We only get to live once! Everyone wants to stay healthy and fit so they can enjoy the gifts of life in the form of wellness, food, mental harmony, and the joy of family and friends. However, our busy schedules and sedentary lifestyles slowly push us away from good health. People often show concern for their health only when they’re at the edge of developing lifelong diseases like obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart diseases.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining good health keeps you away from diseases and long-term health conditions and helps you develop a positive outlook on life and keeps you mentally and emotionally fit. Here are seven basic rules you should implement for good physical and mental health:
1. Don’t Intoxicate Your Body
Many of the things people eat and drink regularly are dangerously toxic. From sugar and caffeine to alcohol and drugs, taking components in excess quantities over a long period starts affecting your mental and physical health. Even a prolonged consumption of junk food releases excessive amounts of toxins in the blood.
While sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine are safe in moderation, certain medications and illegal drugs slow down your brain function, destroy brain cells, and result in memory loss. It can also lead to mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or violent mood swings.
A timely treatment and rehabilitation program can detoxify your body and help you live a life of sobriety. Renowned rehabilitation and detox centers like Delphi Behavioral Health Group use various medication-assisted techniques for treating drug and alcohol addiction. You can visit www.delphihealthgroup.com to find more information on the treatment options available.
2. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the act of focusing on the present moment and accepting it without judgment. When someone is mindful, they are aware of what is going on in their mind, body, and in their surroundings—living in the present and focusing on your actions lets you see your life objectively instead of emotionally judging it.
Mindfulness is closely associated with both mental and physical well-being. Practicing mindfulness through yoga, sports, meditation, or even short pauses in our day-to-day activities helps you induce happiness and peace and reduce stress. It helps you improve your cognitive abilities, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and slow brain aging. Studies show that mindfulness meditation helps treat various issues, including eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse.
3. Preventive Care
Prevention is better than cure, they say, for the right reasons! To prevent the onset of certain life-threatening or long-term diseases, you need to adopt a lifestyle that reduces the risk factors of disease development. This is why doctors often prescribe certain diet plans and recommend lifestyle changes to people with a family history of long-term diseases like diabetes or heart disease. For this reason, your healthcare provider needs to identify a chronic medical condition beforehand effectively.
For reducing risk factors and preventing diseases, eating healthy, exercising regularly, receiving medical care, and getting tested at the right time are essential. Visit your healthcare provider regularly and talk to them if you notice any changes in your mental and physical health. Communicate a complete history of family diseases to help them analyze your chances of developing them later in life and take proactive measures to mitigate this risk.
4. Physical Activity
A sedentary body invites several long-term diseases like heart issues, fatty liver, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, obesity, etc. To stay healthy, you need to include a variety of exercises. You can start with a basic brisk walk for 20-30 minutes each day, adding additional minutes to your daily exercise each day.
Exercise increases oxygen intake, regulates blood pressure, improves blood circulation to the brain and body, strengthens muscles, improves lung function, aids in reducing weight, and helps relieve stress.
Experts advise exercising at least three times a week for 30-40 minutes. You can increase the frequency and duration of workouts depending on your stamina. However, it’s important not to overstretch yourself as it may result in muscle rupture and cramps. Your regular exercise routine should include a mix of muscle-building workouts, cardiovascular exercises, and muscle-stretching drills.
5. Healthy Eating Habits
What you have on your plate each time you eat directly impacts your mental and physical health. A healthy lifestyle requires you to include whole grains, complex carbs, lean proteins, fatty fish, healthy fats, fruits, and loads of vegetables. Many vegetables and fruits contain antioxidants that help flush toxins out of the body and prevent cell mutation. Fatty acids (present in fish), lean protein, eggs, chicken, dairy products, and citrus fruits strengthen your immune system and help treat many physical and mental health problems.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle by limiting or avoiding processed foods, sugar, salt, and canned goods. Ensure your plate mixes leafy greens, meat, whole grain foods, and healthy fats like nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, etc.
It is also critical to consider the number of calories you consume. The average daily intake of calories is 2000 Kcal. Use apps to track your calories and stay within your calorie limit.
6. Strict Bedtime Routines
When we talk about a healthy lifestyle, many people often overlook sleep. Working for long hours and getting inadequate sleep negatively affects your overall well-being, particularly your mental health. People who fail to develop a sleep routine develop insomnia, sleep apnea, anxiety, depression, and dementia later in life. Health problems like diabetes, heart failure, and stroke can happen if you don’t get enough sleep. To stay healthy, you need uninterrupted sleep of at least 7-8 hours daily. Try to create a bedtime routine and stick to it. Avoid consumption of alcohol or caffeine in the evening, and take your last coffee at least 2 hours before bedtime. Limiting screen time also helps in improving bedtime routines.
7. Water is Life
Staying hydrated is as important as eating healthy food. On average, a person should consume a minimum of 1.5 liters or eight glasses of fluid a day. Increase your water intake if you exercise daily or during hot weather. You can also consume drinks like tea, coffee, fresh juices, and other beverages to fulfill your fluid requirement, but drinking plain water is the best way to hydrate.
Staying hydrated serves numerous benefits to your body and mind. It helps increase focus, lose excess pounds, improve blood circulation, slow aging, prevent and treat headaches, and protect against diseases related to the digestive system, kidneys, liver, and heart.
Final Thoughts
To live a long and healthy life, you must not only avoid diseases and medical conditions and strengthen your body and mind. A change in your lifestyle dramatically affects your overall well-being and outlook on life. However, changes are always effective when made subtly. Instead of an abrupt modification in your lifestyle, try to incorporate small changes to your nutrition, physical activities, sleep patterns, and eating habits. We hope this article helped you prioritize your life and live a healthy lifestyle.
