Living Your Best Life: 7 Must-Know Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle
Metabolic health is your body’s ability to maintain ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference. All of these statistics help measure your overall health. The better these numbers, the better your overall health.
If so few people are healthy, it must not be worthwhile to put in the effort to get there, right? Otherwise, everyone would be doing it!
Not so. There are a lot of benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and learning to add healthy habits doesn’t have to be hard.
Here are the top things you can do to live a healthier lifestyle, how they benefit you, and steps you can take today to implement them.
1. Eat Healthy Foods
This is not new information, but it’s still the core of tencon2022.org creating a healthy lifestyle. Without proper nutrition, almost nothing else you do will matter. Fueling your body with clean energy is the key to building a healthy lifestyle.
What You Can Do Today
You can’t change your diet overnight. But you can make healthier choices. Start by getting rid of junk food, or at the very least hiding it out of sight or somewhere hard to get to.
Put healthy foods like fruits and vegetables in easy to reach places, so you’re more likely to snack on them instead. Spend some time each week prepping veggies, so they’re easy to add to a dish, or easy to munch on.
Each week, try a new healthy recipe and find fresh foods you love. Changing your diet takes time, but every time you make a healthy choice, you’re setting yourself up for a better life.
Benefits of Eating Well
Eating healthy helps you maintain a proper weight, which is key to preventing most of the most common causes of death. But it also improves your memory, gives you better energy, and can clear up bad skin and even headaches.
2. Move Every Day
This isn’t a surprise, either. You know you need to exercise more. So what’s holding you back?
But here’s the cool thing. You don’t need to hit the gym to get the benefits of exercising more. The healthiest people incorporate movement into their daily lifestyle, not just at the gym.
What You Can Do Today
Start just by moving more. Set a reminder on your phone to stand up every hour for three minutes or so. Take a walk during lunch—Park at the back of the parking lot. Always take the stairs.
But you should also find a form of movement you love. While lifting weights and cardio are essential, exercise shouldn’t feel like a chore. If you enjoy rock climbing, yoga, soccer, dance, or any other thing that gets you moving, pursue that!
Benefits of Moving More
Better sleep, more energy, improved muscle tone, become more physically capable and live your life to the fullest. You’ll also be better looking, you’ll be more active for longer, and you’ll feel better about yourself. Regular exercise can even relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety.
3. Set a Regular Sleep Schedule
Sleep is a fundamental core to maintaining proper health. In a perfect world, you’d get up and sleep with the sun cycle. Even if that’s not realistic for your lifestyle, you should still set a regular bedtime and wake up time you follow every day.
What You Can Do Today
Highlight problems that keep you from getting good sleep. Upgrade your mattress or linens if you’re not comfortable, or buy blackout curtains if light keeps you awake. Set white noise or pink noise to help you sleep better.
Set up a night routine that can help your mind rest. Include things like journal or setting up a diffuser with a lavender scent to help your brain fall asleep.
It’s also smart to stop using technology an hour before bed, and stop eating three hours before bed.
Benefits of Proper Sleep
A regular sleep cycle can help you wake up with more energy and improve your focus throughout the day. It also improves your memory and fights inflammation in your body to keep you healthier. It can even help you lose weight.
4. Drink Plenty of Water
If you’re drinking your calories, you’re doing it wrong. Water should be the primary beverage you drink, and all (or at least most) of your calories should come from real food.
What You Can Do Today
Get a water bottle you like and start carrying it with you everywhere. If you hate the taste of water, get an infuser and add cucumbers, mint, strawberries, or lemon so you can enjoy it more.
Often just having water nearby will help you drink more. You can also set triggers throughout your day to remind you to drink, like immediately after getting up, or before a mealtime.
Benefits of Staying Hydrated
Staying hydrated helps you keep clear skin. It lubricates your joints and airways and supports your brain. You can feel more alert and consume fewer calories throughout the day. But it also helps to flush out waste in your body and maintain your blood pressure.
5. Manage Stress in Your Life
A small amount of stress or stress in short bursts is perfect for you. Long-term stress can wreak havoc. It contributes to ulcers, depression, anxiety, headaches, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
So learning to manage stress is essential to keep a healthy lifestyle.
What You Can Do Today
Meditating and journal are often the two best DIY ways to manage stress. But it’s also a good idea to find someone you can confide, whether it’s a close friend or family member or a therapist.
It’s also a good idea to create space in your life to relax and have fun. Consider yoga, painting, or hiking, or anything that helps you relax.