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Healthcrest
Health through everyday habits

Learn the basics.
Find your next step.

Explore everyday habits, read the guidance behind them and make sense of words used in the Habit Explorer. Each of the four habit topics includes a practical guide with sources, ideas to adapt and routes to support. Start with a topic or an unfamiliar term.

Not sure where to begin? Find a starting point.

Try sleep, movement, MVPA, HRV or experimental.

5 topics, 14 terms and 6 evidence labels found.

Everyday habit guidance

The NHS references support general habit guidance. The Habit Explorer’s visual rules are illustrations created for Healthcrest.

Movement

Movement and strength activity support fitness and everyday function.

For adults aged 19–64, NHS guidance describes at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, plus strengthening activity on at least 2 days. Adapt activity to your health and ability.

One possible first step: Choose a manageable walk, cycle or other activity you enjoy, then build gradually.

How the Habit Explorer illustrates movement

This scene changes colour and movement with weekly aerobic minutes. Its cut-offs below 60 and above 350 minutes are illustrative choices, not exercise limits or personal risk estimates. Strength activity is not represented by this scene.

NHS: adult physical activity guidance (19–64) (opens in a new tab)Read the practical guide
Explore in the Habit ExplorerMake a next step

Food

Food choices work together across the day and week; a single percentage cannot describe diet quality.

The NHS Eatwell Guide describes variety and balance across food groups. It does not set a whole-food percentage target for this slider.

One possible first step: Try adding vegetables, beans or a higher-fibre starchy food to a familiar meal.

How the Habit Explorer illustrates food

The nutrition scene responds to food-pattern inputs, including the whole-food setting. Its colour is an illustration of those settings, not an assessment of nutrient intake or metabolic health.

NHS: the Eatwell Guide (opens in a new tab)Read the practical guide
Explore in the Habit ExplorerMake a next step

Sleep

Sleep duration, routines and how you feel during the day all matter.

Adults generally need 7–9 hours of sleep, with individual variation. Seek support if persistent sleep problems affect daily life; duration alone does not establish sleep quality.

One possible first step: Choose a consistent getting-up time and a regular wind-down routine.

How the Habit Explorer illustrates sleep

Below 6 hours, the 3D core becomes slower and dimmer; otherwise it brightens. This illustrates the chosen duration, not sleep stages, brain clearance or measured recovery.

NHS: sleep needs and insomnia support (opens in a new tab)Read the practical guide
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Stress & support

Managing stress can include practical changes, rest, relaxation and support from other people.

NHS advice includes manageable targets, breathing exercises and seeking support. A stress rating is a personal description, not a diagnosis.

One possible first step: Try a short, comfortable breathing practice, or talk with someone you trust.

How the Habit Explorer illustrates stress & support

A chosen stress rating above 6 changes the seesaw tilt and colour. The seesaw is a metaphor; it does not measure hormones or nervous-system activity.

NHS: getting help with stress (opens in a new tab)Read the practical guide
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Connecting the habits

Explore movement, food, sleep and stress together. Social connection and support matter too.

NHS wellbeing guidance brings together activity, relationships, learning, giving and mindfulness. Sustainable habits and daily function matter more than maximising every slider.

One possible first step: Pick one manageable habit to repeat this week, perhaps an activity with someone else.

How the Habit Explorer illustrates connecting the habits

The combined 3D scene currently responds to activity, sleep, stress and the scenario’s relaxation-practice input. Nutrition and strength do not change its combined colour. It is not a complete model of health or an overall health score.

NHS: five steps to mental wellbeing (opens in a new tab)
Explore in the Habit ExplorerMake a next step

Words used in the Habit Explorer

Non-pharmacological
Actions that do not involve a medicine, such as everyday movement, food, sleep and ways to manage stress. These can complement appropriate clinical care.
MVPA (weekly aerobic activity)
MVPA means moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Moderate activity makes you breathe faster while still allowing conversation. This simplified slider does not convert vigorous minutes into moderate-equivalent minutes.
Sleep Duration
Hours of sleep per night in the scenario. This setting does not measure sleep quality, regularity or sleep disorders.
Whole Food Ratio
An approximate share of food described as whole or minimally processed in the scenario. It is not a measured diet-quality score; use the Eatwell Guide for a balanced eating pattern.
Perceived Stress Level
A subjective stress rating for exploring the scene. It is not a clinical test or a measurement of cortisol, heart-rate variability or nervous-system balance.
Core and lattice
The central shape and outer mesh are visual metaphors for interacting habits. They are not an anatomical scan or a picture of tissue damage.
Colour and movement
Colours are specific to each scene. Blue or purple can identify a scene rather than a warning. Movement and glow respond to selected inputs; they are not measured body signals.
Particles
Visual texture. Lite 3D uses fewer particles to reduce graphics work; their number is not a health measure.
2D shapes
Labelled scales and markers show the selected control values. Their ends are the slider limits, not recommended targets. Read the values with the guidance; a higher value is not automatically better.
CBT-I
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia: a structured approach to thoughts and behaviours that keep sleep problems going.
Circadian
Relating to the roughly 24-hour body clock and daily rhythms.
HRV
Heart-rate variability: variation in the time between heartbeats. This app does not measure it.
Allostatic resilience
A term about coping with demands and recovering. The app does not calculate or measure this capacity.
Shield, fog, micro-cracks and resonance
Visual-metaphor terms used in earlier scenario copy. They are not observations of hormones, tissue damage or a physical structure in your body.

What evidence labels mean

These labels describe how scenario content is tagged in the app. They do not validate every visual effect or outcome statement.

Guideline-level
General habit guidance is linked to published guidance. This label does not validate the example parameter values or visual rules.
Unreviewed
Content has not been checked against the reviewed catalogue. Clinical wording and unsupported evidence tags are withheld.
High-quality review
Tagged as drawing on a research review. Relevance depends on the studies and how their findings are used.
Emerging
Early or developing evidence; conclusions may change.
Emerging / Review
Developing evidence or a review of it; check the original research and its limits.
Experimental
Exploratory content. It does not establish a proven health intervention or a routine recommendation.