Every person lives a certain type of lifestyle, but not everyone can lead a healthy lifestyle. When your lifestyle is horribly wrong, you will find yourself feeling restless and unenergized even if you stay in bed all day long.
To add, you can also easily attract negative triggers or feelings such as anxiety, depression, panic attack, etc. Not only that but doing unhealthy habits can lead to health deterioration in the long run. You will be prone to illnesses and diseases, which can ultimately affect your overall health.
With this, it is important to recognize the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Every day, you will be able to live a more meaningful life; building healthy habits, staying in better health, and having a more positive attitude towards life. Needless to say, committing to a healthy life can lead to a happier life.
But, that is only possible if you walk away from a sedentary lifestyle, improve your eating habits, and do healthy lifestyle changes.
Of course, if you have been leading an unhealthy lifestyle until you read this, you should know that a healthier lifestyle does not happen overnight. In fact, it will take eighteen (18) to three hundred (300) days to develop good habits. The time may vary depending on the person, as well as the level of persistence and diligence poured into the transition to healthy living.
Do not be discouraged, you can take it one step at a time, and work your way all way up. Always, remember, good things take time. So, embrace the process and start working on your bad habits one by one until you feel the amazing effects of your healthy choices.
Now, you might be wondering, how do you start living a healthy lifestyle? What are the steps that you make to build one? In this article, we will talk about the process of building a healthy lifestyle, things to do to build good habits, as well as the benefits that you can get for deciding on a healthier lifestyle.
A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
First and foremost, let us define a healthy lifestyle. Essentially, a kind of lifestyle that is comprised of good habits that you do in your daily routine. This includes developing good habits in terms of daily activities such as eating, exercising, and sleeping.
It also includes creating a good balance between work and play. As such, it enables you to live your life to the fullest without compromising your health.
Additionally, it helps maintain your overall health condition. This is not limited to physical health, but also improves your mental, social, and spiritual well-being. This goes to show that living a healthy lifestyle is one way to live happily.
By improving your routine in your daily life, your self-esteem will go up, as well as your confidence level. Finally, when you begin to love yourself and what you are doing, you will, at last, feel a sense of contentment that is never before.
10 STEPS IN DEVELOPING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Step 1: Eat nutritious and healthy meals
This is rather a piece of simple and straightforward advice. In order to start your journey towards a healthier lifestyle, you should first develop a good eating habit. You should eat more fruits and vegetables. In fact, it is highly recommended to eat up to five (5) servings of fruits and vegetables daily to feed yourself with an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals.
Just a friendly suggestion, if you are not a huge fan of fruits and vegetables, go for brightly-colored foods to increase your appetite. This may include bananas, pineapples, oranges, apples, avocados, blackberries, eggplants, papayas, and tomatoes.
These foods are high in antioxidants or natural molecules that help protect our body cells against free radicals. As such, a meal plan rich in antioxidants is an effective way to lessen the risk of many illnesses.
Step 2: Drink plenty amount of water
What's a nicer pair for healthy food than drinking an adequate amount of water? Depending on your weight, it is recommended to drink 67 ounces to 168 ounces of water every single day. Apart from weight, there are also other factors such as daily activity and age to determine your certain level of daily water consumption.
Needless to say, drinking enough water on a daily basis is crucial for our body systems to function properly. Water is the one responsible for carrying nutrients and oxygen to our cells, flushing toxins off our body, normalizing blood pressure, and regulating body temperature, among many others. It also plays a role in various bodily processes such as digestion and muscle development.
As we all know, water is released from our bodies through urination and perspiration. Hence, we need to drink enough water all throughout the day to replenish our bodies. However, it is important to know that drinking just any kind of water is not enough, it should be clean and safe drinking water. Otherwise, you will be subjected to various diseases worse than dehydration.
That is why the Berkey Water Filters are here to provide pure and clean water in the comfort of your home. Black Berkey® Elements dramatically reduce trihalomethanes, inorganic minerals, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, VOCs, petroleum products, perfluorinated chemicals, rust, silt, sediment, radiologicals, and more.
Step 3: Move your body
Moving your body is an important component of your daily routine. It is known to have positive effects on sleep quality, brain functionality, and levels of happiness. Hence, exercising every day is a good way to live a healthier lifestyle.
It is recommended to exercise six times a week from Monday to Saturday, with Sunday as the rest day. You can do cardio training, steady state exercises, low and high workout intensity, weight lifting, yoga, pilates, and a whole lot more. If you are into sports, it is also a good activity that involves rigorous training and movements. This may include swimming, basketball, volleyball, etc.
Step 4: Stay away from trigger foods
One of the ways where you can effectively build a good eating habit is by knowing your trigger foods so you can avoid them indefinitely. "Triggers" foods are foods that are so addicting you keep coming back for more. It varies from one person to another. For example, a piece of chocolate candy may be a "trigger" food for you, but not for me.
Although there are trigger foods that are common to everyone. This includes candies, chocolates, cookies, chips, burgers, and fries; basically, food that contains a high level of processed sugar, salt, fat, or flour.
This is why overconsumption of processed foods is not good for your health. Not only do they trigger your food addictions, but they are also full of artificial and preservatives. If consumed on a regular basis, they may cause you serious illnesses such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Step 5: Get sufficient sleep every night
According to National Sleep Foundation's guidelines, it is recommended to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Sleep helps your body rest from its maximum function, slowing down your body organs and recharging you for the next day's activities. As such, getting sufficient sleep can result in a better mood and more productivity. It also helps improve memory, strengthens the immune system, and gives your brain a power boost.
On the contrary, sleep deprivation can lead to serious health problems such as heart disease, chronic stress, diabetes, and obesity. You will also feel lethargic and dizzy all throughout the day if you didn't get enough sleep the night before.
