How to Live a Healthier Life
As important as being healthy is, sometimes it gets hard to keep up with it. The regular, high tempo of life gets us through every day, but do you ask yourself if you actually live a healthy life? Fast foods, carbonated drinks, the undeniable amounts of sugar in everything and having to work long hours may throw us off the track to living a long, healthy life. There are simple steps you can follow and fit into your daily life even if you have a hectic schedule. Remember that a healthy lifestyle is a long-term commitment rather than a once a month thing and these small changes when maintained, will assure you a healthier, more energetic tomorrow. Let’s look at some things you can do to live a little healthier.
Get Movin’
Are you waking up, getting into your car, driving to the office, doing work and then driving back home to rest and sleep every day? Are you too tired to do anything physical after a full day at work? Totally understandable. When our brains are tired and overworked, we tend to feel our energy levels drop physically too. However, keeping active is very important for muscle, bone health as well as being important for your mental and overall health. If you can, go sign up to a gym and try to attend at least 2 days out of the week for 30+ minute exercise. This can be as little as Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. If you don’t have time for the gym, do 50 jumping jacks, 50 squats, 50 push ups and 50 crunches everyday after waking up or going to sleep (or both) to get your physical activity levels higher.
Eat Better
Better does not necessarily mean less or even just healthy foods. It is completely okay to eat pizza or a burger once in a while. What is important is that you have a healthy relationship with food which means you understand that food is just nutrition and not an emotional support system for your problems. Enjoy a healthier breakfast and lunch if you are going out for dinner or enjoy a healthy breakfast and dinner if your lunch was on the heavier side. It is all about balance when it comes to food. Not restraining. Award yourself with a carb-heavy dinner if you have been eating healthier lately. You can enjoy your food without any guilt if you have been keeping a track of what you have eaten and realize how your eating habits need to change. Keeping a track of your eating habits will also eliminate the chances of you binging on unhealthy foods later on.
More Water, Less Soda
Most carbonated drinks are filled with ridiculous amounts of sugar. Did you know that just one small can of coke has 10 sugar cubes worth of sugar in it? And even if you say you drink diet sodas, the chemicals, sweeteners and other unhealthy substances are still present in those drinks as well. Our bodies need about 3-4 liters (about 1 gallon) of water a day in order to clean out the toxins in our bodies. Carbonated drinks don’t fulfill this need since the water has other ingredients in it. Make sure to drink up to 9 glasses of water a day, even if you don’t cut off the soda entirely. But it is highly recommended. You can substitute the soda with fresh fruit juices but please be aware, you will still need water and there is still a lot of sugar in fruits as well.
Follow these steps for a simply healthier life. Check out our blog post about Eliminating and Managing stress to get more tips on a healthier lifestyle and contact us if you have any questions or inquiries about switching to a healthier lifestyle.