Living healthy and healthy habits is something that we should all strive for but so few of us actually attain. Unfortunately, this means that many people are left without the health benefits that come as a result of healthy living.
What is Healthy Living?
Healthy living is the practice of enhancing your health. It combines behaviors, habits, actions, choices, mental and physical health as well as diets and more. Healthy living is a combination of multiple aspects of your life that all help you to live your best life.
Why is it important to live healthy?
By choosing to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle you can help to prevent many different chronic diseases and long-term illnesses. You can also improve your self-esteem and self-image, which are both important for your mental health.
Being healthy is an important lesson taught at a very young age. In fact, when you were in grade school there were lessons of healthy living being taught to you whether you were aware of it or not. Physical tests in gym class, the food options at lunch, and the learning of the food pyramid are just to name a few.
In 2018 The Guardian posted a research report of healthy living stating that those adults that stuck with the 5 healthy habits were able to add another decade to their lifespan. [Source]
What Are The 5 Healthy Habits?
- Don’t Smoke.
- For obvious reasons you can see why smoking is bad for one’s health. Not only is it an addictive substance but it can shorten your lifespan and hurt your lungs.
- Maintain a Healthy Weight
- By keeping your weight in a safe and healthy range for your size and body type, you can lower the risks of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and high blood pressure while lowering risks of many different cancers
- Do At Least 30 Minutes of Moderate Exercise
- Physical activity is good for your body and mental health. It can reduce the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, and heart disease while increasing your energy levels, improving your mood and promoting a better night’s sleep.
- Eat a Healthy Diet
- Having good nutrition is important to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of chronic diseases as well as improve your overall health.
- Don’t Drink Too Much Alcohol
- Consuming too much alcohol is bad for man reasons, most of which can be considered long-term, such as liver failure or brain impairment. Other risks can include alcohol poisoning and weight gain as a result of the alcohol sugars.
These 5 healthy habits are pretty easy to follow for many people and you may find that you are already following some if not all of them. Thankfully, there are numerous ways that you can stay healthy and promote a better lifestyle for yourself.
Different Ways to Live a Healthier Lifestyle
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it not only helps to wake up your metabolism but it also helps to give you the energy that you need to make it to your next meal. Choosing to eat a healthy breakfast means that you are giving your body the nutrients it needs when it first wakes up, which can give you great health benefits as a result.
Eat Foods Rich In Antioxidants
Antioxidants are a great substance that helps your body’s cells to protect them from harmful free radicals. As a result of ingesting more antioxidants in your diet, you are also helping yourself to prevent or lower the risks of cancer and other diseases.
Get Plenty of Sleep
You need sleep for so many reasons, and I’m sure once or twice in your life you’ve pulled an all-nighter and felt the groggy issues that stem from little to no sleep during a time period. Sleep is much more important than simply “not feeling tired.”
Your body works for you by repairing damage or sickness while your resting and asleep. Not only that but it can also help to prevent some diseases such as heart-related issues and it gives you the energy you need to survive another day.
Kick the Sugar Habit
You may find that eating too much sugar can lead to headaches and low energy levels or inflammation. Sure, you may have a boost of energy for a while, but the crash afterward is almost never fun.
Cutting sugar out from your life (with exception to natural sugars) is a great way to reap many health benefits including decreasing inflammation, boosting your energy levels and improving your ability to focus.
Stretch and Strengthen
You already know that you should stretch before exercising but not everyone does this. Even if you don’t plan on doing a workout, stretching is still very good for your body.
Doing a little stretching in the morning before getting up and on with your day can help to maintain a good range of motion with your muscles and joints and can help to avoid pulling muscles or having a joint injury.
Spending a few minutes stretching before bed can help to relax you into a good night’s sleep and to get out last minute anxiety and built up energy or jitters.
Build Relationships
Building healthy relationships helps you to appreciate others and make new friends. While it may not sound incredibly important for your health, it is.
Building relationships with others both personally and professionally is a great way to develop self-esteem, confidence, security, and trust. From a business standpoint, it can also help you to gain more customers while improving your reputation.
You can develop better relationship building skills pretty simply by being positive, managing boundaries, and avoiding gossip.
Living healthy means both physically and mentally and often times the two fall hand in hand to improve the overall wellness and balance in a person. With the addition of a healthier lifestyle, you can reap benefits for years that help you both mentally and physically.
Choose to accept a healthy living lifestyle with me by downloading this PDF of tips and ideas for living healthy.
Most importantly get up and get moving. Some ideas for exercise can be found in this FREE Printable by adding routine exercise into your daily regime.
There is more to being healthy
- Drinking Water for better Health
- Eating Healthy
- Portion Foods
- Mindfulness Being Purposely Present
Devour Dinner does not make any claims or guarantees for health or a healthy lifestyle. Nor will Devour Dinner be held accountable for the choices of those who wish to participate. Always consult a physician before starting any exercise routine or change of diet. Please consult a dietitian for dietary needs.
Vickie
This is a great article. Thank you for the Exercise form. Great accountability marker.
Devour Dinner
Thank you Vicki! I'm so glad you found the article valuable and the exercise form is super fun too!
Terri
Yesterday I did the water challenge
Doing it again today
I had an injury set back New Year’s Eve so am not yet ready to do the exercise portion
Also my husband and I are going back to Keto which also takes mindful meal planning
Devour Dinner
Hi Terri!
I'm sorry to hear you were injured but rest assured the 21 Day Healthy Living Challenge is about setting Healthy Habits. It's self paced and you can choose to do one element or all 3 elements. The goal is to form a Healthy Habit. Drinking 64oz of water a day is just that! And of course a Keto Diet takes planning and being mindful of food choices. You are doing great and kicking off the new year well. I hope you feel better soon!