If someone asked you today, “Do you live a healthy life, or do you at least try?” What would your answer be?
My understanding of healthy living is very likely to be different from that of any random person I would pose the question to.
Most us believe that a healthy life entails eating sweet and expensive foods, a notion that can only be termed as deluding.
Having a healthy lifestyle does not entirely depend on the type of food we eat but rather on many other factors that most of us tend to ignore.
Before that to be healthy one needs expensive foods, ask yourself this question; why do “the rich” get ill too despite being able to afford the said types of foods?
Don’t get me wrong, anyone can get sick but if it all depended on whether we ate sweet and expensive foods then the less fortunate and those who cannot afford those types of food would be more vulnerable.
Funny enough, that’s not what happens. It is those of considered to be less unfortunate who actually have a healthy life.
There’s no fixed formula used to achieve healthy living but through the tips provided in this article, you can get started and be on the right track in the journey towards achieving your healthy living target.
Tips on how to live a healthy life
- Eat Well
How can one eat well if they want to be healthy?
Like I said before, eating well does not mean buying expensive food stuff.
There’s more to a healthy diet than sweet, juicy or fleshy foods.
A healthy diet must include all the essential vitamins in small and balanced quantities.
Taking too much of one type of mineral and little or no quantity of the other creates some imbalance in the body.
Fleshy and sugary foods for instance only add fat and a lot of calories to the body and the moment you take too much of it, we all know the result, overweight.
If you balance your eating by taking small bits of fats, vegetables and all other important minerals, you are not likely to have weight related problems.
Health is not entirely about weight management but it covers a larger part of it and that’s why it is worth giving attention.
The baseline on this is that you should eat a balanced diet if you want to be healthy.
- Exercise
How many minutes of exercise can you do in a day? Physical exercises are not fun at all when you are just starting.
In fact, most people give up after the first attempt.
Having your evening walks or a five-minute work out once a week is not enough.
For a healthy life, you need to try more vigorous exercises to keep your body fit and help you burn some calories.
Exercising has many health benefits than you can imagine. Those trying to lose weight can be beneficiaries of strenuous exercises.
Before you start exercising, be psychologically prepared since it requires some perseverance. Get more information on the health benefits of physical exercises here
- Learn to take a break or rest
We all need to pay bills, run our projects or at least earn a living and that means we have to work. Sometimes, extra hard and longer hours.
Overworking results in mental exhaustion and the best thing and the only way to avoid that is by taking some rest.
When at work, a twenty-minute break is enough to help you re energize and perform even better.
Whether it is a short break, long break or a week off, it is important that you ensure you don’t miss it.
Taking these breaks plays a vital role in your general body health and can also help improve your mental health.
A simple but interesting idea that can help you stay motivated during or after your break is rewarding yourself.
Gifting yourself might sound odd but it is one way that can help you keep healthy mentally.
If you are wondering how this happens, then think about how you can feel if someone appreciates your hard work. It works the same way.
Getting enough sleep is the other way to get rest. Sleeping brings quite a number of benefits to your body and mind.
It is recommended that one should get at least 7 hours of sleep every 24 hours.
- Give some attention to your mental health
Stress and depression have become common health problems. Most serious mental health complications result from stress among other things.
Getting stressed is normal especially if you do a demanding job or you are in a toxic relationship. We can’t say that it is possible to completely avoid stress.
Uncontrolled amounts of stress affect your mental and physical health.
Since being stressed is inevitable, it is only right if you find ways to keep it under control.
The art of stress management is somewhat intricate and requires that you take certain approaches to get the best results.
Some of the most effective stress management tips are; listening to soothing music, yoga and other exercises and meditation.
Use this guide to learn more about stress management.
- Take control of your Life and have a healthy Interaction with others.
How many times do you find yourself in dilemmatic situations that result in making hasty decisions?
To remain mentally healthy, it is important to take control of situations.
Learn to say NO whenever you are not in a position to do or offer something.
Accepting and putting yourself under pressure does not do you any good.
It is such actions that in most cases make you stressed.
Your personal relationship with people also plays a role in your health. If you are always negative and bitter, you can’t achieve good mental health.
With a relaxed mind and bright mood around people, you will most certainly appear livelier and do much better in whatever task you are handling than when you’re down.
How do you build a better relationship with people?
There’s no specific way to do it but beginning with more listening and less judging, you can figure it out.
Most people don’t listen and mostly just make conclusions about others from the little rumors they hear without making any effort to understand a person’s true personality.
If you do the same, how can you have a good relationship with anyone?
So, listen and try to understand someone before judging them.
I know we all have different opinions on the right way to lead a healthy life and I respect that. If you have anything to add or feel like I have omitted something from my article, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
