However, to lead a healthy life, we do not know where to start. Hence, here are some tips on in what way to have a healthier life, which are focused on three fundamental pillars diet, exercise, and proper stress management. It would help if you incorporated the advice that we share below. With discipline and perseverance, you can create a habit and make it part of your daily life, but not without first consulting your trusted doctor.
Table of Contents
Fundamental of Healthy Life
1. Eat Better
Surely you have heard Feuerbach’s famous phrase: “We are what we eat,” and the truth is correct. We are not talking about strict diets but rather a balanced diet about your level of daily physical and mental activity:
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
It is essential to have at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day since they are nutritious foods and provide various vital nutrients in our bodies. For example, fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and also helps improve our digestion. In addition, minerals and vitamins are necessary for proper nutrition. It would help if you measured that the more colorful your food is, the more nutrients you add to your diet.
Avoid Processed Foods
Most processed foods contain chemicals such as preservatives, colorants, texturizers, and flavor enhancers. All these chemicals can be harmful to our bodies if we consume them regularly. For this reason, we recommend you reduce them and prepare your food at home. For example, are you dying for some chocolate chip cookies? Prepare them yourself with organic ingredients, and you will surely notice the difference.
Give up Sugar
Too much refined sugar is associated with overweight and obesity. You can replace it with honey and organic panela as long as it’s moderate consumption. You can also eat fruit to curb those sweet cravings or substitute sugar with a natural sweetener like Stevia.
Eat More Healthy Fats
Healthy fats bring us many benefits to fighting heart disease, among which we can mention omega-3 (fish such as tuna or salmon, flaxseed, soy, walnuts), monounsaturated fats ( olive oil, peanuts, avocado, olives) and polyunsaturated fats (soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil). This type of fat will help improve triglycerides, cholesterol, and LDL fraction levels balance and without using them to prepare fried foods since we expose them to a saturation process. As a result, they lose their property of being healthy.
Drink Water
Water is an essential part of a healthy diet and is vital for our body. The human body is made up of about 70% water, and it is for this reason that it is recommended to consume a minimum of 2 liters per day. In addition, water helps us maintain the function of our kidneys, regulate our body temperature, control our digestive processes, and, together with an adequate diet, help maintain our weight at sufficient levels. Therefore, we suggest you consume water throughout the day and replace soft drinks, beer, and artificial juices with a refreshing glass of water.
2. Move More Often
Workout is important to leading a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, when we hear the word gym, we often run away or make excuses such as lack of time, tiredness, or the multiple occupations that saturate our agendas. The truth is that exercise contributes more than just the fact of looking good; but also keeps our muscles strong and our bones with the appropriate density, combats stress, and depression, to minimizes the risk of heart problems due to overweight and obesity. In short, physical activity seeks to lead us to a better quality of life. We leave you some tips to keep you more active until you can generate the habit of exercising daily:
Leave the Car
We are taking the car everywhere, even when we have to travel short distances. When this is your case, we invite you to walk or ride a bicycle; imagine filling your lungs with oxygen, enjoying the wind on your face, and being able to meditate for a few minutes to eliminate stress.
Take the Stairs
Many of us are used to using the elevator all the time. However, going up and down stairs will help you strengthen your leg muscles, improve circulation, and burn off some calories.
Dynamism for your Weekends
take the time to travel and walk with your family on weekends. It includes physical activities such as walks in nature, walks in the woods, a walk on the beach, climbing a mountain, rowing in a lagoon, camping, taking a walk with your pet, or simply practicing some recreational physical activity such as cycling, running or practice some sport, in short, enjoy your free time to the fullest.
3. Relax
Stress is our body’s response to external pressures such as work, studies, family responsibilities, financial problems, etc. When we cannot control stress, it can cause various physical and emotional disorders in a complex phenomenon called somatization. Our emotions and thoughts are translated into perceptible organic alterations. That is why we want to share some tips to combat stress.
Exercise
As discussed in the earlier point, exercise is essential for our physical, mental, and emotional balance. In addition, there is evidence that places it as one of the most effective methods to combat stress. Therefore, we recommend you start with routines of 30 minutes a day and gradually increase their duration each week.
Take a Deep Breath
When we are under stress or a moment of anxiety, we tend to breathe faster and shallower, we feel that our heart beats faster, and we believe that we cannot control the situation. Every time you think this way, try breathing several times: Inhale slowly and deeply, hold the air for about 2 seconds, and exhale slowly. You can incorporate this breathing several times a day to make it a habit; you will see how you feel better.
Meditation
Meditation is an incredible way to combat stress, eliminate negative emotions and calm the thoughts that cause us anxiety. The best times to meditate are: at night before going to bed and when getting up in the morning.
Sleep
Sleeping well is essential for our body and allows you to go about your day with greater vitality and energy.
Conclusion
As you can see, thereare several ways you can lead a healthy life. Remember that the better our state of health, the better our brain will be able to work, become more productive, enjoy a better quality of life, and finally make our life more pleasant.