5 Great Steps To Be Healthy

Step 1: Eat Better Meals

Eating better food can have a remarkable impact on your health and quality of life – as the old saying goes, ‘you are what you eat’. Our modern diets contain an abundance of processed foods, meaning that we’re not always aware of what we’re putting into our bodies.

The overwhelming consensus these days is that in order to increase your overall health,  you’ll need to eat better, not less. This means making nutritious meal choices and becoming more conscious of what exactly goes into your food. If your goal is to eat better meals, here’s a few tips to help you get started.

Eat More Greens

One of the best things you can do for your body right now is to eat more greens. A plant-based diet has been shown to be a great way to gain a wide variety of essential nutrients, reduce your carbon footprint and lose excess weight. On the other hand, what happens if you don’t eat vegetables can be quite shocking – you may be at increased risk of digestive disorders, cancer, weight gain and diabetes.

There are so many delicious ways to cook and prepare vegetables and incorporate them into your diet, and you don’t need to be perfect. Try to eat a salad instead of a grilled cheese sandwich at lunchtime next, or replace meat with veggies the next time you whip up a tasty pasta dish? In short – vegetables are delicious, nutritious, and your body will thank you for them!

Eat More Natural Food

Eating more natural food is an excellent way to improve your health, but it can be difficult to incorporate natural foods into modern diets. Recent decades have seen a tremendous rise in heavily processed foods, which are often packed with calories, salt and sugar and can be very harmful to overall health.

Indeed, according to recent studies, the chemicals found in heavily processed meats may even cause cancer, so it’s best to avoid them if you can. Instead, avoid processed foods and go for natural food instead, cooking healthy meals from simple ingredients.

Eat Whole Grain Foods

Some of the most important nutrients in our diets come from whole grain foods, but sadly, few of us get enough of these into our daily menu. Instead, we tend to favor refined grains, which have many of their health benefits stripped from them and which can contribute to obesity and inflammation.

Whole grain foods such as oats, barley, wild rice and quinoa are packed with vitamins and nutrients, and have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers. They are also extremely important in promoting gut health. While the fad is to eliminate all carbs, there are many benefits from getting as many whole grain foods into your diet as possible, and you’ll soon start to reap the benefits!

Eat More Homemade Food

Eating homemade food is an excellent way to keep track of what you’re putting into your body. While processed ready-meals often contain lots of hidden ingredients and chemicals, homemade food is typically simple, made with healthy, natural ingredients, and usually contains a much lower level of salt.

You also save money by buying healthy, nutritious ingredients and cooking up some of your favorite dishes from scratch. What’s more, making food at home is not only good for your health and your wallet. It’s also a fun activity to share with the entire family! Try using cookbooks and recipe sites for new inspiration, and get creative with your home cooking.

Reduce Salt and Sugar Intake

Salt and sugar are essential elements in a healthy diet, but unfortunately, most of our modern food contains far too much of them. In particular, high sugar levels have been linked to type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other health problems, while high salt intake can increase your blood pressure and lead to cardiac issues.

Cooking your own meals using varied, natural ingredients and sticking to a plant-based diet can help to reduce your salt and sugar intake, without compromising on taste and pleasure (also essential elements of any diet!).

Step 2: Stay Active

Exercise is a crucial element of any healthy lifestyle, and it’s increasingly important to stay active as we age. If you’re tied to a desk job it can be difficult to find time to exercise and be active, but the dangers of a life spent sitting down have been demonstrated in a number of recent studies. Research indicates that people who spend long periods of time sitting or inactive can increase their chance of a heart attack by a staggering 147%.

Regular, moderate, physical activity will help you keep your weight under control, improve flexibility and strength, and can help keep your mind sharp. What’s more, it’s fun! Find a type of exercise that you enjoy, and incorporate more activity into your life. Here are a few ideas to help you get moving.

Exercise More Often

Regular exercise is key to healthy living, and absolutely necessary in order to counteract the negative impact of modern, sedentary lifestyles. However, the good news is that it doesn’t matter what kind of exercise you choose – all you need to do is make sure that you move more! Whether you like to pound the pavements, lift weights, stretch out at a yoga class, or take up dancing, you’ll reap the benefits as long as you get your heart rate going on a daily basis.

So don’t focus so much on what you do, and instead aim to exercise more regularly. It’ll boost your mood, productivity, and energy, and keep your body fit and trim.

