Seven Ways On How To Lead a Healthy Lifestyle

We hear it all the time. We see it in news adverts, in the media and even in school textbooks. With the booming rise of smartphones, videogames and other hi – tech gadgets, our society runs the risk of becoming an unhealthy bunch of people. Spending hours glued to your smartphones – texting, emailing, browsing through Facebook and downloading the latest application, sitting on the couch for hours watching your favourite TV shows and spending large amounts of your time playing the latest video games with your best friend can have adverse effects on your health. So, how is it that we maintain a healthy lifestyle that would eventually help us in the long run?

Exercise

You might have guessed it already. And yes, this is by far the most important step in leading yourself towards a healthy lifestyle. Spend at least 30 minutes a day for about 4 – 5 times a week doing any form of physical activity. It can be brisk walking, a game of futsal, swimming, squash or anything at all that increases your heart rate and gets your blood flowing. Any form of physical activity will help increase the body’s mobility and improve circulation to the heart, brain and lungs – all vital parts of the body. Exercise also helps release endorphins which are essentially feel good hormones that keep you happy and generally in a state of wellness.

Get the Glow

Getting the morning sun is an essential part of promoting your body’s ability to boost its natural production of vitamin D. Try to get at least 15 minutes of direct morning sunlight a day (most preferably during sunrise) without applying any sort of sunscreen. Vitamin D helps prevent heart diseases, osteoporosis, and even certain forms of cancer.

Maintain a Healthy BMI

The key rule that many people tend to forget is that it’s not about how light or heavy you are but rather how your weight is in comparison to your height. Be sure to know your exact body mass index (BMI) when deciding how much weight to lose. Remember, too thin may sometimes not be a good thing. For those of you who aren’t that familiar with how to calculate your BMI, here’s the formula: Weight (kg) / Height (m²)

NORMAL WEIGHT (18.5 - 24.9)

OVERWEIGHT (25 - 29.9)

OBESITY (more than 30)

Sugar and Salt

As far as possible, try to limit the amount of sugar consumed during meals. When ordering, make it a habit to ask for less sugar in your drinks. While shopping for items check out their nutritional value on the labels. You could also try substituting sweet desserts such as ice – cream for different types of fruit. Consuming less sugar will ultimately help reduce the risk of you contracting heart diseases and diabetes.

Quit Puffing Away

You might have heard this time and time again that it may seem like an old and ancient advice by now but it still holds a lot of truth in it. No matter what steps you may take to live healthily, smoking just throws all that hard work out of the window. There are many dangers that can be traced back to smoking. A cigarette bud contains a vast amount of dangerous chemical compounds and toxins. The tar is a carcinogen substance that increases the risk of getting cancer. Nicotine and carbon monoxide on the other hand causes addictiveness and reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches your brain. Smokers tend to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, impotence, high blood pressure and may even get a stroke in the long run.

Yoga or Meditation

A healthy lifestyle comprises of two parts: the physical and the mental. Both are equally important and needs to complement each other in order to achieve total wellness. Yoga / meditation deals with the mental health by helping to alleviate stresses trapped at the back of our minds. By practicing meditation we tend to improve our focus and concentration as well as balancing our body’s internal hormones. This will result in us being calm and relaxed even under the toughest of situations.

Positive Influence

It’s true that what you think will result in what you become. Hanging around people who have the same goals of achieving a healthy lifestyle will naturally result in you picking up certain good habits that others may have. You may be influenced to follow what they eat, join them for short periods of exercise or even share creative ways in which you may learn from each other about how to lead a healthier life.

The rewards of starting to live healthy may not be instantaneous but it will definitely show in the long run. Remember, you are never too old or too late to start living healthy. It’s just a matter of choice and you can start right now by making the right choice. Why wait? After all, you have just one life.