do eye exercises. Click here to start now!
• Make use of eye gels or eyewear intended for relief from computer eye strain

You are craving more coffee.

What is your body telling you?When your body wants more caffeine, it is letting you know that your natural sources of energy are not enough. Once you hit your daily caffeine limit and you are still craving, it means that your body is looking for natural energy. You can get this from an energy boosting diet, proper sleep and daily exercise. Since coffee or caffeine can be very helpful when trading, it is important to balance energy from stimulants. What to do:

• Do not drink more caffeine after you’ve reached your limit of 400 mg a day
• Avoid the addiction to coffee and rely on your body’s natural sources of energy. Also try a more healthy drink like green tea
• Improve your lifestyle and gain more natural energy

By paying attention to how your body is reacting to forex trading, you are ensuring better livelihood and good health out of the business. Make sure that these concerns are nothing more than side effects from forex trading. Visit your doctor and get yourself checked for peace of mind.

What to do next?

All body signals are meaningless if you don’t react and keep track of the progress. The next thing to do is to take action on any health issue you may have and monitor improvements. To keep things simple and manageable, here are 5 best tips for a forex trader’s health:Be mindful of your body and take care of your health.No matter how successful you have been, market trends evolve and can still put a forex trader’s health at risk. With erratic schedules and risky trades, a healthy lifestyle is key to high-level performance. The best way to cope with the physical or emotional stress is to manage and observe your health everyday.