A healthy lifestyle includes maintaining a moderate weight, eating nutritious foods, getting enough physical activity and sleep, not smoking and only drinking alcohol occasionally. Additionally, managing medications properly while being aware of any side effects that might alter appetite, energy or ability to think clearly can all be part of living healthily.
Adopting healthy practices can reduce your risk of serious illness and extend your lifespan.
Exercise
Physical activity is integral to living a healthy lifestyle as it improves one’s mood, reduces depression, anxiety and stress levels and strengthens one’s immune system – helping prevent chronic diseases in the process.
Exercise can refer to anything that gets people moving and working their muscles. Experts advise people get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days (ideally every day!). Aerobic activities like swimming, walking and running are great for heart and lung health; strength training or resistance exercises help build muscle strength.
Starting a workout routine may seem intimidating, but starting small and making gradual changes is key to successful transformation. Setting goals and exercising with someone can keep people on the journey to fitness. Also important: diversifying exercises so as not to become boring over time; consult your physician or other health professional about pre-exercise screening prior to commencing any physical exercise regimen.
Eat Right
Healthy lifestyle choices can help you thrive as you move through life. These behaviors include eating well, being physically active, managing stress effectively and avoiding unhealthy activities like smoking, drinking too much alcohol or neglecting mental health issues. There is now strong evidence that these lifestyle changes can prevent or control many of our nation’s leading causes of death.
Eat a well-rounded diet composed of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains, while selecting foods low in saturated fat, salt and added sugars; be sure to get adequate calcium and vitamin D; read Nutrition Facts labels carefully on food packages when shopping and use the GO, SLOW AND WHOA foods chart (136 KB) to make smart decisions at grocery stores.
The Eating Right Toolkit includes a collection of educational posters/activities designed to bring awareness about various components of eating well. These will be displayed at Health & Wellness Centres as well as group/community meetings so as to further disseminate key messages.
Sleep Well
Sleep is one of the key ingredients to healthy living, helping improve brain function, enhance performance and lower the risk of disease. Without enough quality restful sleep, weight gain, memory issues and immune deficiencies could ensue – leading to weight problems as well as an impaired immune system.
Sleep can play an invaluable role in managing mood and providing energy to work, play and live life. Sleep helps your heart rate and blood pressure to stabilize while your body repairs itself, decreasing risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer while simultaneously improving mental wellbeing. Getting enough restful sleep each night may also lower risk factors like dementia.
To improve sleep quality, aim to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same times every day, maintaining a regular schedule. Limit caffeine, alcohol, and exercise just before bed; if you can’t settle down quickly enough try reading, listening to soothing music, or using a white noise machine to drown out distracting noises; for ongoing difficulties consult your physician for advice.
Manage Stress
Stressful situations can be beneficial and invigorating; however, chronic or uncontrollable stress could have serious repercussions for both your physical health and sense of well-being.
Although it may seem that there’s nothing you can do to reduce stress, many aspects of life are beyond your control (bills will continue coming due and work and family obligations will still require attention). Therefore, building resilience requires learning how to respond appropriately in stressful situations and adapt accordingly.
To effectively combat stress, try engaging in healthy coping behaviors such as exercising regularly, getting at least seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, eating healthily and engaging in social interactions such as talking to a friend or mental health professional about it, engaging in relaxation techniques and practicing self-care techniques. Avoid unhealthy coping behaviors like drinking alcohol, using drugs or smoking – which only increase levels of tension further.
