Healthy living shouldn’t be a drag or something challenging to accomplish. Misconceptions and unrealistic expectations are often what keeps some of us from pursuing a healthy lifestyle. We may sometimes think that staying healthy means radically changing the way we do things in our lives.
While it is true that a lifetime of good health can be achieved through a healthy lifestyle change, the adjustments we make to our current lifestyle need not be drastic and daunting. Lifestyle change is a gradual process and can be achieved with minor tweaks. Read on for 6 Super Simple Ways You Can Stay Healthy Every Day!
1. Exercise Regularly
You may have received recommendations about regular exercise on the internet or from your family and friends. It may sound cliché but the health benefits of regular physical activity from exercise are worth it in the long run. An encouraging article by Denise Deschanel from Health Constitution about exercising is that it lifts your mood by releasing happy hormones. Exercising can make you look fit and healthy and also help you feel positive.
Regular exercise doesn’t mean you’ll always have to hit the gym or do some heavy lifting or rigorous training. Simple cardio exercises, strength workouts, and muscle-toning exercises can do the trick to keep you healthy and motivate you to continue with your fitness program.
2. Eat Balanced Meals
We intentionally used the word “balanced” instead of “nutritious” to cover a broader area of healthy eating. Eating nutritious food without a sense of direction or regular intake pattern will not bring you many bodily benefits. Fruits and vegetables can keep your nutrient and vitamin intake requirements satisfied but you also need to work on the cravings and the amount, or volume of food you actually consume. To keep your diet balanced and healthy, you could consider a five-meal dietary pattern to improve your metabolism, manage your weight and control your cravings.
3. Sleep Well
One very easy way of ensuring you live a healthy life is to always get a good night’s sleep. Sleep is the time when your body undergoes cellular repair, boosting your immune system. Your heart also gets its maintenance check during sleep, so sleeping soundly keeps your heart healthy. The same applies to your pancreas and blood sugar regulation. You lower the risk of getting diabetes and heart disease when you sleep comfortably and properly.
4. Stay Properly Hydrated
Proper hydration is another easy and simple healthy habit you can maintain. While we often think that drinking lots of water is the main way of keeping ourselves hydrated, it isn’t the only way. There are other sources of hydration such as milk, tea, fruit juices, watermelon, and coconut water as well as other excellent hydration drinks available that you can also try. Avoid unhealthy beverages such as soda, hard liquor, powdered juice drinks, energy drinks, and sweet drinks as hydration sources.
5. Regulate Your Sugar and Alcohol Intake
Staying healthy isn’t just doing the good stuff but also avoiding the unhealthy stuff. Too much sugar and alcohol can have adverse health effects on our bodies, so we need to cut back on these substances as much as we can. We need some sugar for energy, but consuming too much of it or eating food with artificial sweeteners can ruin our gut flora, disrupt our sleep, and weaken our immune system. Alcohol also has the same detrimental effect and can also injure your liver over time.
6. Avoid Stress
We often take for granted the power our mind has on our body. Keeping ourselves free from stress and thinking positively can do wonders for our health. We look and feel happy and healthy, and our immune system works properly when we keep stress under control and think of happy thoughts and things to be thankful for. Stress management and positive thinking do not need much effort to perform. You only need inspiration and encouragement to incorporate healthy mental and emotional health habits into your life.
There are lots of daily ways to stay healthy. Listening to your body is a good way of learning what you need to do and what you need to change in your lifestyle. With all the recommendations and tips you see and receive, changing your lifestyle may seem like an overwhelming endeavour. The good news is there are ways to make a healthy lifestyle simple, and you don’t have to do a 180-degree turn to achieve it. Learn to be patient and consistent with your health program, and you will reap the results in no time.
What are some of your simple, daily healthy lifestyle habits? Let us know in the comments below and join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!
