A healthy lifestyle involves practices that promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being, such as engaging in regular physical exercise, following a balanced diet, getting adequate restful sleep and relaxing enough, refraining from smoking cigarettes and restricting alcohol consumption.
Your journey may look different for everyone, but there is plenty of support and information available to you. Additionally, healthy behaviors have been proven to reduce many leading causes of mortality.
Eat Healthy
An active and balanced lifestyle is not only good for your body, but it’s also better for the planet. Exercise and diet can help avoid many serious diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.
Eating a well-balanced diet means selecting foods and drinks that provide your body with essential nutrients. Aim for variety among the five major food groups – vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean proteins are particularly good options.
People choose what a healthy lifestyle looks like for themselves, but evidence has demonstrated how choosing healthier options can reduce and control some of the nation’s leading causes of death – smoking, physical inactivity, poor diet and excessive alcohol consumption among them – so now is never too late to make improvements – even small changes can have significant long-term benefits; try introducing one small change at a time until eventually adding two fruit or vegetables per week as you progress towards reaching optimal health.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise provides multiple health advantages, including improved mood and energy, stronger bones and muscles, reduced heart disease risk and diabetes risk and lowered risk. When coupled with healthy diet and restful sleep practices, regular physical activity is an invaluable way to manage stress and deal with life’s ups and downs.
Make time each week for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity and 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or speak with your physician first if starting an exercise routine is new to you.
Be sure to warm up and stretch before and after exercise, and remember that even small bursts of movement add up over time; taking the stairs instead of an elevator or parking further from work are great examples of healthy habits which will benefit you throughout your life. These positive experiences will build stronger self-esteem and emotional resilience for easier management of stressful situations.
Sleep Well
Even if you eat healthily and exercise regularly, without enough quality sleep every night your health may still suffer. Proper rest helps support healthy brain function, regulate moods and lower the risk of many medical conditions.
Be it difficulty sleeping through the night or difficulty in falling asleep, making a few small lifestyle adjustments can help. Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet and cool to promote restful slumber; use ear plugs or white noise to block out distracting sounds if necessary; avoid eating large meals within 20 minutes before heading off to bedtime; consider developing an enjoyable bedtime ritual such as reading or listening to relaxing music – everything counts toward getting better rest!
Reducing stress levels is another essential element of leading a healthy lifestyle. Some effective techniques for doing this include exercise (which also boosts mood), meditation, deep breathing exercises or talking it out with someone close to you. If this doesn’t do the trick, consider seeing a therapist or counselor.
Manage Stress
An active lifestyle includes strategies to manage stress. These may include exercise, self-care practices and eating healthily.
Stress is a normal response to demanding situations or events; however, when stress persists over an extended period of time it can take its toll on both mental and physical wellbeing. This condition is known as chronic stress.
Emotional distress can arise from many sources, such as relationship difficulties, work pressures and financial worries. It may also arise as the result of traumatising experiences like illness, the death of loved ones or major life changes.
Some may find managing stress easier than others, but everyone can gain from learning to better cope and incorporating healthy practices into daily routines. Making small changes, like drinking more water instead of soda or spending an hour doing something relaxing each day can have significant positive effects on health. If you need assistance reaching your GP for guidance or referral to services like counselling or cognitive behavioral therapy.
