Many people think that being healthy is a difficult task, involving months of dieting accompanied by hours at the gym. However, this is not actually true. By controlling your daily activities, anyone can remain healthy. It’s not as hard as you might think.
Having a Healthy Routine
1 – Stop engaging in risky behaviour. Taking unnecessary risks is hard to the body and mind. It can also have devastating long-term consequences. Serious or established patterns of risk-taking can also be indicative of deeper psychological problems, in which case you should talk to a healthcare professional who specializes in a relevant field. Start by setting your sights on one or more of the following achievements:
- Have Safer Sex
- Stop Binge Drinking
- Quit Drinking without Alcoholics Anonymous
- Quit Smoking
- Beat Drug Addiction
- Things like wearing a helmet when riding a bicycle and wearing your seatbelt when in your car.
- These things are doable. While they are definitely daunting, they’re doable. Often if one of these is accomplished, other things seem much easier and will fall into place.
- If you already don’t engage in risky behaviour, congratulations!
2 – Exercise several times a week. We’ve stressed the “get fit” part already, but now we want to make it a little less ignorable. Your daily/weekly routine needs to include exercise. It will increase your metabolic rate, control your weight, and you’ll feel fresh the whole week. Triple win!
- Here’s something concrete for you: aim for 150 minutes of aerobic activity every week (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) and strength training twice a week.Even mowing the lawn counts!
3 – Get a good night’s rest. When you sleep, your body produces cells that fight infection, inflammation, and stress—which means that getting too little sleep or poor-quality sleep not only makes you more prone to getting sick but also increases the time you need to recover from illness. If you’re not sleeping for you, sleep for your health!
- On top of that, a study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrated that men who slept for 4 hours consumed 500 more calories than they did after sleeping for 8 hours. If you’re looking for an easy diet, here it is!
4 – Learn how to cook. Cooking your own meals is a wonderful experience as you can try out different recipes while saving money at the same time. What’s more, you get to control every little thing that goes into your body. That’s really the only way to turn your diet around!
- When you cook, avoid using fatty oils and extra add-ons. Stick to olive oil instead of vegetable oil, butter, or margarine and keep the extra salt and cheese to a minimum. If it doesn’t taste good without it, try cooking it differently!
5 – Maintain your personal hygiene. Wash your hands often, especially after visiting the bathroom at home or using the restrooms in a public place. Germs can spread like wildfire and bring us down in the blink of an eye. And as if it wasn’t already clear, taking a shower is a good idea too.
- When it comes to your mouth, floss and brush your teeth and tongue after eating; food particles are often the cause of bad breath and gum disease. Visit your dentist regularly for cleanings and to catch any problems before they become serious.
6 – Bolster your immune system. Maintaining healthy habits and a high level of energy is difficult for anyone who constantly battles fatigue, colds, infections, or any other effects of a weakened immune system.
- If you can help it, try to get all your necessary vitamins and minerals from your diet. Supplements should only be used as a secondary measure. And of course, talk to your doctor before you undergo any significant changes.
Robyn Markham 