A Healthy Lifestyle That Leads To A Longer Living.
“The greatest wealth on earth is health.”
What is a Healthy lifestyle?
A healthy lifestyle is a way of living that reduces the risk of serious illness or early death. Not all diseases can be prevented but a large proportion of deaths can be avoided, particularly those caused by coronary heart disease and lung cancer. Scientific studies have identified certain types of behaviors that contribute to non-communicable disease development and early death. Health isn’t just about preventing illness. It also has to do with physical, mental, and social health. When a healthy lifestyle is adopted, other people within the family, children, and friends are given a more positive role model. This article aims to help readers change their behavior and improve their overall health in order to live healthier and longer.
Benefits of living a healthy life
Have you ever wondered if those extra chocolate bars, lack of vegetables in your diet, smoking cigarettes, Improper sleep, lack of reading make a difference? Indeed they do, they can have a massive effect on your health.
A healthy lifestyle has both short and long term health benefits
Long Term :
Being on a balanced diet, doing regular workouts, and maintaining a healthy weight can add more years to your life and it can reduce the risk of certain diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and obesity.
Short Term :
In the short term following a healthy lifestyle can make you feel and look your best, gives you more energy for your daily endeavors.
These methods of changing the human lifestyle benefited me in the long run with amazing results of health condition and mood enhancement for the past 3–4 years.
What you need to do :
You might find it hard to adopt all of these habits and behaviors at once into your lifestyle. with Dedication, Commitment, and Consistency you will be able to construct your own life the way you want it to be.
Some years back, when I was younger, I never realized the importance of following a healthy lifestyle, I used to get sick very often, my immune was very low, most of the time I felt lethargic and uncomfortable. All these were because the lifestyle I was following was not healthy at all. Later I discovered adopting certain behaviors and habits can drastically improve the quality of your living.
Being a Software Engineer and a Boxer myself I believed I had the potential of changing my life for the better. I started adopting small changes, behaviors, and habits into my life little by little. All that you need to do is get ready for a change. A change for a lifetime.
“Little drops of water make the mighty ocean”
Let's Get Started !!!
Eat healthily
The first thing I started to live a healthy life is by eating healthy food. At the beginning I found it really hard to change my food habits, as a typical foodie I found it impossible at times to give up on my favorite meals such as pizza, pasta, burgers, chocolates there are several other can be added to the list, but the moment I started seeing results on my weight loss, lean body figure, increased energy levels and less fatigue throughout the day, it drove me crazy to be consistent on what I’m doing because the results were consistent too.
You don’t have to follow a very strict diet or count calories, all you have to do is understand what is healthy food and what is not, eating healthy according to me is :
- Avoiding refined Sugar
- No carbs after 7 p.m
- Include a lot of veggies and fruits to your meal
- Avoid saturated and trans fat and include good fat to your meal such as avocados, peanuts, and almonds.
- Increase the amount of protein intake
You can have your favorite junk meal once a week, we call it a cheat meal, but remember! discipline is the key to success!
Drink Water
We all drink water, the actual question is “whether we drink sufficient amount of water? and are we drinking water at the correct time?” and the answer is “no!”. As a healthy adult living the adequate amount of fluid intake is: 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) for men and 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids for women is recommended.
Drinking a glass of water a half-hour before the meal will help you indigestion. Remember not to drink water too soon before or after a meal as the water will dilute the digestive juices. Drink water an hour after the meal to allow your body to absorb all the nutrients.
Water is the main chemical component of your body and accounts for about 60 percent of your body weight. Your body depends on water to survive.
Each cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water for proper functioning. For example, water:
- Removes waste by urination, perspiration and bowel movements
- Keeps your temperature normal
- Lubricates and cushions joints
Lack of water will lead to dehydration, which is a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.
Breathe
Yes! Breathing properly can you help you get rid of so many problems you face on a daily basis and get yourself calmed down and have a peaceful mindset.
“we breathe to survive, instead we should breathe to thrive”
I do this breathing exercise twice a day, every day on a regular basis. You will just need a room for yourself with no disturbances. Feel every bit of your breathing, slowly inhale and exhale slowly, while doing this make sure you can feel your tummy moving. Doing this effective breathing practice has enhanced my performance in sports in I have significant changes in my endurance levels too.
This exercise will just take 2–3 minutes of your time, give yourself a try!
Be physically active
Being physically active is not always about hitting the gym 4 days a week, it is all about giving your body some sort of movement. you can rather get yourself into sports, go for a walk every morning, do cycling, play with your friends in the garden.
What I do to be physically active is :
- I go to the gym at least 3 days a week.