Step 6: Practice good body hygiene
To develop a healthier lifestyle, you should commit to practicing good body hygiene. This includes taking a bath before sleeping and after waking up. You should also make sure to brush your teeth three (3) times a day. For extra cleanliness, you may also floss your teeth and gargle a mouthwash thereafter.
As such, practicing good hygiene is the best precaution against illnesses caused by dirt, bacteria, and viruses. Getting a good bath also helps improve your overall mood. To add, it also keeps you fresh and healthy-looking all day long.
Step 7: Be optimistic
Optimism is the key to a healthier lifestyle. When you look at life in a positive light, you embody the spirit of the good and stir you away from the bad. Hence, you should avoid negativities as much as you can. Whether it's a person or an object, you need to let him or her go if they are causing so much trouble for you. Remember, prioritizing your peace is never wrong nor selfish.
So, if someone or something is causing you to lose your peace, then say your piece and move on. When you are at peace, you are more capable to focus on your tasks and achieve your goals. You also tend to be happier and more productive. Oppositely, when something is disturbing you, you tend to self-destruct in ways such as stress-eating, sleep deprivation, or overworking for temporary relief.
Step 8: Limit your vices
If you have your own vices, you should make an effort to limit them or stop them altogether. Popular vices such as smoking and drinking alcohol can cause harmful damage to your health. If consumed regularly and heavily, your face will look older and have some wrinkles and eyebags. You will also be prone to insomniac tendencies, causing you to lose sleep and become sleep deprived.
Smoking cigarettes contain harmful substances that are dangerous for your body's organs. In fact, the reason why so many people become addicted to smoking despite its foul odor is because of its very addictive chemical nicotine. In the long run, it will cause you serious health complications such as lung cancer and tuberculosis.
Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages also poses the same health threats. Although, drinking alcohol moderately during parties and events is relatively okay. If you are a heavy alcohol drinker, you will be prone to alcohol intoxication, liver disease, heart disease, and digestive malfunctions.
Step 9: Wake up early
Waking up early is a good way to start your day. You can go outside, take a walk, breath the fresh air, and feel the warmth of sunlight against your skin.
There are health benefits that you can get from simply waking up early in the morning. For one, you will have improved cognitive function. This is because waking up early gives more mental clarity and focus as opposed to waking up late morning.
It is also known to reduce the risk of stress and puts you in a better mood all throughout the day. Lastly, it also helps you become more productive and enables you to complete your daily tasks on time.
Step 10: Don't forget to rest and give yourself a break
Finally, don't forget to rest and give yourself a break when needed. Sometimes, life gets so busy that we expect our bodies to work tirelessly despite being restless. So, you should make time to unwind, go out, and relax as much as you can.
Perhaps you can go out with your friends or spend time with your family. You may also travel alone, chill at a beach resort, and recharge yourself before coming back to work. You may also get a good book, enjoy a sip of coffee, and appreciate the beauty of the surroundings.
The point here is that you don't always have to be moving, working, or doing things trying to prove something. Sometimes, all you need is to let go of everything and let loose. Remember, our bodies will become much more efficient if we let them have the rest that it deserves.
THE BENEFITS OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
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Lessens the risk of serious health complications
As mentioned above, committing to a healthy lifestyle lessens your risk of serious illnesses and diseases. After all, living a healthy lifestyle means that you are eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, sleeping adequately, and having a good balance between work and play. These good habits indicate that you are at a healthy weight with no strong vices or addictions.
As a result, your overall life quality becomes so much better. Your lifespan will also lengthen.
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Saves more money in the long run
It's already been established as a fact that living a healthy lifestyle calls for lesser risks of health complications. With that, you can save more money in the long run. Instead of paying regularly for hospital bills, medications, treatments, or maintenance, you get to enjoy your money to yourself.
Moreover, a healthy lifestyle also means eating healthy foods and healthy snacks, less processed foods, and more fresh fruits and vegetables.
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Fresh produce costs less than junk food such as potato chips, sugary drinks, foods full of refined sugar, chocolate cake, and many more. Instead, you can opt for affordable healthy options such as lean meats, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and more vegetables for a balanced diet.
This goes to show that health is indeed wealth. Therefore, maintaining good health is a cheap option to lead your life.
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Environmentally-friendly choice
Did you know that living a healthy lifestyle is also an environmentally-friendly choice? Well, now you do! For example, processed foods contain refined grains and additives that are harmful not only to your health but also to the environment. By cutting less of these, you will help the environment retain its healthful condition.
Furthermore, mega-processed foods are made by factories that greatly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, water contamination, and plastic pollution. So, by cutting down on these, the manufacturers will produce lesser supplies than usual due to lesser demands—making it an environmentally friendly choice for all of us.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, starting to live a healthy lifestyle is more than just a decision. It is, in fact, a lifelong commitment that you should be ready to make. Plus, you need to have the perseverance to make healthy choices and replace your bad habits with good ones. Slowly but surely, learn to trust and embrace the process and avoid the call for instant gratification.
This process is also part of your journey towards self-love. After all, loving yourself means that you are eating, sleeping, and living well. By choosing a healthier lifestyle, you allow yourself to feel and manifest positive changes. Which, in return, puts you in a happier disposition.
While it may take time, you should not stop working on your goal to live a healthy lifestyle. Allow yourself to fall out a few times, but stay consistent until you've reached the end of your goal.
There is no need to rush. Building a new set of habits, especially those that are completely opposite to your old ones will surely take time. Rest assured, sooner or later, you will find yourself fully adapting to the lifestyle you've chosen. Trust me, you will thank yourself one day for making these changes in the first place.
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