Go For Long Walks More Often

You don’t need to run a marathon to get in shape – long walks can be just as effective for getting you fit as those sweaty sessions in the gym! If you’re short on time, try building long walks into your daily routine. You could walk to work instead of taking the bus or car, or take a walk in the park during your lunch break at work instead of surfing the internet. Incremental changes that build more exercise into your life can have a big impact – every little helps!

Go Hiking

If you’re looking for a fun way to boost your activity levels, go hiking! Walking in the countryside has been shown to have fantastic benefits for your health, well-being and general fitness. Scaling a big hill is an excellent way to get fit, and could be a good option if you have joint issues or are worried about taking on high-impact sports.

Not only is hiking good for your physical health, but getting out into nature is also great for your mental health, and will leave you feeling relaxed, energized, and better prepared to deal with the stresses of daily life. Give yourself a treat and organize a hiking weekend getaway!

Go Cycling More Often

Getting around on two wheels is fun, good for you and can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint – three great reasons to go cycling more often! Save on gas and transport costs by jumping on your bike to get to work. This is an excellent way to build physical activity into your day, and you’ll start to improve your physical fitness without evening noticing.

Join A Gym

One of the most popular ways to get fit is to join a gym. Gyms bring a whole host of benefits for those looking to transform their health – fitness equipment and facilities, access to group classes, personal training and consultations, and a social environment that can make exercising much more fun. Gyms can be a good option for those looking for commitment and accountability, and who want to create a diverse, personalized fitness regime that will bring lasting change.

If you’re new to a gym, invest in some personal training so you gain experience and master your new exercises, ensuring you have less likelihood of injury and you’re more efficient with your time at the gym.

Step 3: Improve your Mental Health

While we often focus mostly on getting healthy in terms of our physical health and weight, we need to spend more time maintaining our mental health. It’s been shown many of our physical ailments are correlated to stress or other mental health issues. So even if you’re feeling good about your mental health, make sure you maintain it with these tips.

Spend Time With Family and Friends

Health isn’t just about diet and exercise – if you want to improve your quality of life, it’s important to make sure that you spend time with family and friends. Humans are social animals, and spending time with others has been shown to have all kinds of health benefits. A positive social network can help you deal effectively with stress, contribute to longer life, and even improve cardiovascular health.

Consider Meditation

Consider meditation as a way to improve your health. Meditation is an ancient practice found in many cultures, but in recent years it has become a mainstay of Western wellness regimes. It has been shown to have many health benefits, improving focus and concentration, reducing anxiety and stress, lowering blood pressure and increasing mindfulness. Take five minutes out of your daily morning routine for a short, simple meditation that will get your day off to a positive start.

Get More Quality Sleep

If there’s just one thing you are going to do to improve your health, you should focus on getting more quality sleep. Lack of sleep is at the root of many modern health problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure and stroke.

To improve the quality of your sleep, make sure not to eat too late in the evening, keep your bedroom at a cool temperature, and turn off smartphones and screens at least an hour before you go to sleep. Transform your sleep regime and you’re likely to see a wholesale improvement in your overall health and happiness.

Listen To Relaxing Music

Music has the power to evoke strong emotions – it can make you cry, laugh or sing out with joy. However, you might not realize it, but music can also have extremely positive health benefits. Studies have shown that listening to relaxing or uplifting music can reduce stress, help with insomnia, reduce anxiety, improve memory functions and even ease chronic pain. Make time in your day to listen to relaxing music instead of watching TV shows or rolling news coverage. It might just be the thing to lift your spirits.

Reduce Your Time Spent On Technology

Studies have also shown that our interpersonal relationships can be adversely affected by technology and busy modern lifestyles. The rise of the smartphone has allowed us to stay connected like never before, but paradoxically, it can also mean that we neglect the people around us! A digital detox might sound like a challenge, but it can have significant benefits for your mental health. Make it a personal challenge to ditch the tech and focus on quality time and experiences with the people you love.

Technology, particularly computers and smartphones, has come to dominate our daily lives, and it’s now difficult to imagine a world where you aren’t constantly connected to the internet! Although these devices have brought great benefits, it’s not healthy to spend so much time on your phone. Excessive technology use can disrupt sleep patterns, increase stress and depression, and encourage a sedentary lifestyle. To improve your overall health and wellbeing, try to reduce the time you spend on technology every day.