A healthy lifestyle refers to any way of living which reduces your risk for illness and increases life expectancy, such as eating healthily, exercising regularly and getting enough restful sleep. Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption should also be avoided for optimal wellbeing.
Make eating healthier and exercising regularly part of your lifestyle by prioritizing them in your daily life and celebrating each success with nonfood rewards.
Diet
While individual needs will differ, healthy diets in general tend to be low in salt and sugars while providing a variety of foods, with protein from animal sources as well as legumes providing sufficient amounts. Unsaturated fats should be preferred over saturated or industrially produced trans fats for maximum nutritional impact.
Dieting plans that promote health typically provide balanced meals from all five food groups, with particular attention paid to fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and dairy. Such an eating plan should also contain less sodium, saturated and trans fats while being high in dietary fiber content.
Though these differences exist, a growing body of evidence shows that healthy lifestyle behaviors significantly reduce risk for many chronic noncommunicable diseases. Such behaviors include adequate exercise, balanced nutrition (no smoking or excessive alcohol use) and maintaining an acceptable body weight. Furthermore, healthy lifestyle behaviors tend to correlate with greater life satisfaction – though this correlation might not be causal since life satisfaction could influence choice of health-enhancing activities more directly than vice versa.
Exercise
Regular physical activity and exercise have immense health advantages for everyone of any age or gender, regardless of their age or fitness levels. Exercise can boost energy levels, elevate mood and increase overall fitness while simultaneously decreasing risk for major illnesses and improving quality of life.
Physical activity refers to any activity which utilizes muscles and can increase breathing or heart rate, from structured workout sessions with an exercise physiologist, such as those provided at gym, to everyday activities like walking the dog or gardening.
Adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity each week. While this may seem daunting at first glance, this goal can be broken into smaller chunks with clear goals in mind and choosing enjoyable activities or exercising with friends making sticking to an exercise regime easier. It may also help strengthen all muscle groups while improving balance and stability through varied movement training routines.
Sleep
Sleep is a natural process designed to allow both your body and brain to recharge. Though it might seem simple enough, just lying down and closing your eyes to enjoy some restorative rest may actually be one of the most complex body processes known to science – hence why there’s an entire field dedicated to sleep disorders and conditions affecting it.
Sleep can help you feel refreshed, concentrate better during the day and perform at your best. Achieve adequate restful rest can reduce risk for illness and injuries by sticking with a regular schedule and limiting light/noise/stress before bed. Avoid alcohol/food before sleep as both may disrupt it and lead to poor quality or interrupted restful slumber – and most importantly of all remember that sleeping well is part of being healthy just like eating right or exercising regularly!
Stress Management
Stress is a natural response to life’s changes and challenges (stressors). Our bodies react both physically and psychologically, but uncontrolled or prolonged stress can have lasting health implications.
Relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing and yoga can be effective ways of decreasing our bodies’ response to stress. Exercise also has many other health benefits and can improve mood while giving an energy boost.
Finding support systems can also be of great assistance. Turning to friends or an online peer support community for advice can help to put things into perspective and ease feelings of isolation.
If you are experiencing ongoing or significant stress, speak to your healthcare provider immediately. They may refer you to a therapist or prescribe medications to reduce anxiety and symptoms such as pain. A therapist can teach ways to change situations that cause you anxiety while building new coping skills; additionally they may suggest healthy lifestyle changes like exercising more or sleeping more so that you can take control of your own health.