- Train Boxing.
- Play Football with friends as a leisure activity.
- Use staircases instead of elevators.
- Often choose to walk instead of getting into an Uber.
Some of the main health benefits of regular physical activity are :
- Reduce your risk of a heart attack.
- Maintain your weight better.
- Have stronger bones, muscles, and joints.
Sleep
For an average adult is recommended to have 7+ hours of sleep. As well as the number of hours the quality of sleep is equally important. waking in the middle of asleep and not feeling properly rested are signs of poor sleep quality.
To improve the sleep quality you should :
- Avoiding sleeping in when you have had enough sleep.
- Going to bed around the same time each night.
- Spending more time outside and being more active during the day.
- Reducing stress through exercise, therapy, or other means.
Sleep is a vital, often neglected, component of every person’s overall health and well-being. Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day.
A quality sleep with the recommended number of hours can benefit you with :
- Stronger immune system.
- Prevents depression.
- Greater athletic performance.
- Better calorie regulation.
Keep challenging yourself
Have you ever wondered how you can achieve your full potential? If you couldn’t find the answer, the answer is “by challenging yourself”, and your productivity-enhancing attitude can become irresistible by setting high goals and working to meet those goals.
I find myself lucky that I have always been surrounded by leaders who consistently challenge themselves and motivate me to do the same. Seeing my boxing coach, my gym trainer, my hardworking colleague, and their desire to keep challenging themselves to reach the next level in life always gave me a little extra courage to seek new challenges and grow.
Challenging yourself and inspiring others is not a one-time goal. Always be brave enough to challenge yourself both personally and professionally.
Follow these simple principles to make a baby step in taking up new challenges in life
- Never be afraid to fail.
- Push yourself out of the comfort zone.
- Be independent.
- Have a positive attitude.
- Don’t procrastinate.
Visit your doctor on a scheduled basis.
Seeing your doctor regularly is a vital investment for your health. These regular checkups and examinations catch problems early when they are more treatable.
People of all ages are supposed to get a yearly checkup, even if nothing seems wrong. The doctor will be able to monitor and compare the patient’s wellness to their last visit. Take this into consideration if you’re a senior adult, who more commonly have chronic and complex health concerns.
There is no fixed schedule that works for everyone when it comes to seeing a doctor. consider your age and health to determine how often a visit is needed.
Benefits of taking a visit to the doctor regularly:
- Better Diagnosis of your health.
- Managing chronic diseases will become more effective.
- The doctor will have a better understanding of your health history.
- Prevents complications that are more serious.
- lower your healthcare costs.
Get Rid of toxic Addictions
What do we mean by Toxic Addiction? anything that holds you back from your healthy living and success is often called “Toxic Addictions”. Here we’ll consider Smoking, masturbation, and drinking as some of the toxic addictions. The majority of the population is addicted to these on a regular basis, and most of us often find it hard to get rid of them. These toxic habits and addictions have a high impact on your health.
Beforehand, I’d like to say, the main key element to get over these habits is Will Power, it is you who’s going to take the crisp and clear decision. Follow these steps to get rid of toxic habits and improve your living:
- Take the decision to quit Today.
- Make yourself occupied to fill the time you spend on those so-called “Toxic Habits”.
- Get advice from the professionals.
- Spend time on other healthy activities that improve your health. For example, start working out.
Read everyday
“Reading makes a full man”
I never liked reading when I was young. I always liked computers, mobile, and video games, But now, I decided to get fond of reading. My strategy was simple. Read every day. I followed the strategy through and today I love to read. Since I started reading I’ve noticed a tremendous change within myself as a confident writer, analytical thinker, and creative thinker.
You will definitely add reading into your daily habits once you get the taste of the benefits reading offers you, such are:
- Stimulates your imagination, creativity, and ideas.
- Better analytical skills.
- Improved writing skills.
- It helps in developing communication and vocabulary.
- Self-discipline and consistency.
- You’ll be an inspiration to many including your kids.
I read every day in the morning and in the night too, it is just a matter of reading the articles I like and the books I like, there is no strict word count per day to read. Make your self comfortable with what you’re reading and have fun reading what you like, just as how I do!
Conclusion
What we discussed above are some of the core life-changing habits which benefited me in the long run to live a healthy life I’ve always dreamt of. This change in my life helped me inspire hundreds of people including my own family.
As I always say adapting to changes is not hard as it looks, we really have to give time to ourselves and think whether “do I really need this change in my life”, ask this question to yourself, if your answer is “yes, I want to change my life” this article is for you my friend!
Thank You for reading!
