In today’s fast paced world maintaining a good health is a serious issue. We know this is not for the first time you are hearing the word, “Healthy Lifestyle” but have you ever wondered why do we need one? A healthy lifestyle helps you deal with life hassles better due to an effective mind and physical fitness. It keeps away heart diseases, obesity, fatigue, depression and even hair and skin related problems.
You might have tried to focus on your health issues and even planned to make some drastic changes to your lifestyle before, but the busy schedules, endless deadlines and most of the times lack of motivation must be stopping you from achieving your targets.
We wouldn’t recommend you tough diet plans and excessive workouts. Only a few changes in your routine can help you live a long, healthy and active life that you desire.
- Rise and Shine with a glass of water
Whenever you wake up the first thing to do is to drink a glass of water. If you find it difficult to gulp it down with a flat tummy you can add a slice of lime or lemon in it. It will help in the maintenance of body systems, improve metabolism rate and remove the toxins. It is also assumed to have a relationship with weight reduction.
- Sleep Well
It is suggested for an average adult to sleep for at least 8 hours in a day, but all people have different requirements for sleep and may range from 6 to 10 hours. If you are feeling sleepy mostly at 4pm to 6pm, this means you are probably not getting enough rest. Lack of sleep would result in lack of concentration, memory loss, and disturbed mood. It also has a negative effect on heart.
- Welcome the morning with a few stretches
Switch from snooze mode to active mode. The best thing you can do after getting out of the bed is to stretch your arms and welcome the morning, also stretch your legs, back and neck. How stretching could be so helpful? Well, the secret is stretching early in the morning helps to increase the flow of the blood and give your muscles an extra dose of oxygen. It will revitalize your body and would help it to waken up. Stretching also prepares the muscles to take the challenges of a new day.
- Say goodbye to unhealthy snacks
Here comes the difficult part! Only healthy eating habits can lead to healthy lifestyles. Don’t stuff your tummy with unhealthy snacks like cookies, bags of chips, salted nuts, candies and other tasty foods. Why? Because these foods are a high source of saturated fats, salt and sugar that can mess up with your body. Choose healthy substitutes like fresh fruits, vegetables and raw nuts as they are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. Also develop a habit of reading the list of ingredients given at the back of the packed products. This will help you ensure that the foods you are eating are healthy in nature.
- Don’t ever think about skipping your Breakfast
There are many of us having such busy schedules that don’t allow us to get some time out even for breakfast, but remember always, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. Researches made in 2003 by American Heart Association discovered that people who skipped their breakfast were more likely to get obese and developed diabetes as compared to breakfast eaters. The reason is that when breakfast is skipped people nibble on unhealthy snacks to overcome their craving for food till lunch. So make sure you make a healthy choice of nutrients for your breakfast to fuel up your body for the long rough day.
- Go for a Walk
Can’t take out time for physical exercise? No problem! Take stairs instead of elevators, have discussions with your friends over a walk, look after the plants in your garden or if you have a pet take it a bit farther for a walk. The trick is to increase the physical activities while executing your routine. It has been suggested by the researchers that in order to improve heart health every individual should walk for at least 125 to 200 minutes that is equal to almost 12 miles, in a week.
Researchers say that lonely people often become more ill and die at a young age. People without friend are more depressed, face stress and also lack physical activities. Friendship is a source of happiness and drains out stress and frustrations. If you don’t know from where to take a start, you can join a club and meet people with similar interests.
- Find yourself some new activities
Involve yourself in such activities that provide you with new experiences and make them your hobby. Developing a hobby helps you reduce stress and keeps you cheerful. Also it would be more beneficial if you will get into group activities.
- Quit Smoking and limit Alcohol
We all are aware of the negative effects of smoking and excessive drinking on our health but still can’t prepare ourselves to quit them. Right? So take a look at the bright side; saying no to cigarettes can save us from cancer and heart diseases, while reducing alcohol intake can save our liver from getting damaged.
- Don’t worry, be happy
What is the key to happiness? Be optimistic and see the difference you will feel happiness from within. You can achieve positive thinking by meditation and yoga; it will help you escape from all your worries. Also share a good laugh; it helps to fill the lungs and body with sufficient amount of oxygen resulting in improved health and strengthens the heart.
Though, we all know that “health is wealth” but why spend all your wealth on your health when you can use these useful and inexpensive health tips to improve your quality of life. So take a step forward to begin a healthy lifestyle today.