Health

 

How to be healthy

There are many ways to be healthy. Let’s explore each one before you dive in, and learn how some of these tips might add to your overall health journey.

1. Eat a well-balanced breakfast. When this happens, start the day with foods high in protein, fiber, or water to ensure your body has all the essential nutrients it needs to function properly. A diet rich in whole grains and fruits will help keep your blood sugar level under control while also helping increase your energy levels, muscle mass, and overall health.

2. Practice good sleep hygiene. You can get plenty of rest if you do some basic self-care tasks every night, like cleaning up after yourself. It’s important that you set boundaries for sleeping time, limiting screen time, and not watching TV until after going to bed.

3. Get enough exercise. If you have trouble fitting in sleep patterns, try getting at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each day. This type of daily movement can help improve fitness levels and may even boost mood. Also, don’t forget to stretch! Stretching is fun but it can also give you extra time to rest and rejuvenate the muscles in the back of your body. Even walking is great for relieving stress and tension to help prevent aches and pains from happening. Walk with a friend or have someone walk for you, especially if you have kids. Walking and playing ball and tennis have been shown to reduce pain symptoms, increase flexibility, and reduce headaches.

4. Don’t forget about essential vitamins and minerals. Essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin D, zinc, and selenium are crucial to maintaining your body’s ability to absorb key nutrients. And while these aren’t as glamorous items you might find on sale, making sure you’ve got them is always a good idea. Talk to your doctor about taking an online vitamin or mineral tablet and take as often as you can. These tablets provide all 10 types of minerals required by your body to function, plus vitamins B12, C, E, folate, and niacin and selenium.

5. Have a healthy weight. Having a healthy body weight makes it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which means losing fat and gaining muscle. Obesity puts people at risk for developing a variety of conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, sleep apnea, kidney stones, colon cancer and more. Thankfully, there are many proven ways to lose weight, but knowing what works best for you first depends on understanding what helps you better your health. Here are some tips to follow: Replace sugary drinks such as soda pop, coffee, fruit juice, and yogurt with healthier alternatives like water or tea. Take small steps at a time, and work on one challenge at a time throughout the day. Walk or bike a distance instead of using public transportation or using an elevator. Add yoga into your routine if you need practice for flexibility. Start slow and build up as you feel more comfortable over time and you will soon see results.

6. Limit alcohol consumption

Alcohol is an amazing way to relieve stress, support your immune system, and decrease anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. However, excessive or binge drinking has been linked to various medical issues, including liver disease, kidney problems, premature birth complications, and skin damage. It’s important to remember that research suggests that alcohol can really make matters worse when combined with any health conditions that have already made their way to your blood. One suggestion is to cut back on alcohol and drink responsibly. Some guidelines suggest that women who have breastmilk should limit themselves to no more than two glasses per week. Women that use alcohol as the primary source of nutrition are recommended to consume alcohol less but still make sure they are eating as close to zero grams per day of carbohydrates. Lastly, ask your healthcare professional about possible alternative medicine practices that could decrease the impact of alcohol on your life. Ask your physician about adding some herbs, or trying a drug like ibuprofen, aspirin, VitaminC, etc., to your current regimen of supplements. These treatments might also help ease stress and other mental health concerns. Alcohol has also been tied to a number of cancers and has been used in some cases in combat situations, so it doesn’t hurt to think about ways it could also help your body.

7. Give yourself the reward. While I do recommend giving yourself rewards, most often that will come in the form of things you enjoy doing, such as reading, spending quality time with friends or family, or playing sports, you will often benefit more from being able to give yourself some pleasure. This is especially true if you suffer from physical and/or mental ailments, as well as you have children or pets of your own. Many times we get so overwhelmed with the thought of needing everything we want or having something we really enjoy, that our minds can become hardwired to those outcomes and we end up never experiencing their rewards. Instead, give yourself a little happiness and joy at different times throughout the day. For example, maybe you take a long afternoon stroll and end up coming across a beautiful tree branch that reminds you to just breathe. That branch won’t make you happy as much as seeing a bird soar overhead. Instead, grab a book, go for a walk, or listen to music, and instead of feeling miserable you will feel elated and satisfied. The same principle applies to rewarding yourself with activities you enjoy. Maybe you spend a lot of time staring at the television, but that’s okay. After all, no one is perfect and sometimes we just need to recognize when we get it wrong without letting that change our mindset. Just because you spend a lot of time at home and watching TV doesn’t mean giving yourself a break, it only means that you’re too busy watching TV. Giving yourself some joy at these moments will give you a positive boost and will help you stick to your life plan.

8. Surround yourself with supportive people. Most people avoid sharing with others because they fear being judged, or they don’t know how to deal with negative emotions. Yet, most mental illness sufferers find that they can cope with negative emotions better than individuals that do not suffer from such conditions, which could be good news for both people suffering from these conditions and for society as a whole. In fact, according to recent statistics, one in five American students suffer from a mental illness, which leads to increased stigma around mental illness in the US, as well as higher rates of isolation. Taking into account that mental illness does not discriminate against people of any gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or nationality, it’s important that there are as many supporting communities out there as possible, for both people living with these conditions to gain access to resources and other people that do not have these same challenges. So where do you find supporting groups? Read through your local LibraryTrot website, look up events in your community, and check out some books that feature stories about similar experiences. If you live alone, you might consider joining a group that meets weekly, so you have both people there on the same team. Then again, why not consider a Facebook group, a Twitter feed, or an Instagram page or Pinterest account that features posts or photos of people with shared experiences? Each brings you together, allowing you to share your struggles and experiences with others, and possibly encourage each other to connect with the very groups you’re part of to get the help it needs. Not everyone needs to join a specific group. There are lots of ways to connect and support groups, and there are plenty of opportunities to talk to people in person, so consider reaching out as often as possible. But if you aren’t ready to commit, reach out via email, phone, text, LinkedIn, Google +, FB, Tumblr, etc.; and if you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out. By making yourself available whenever you feel like you need it, you can easily connect to people who actually want to understand your mind and are willing to help.

9. Learn to say “No.” Being strong is a major trait humans can learn to adopt. Often this comes as a shock for those of us who grew up with parents telling us to “stop complaining.” No, you are not supposed to listen to what you want to do because you want to do it. Yes, you should also stop whining or worrying about how things are going and start learning to accept the fact that you aren’t going to be able to do anything else. Learning how to stop being stubborn and demanding and realizing what’s impossible will take practice, but it will eventually start to pay off as you find your limits and discover what you can accomplish.

10. Find healthy ways to express love and show that you care about others. Whether you’re showing warmth or compassion and you’re genuinely sad, this kind of caring behavior is the easiest thing to do. When you’re feeling down or upset, talking to someone you trust will help you see beyond your own circumstances and get you focused on what happened. Even when you don’t feel in the right headspace to cry, writing out your feelings is great for clearing your mind and allowing you to release them without fear you might offend someone else. Another way to show others you care is to write out a list of things you admire about others. Remember, being vulnerable isn’t about showing off how much you love someone, it’s about conveying appreciation without expecting anything in return. Expressing your admiration might include things like smiling, eating, working, doing a particular job and having a particular hobby you like; it could be as simple as listing 3 things you like about someone (and 2 things you wish) or as elaborate as 5 things.