Sir Auditor UviesherheThere are two kinds of people in this world: people who live and maintain a healthy lifestyle and those who live an unhealthy one. Both people experience different results.
The former experiences a good life filled with bustling energy, longevity, a good mood, and a good life.
However, the latter deals with a variety of health issues, mood swings, etc.
Our backgrounds, environment, and peers influence either of these lifestyles.
However, they can be intentionally learned and practiced. But I’m certain you are reading this blog post to learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Before we do that, let’s examine what a healthy lifestyle is.
What is a Healthy Lifestyle?
A healthy lifestyle is a way of life that lowers the risk of being seriously ill or dying early. It includes physical activity, sleep, diet, stress management, etc.
Not all diseases or illnesses can be avoided, but many can be avoided by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
This article does not exhaustively examine the subject, but the lists below give practical strategies for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
1. Prioritize Balanced Nutrition:
a. Eat a variety of foods: Ensure you eat a balanced diet. That is, your food contains all the classes of food. The first step of living a healthy lifestyle is to eat healthy.
Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Eat proteins like eggs. Even when you are eating carbohydrate food, add other classes of food.
For example, let’s say you want to eat a bowl of white rice. You could cook the rice and eat it with a vegetable that contains fish and meat. Then, you can add an egg to the food and complement it with chilled water.
Though the main meal (rice) is carbohydrate, you complemented it with other food classes.
b. Control portions: While eating to your fill is good, you should avoid overeating. Sometimes, you can feel like continuously eating because of how delicious the food is, but you should resist that urge.
A good way to avoid overeating is to use portion sizes (your hand or a measuring tool) to measure your food. You can also use smaller plates to dish your food, so you only take what you should.
Eating well is good but avoid eating to the point where you can’t stand properly or even sleep well. This also applies to how much water you take. Refrain from over-drinking water.
c. Limit processed foods: Reduce intake of sugary snacks and fast food. You should also reduce processed meals to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Remember, it is garbage in, garbage out. What you put in is what you get. If you eat unhealthy foods, you can’t expect to reap the benefits of healthy foods.
2. Stay Hydrated:
a. Drink water regularly: You should drink water always. You can imbibe the habit of always having a water bottle beside you.
Some people only drink water when they are eating or after they have eaten. But that shouldn’t be so. You should make it a habit to always drink water.
You might be wondering, “Why should I drink water?” First, water is a key component of your body and is vital to your body’s operations.
It prevents dehydration, regulates body temperature, helps digestion, etc.
b. Infused water for variety: Sometimes, you might crave something else besides water. You can add natural flavors like lemon, cucumber, or mint to make your water more enjoyable. You can even make it chilled to enjoy it more (especially for young people).
c. Avoid sugary drinks: Minimize your intake of sodas and sugary beverages. They can disrupt hydration, lead to weight gain, cause tooth decay, and lead to poor nutrition.
3. Make Exercise a Daily Habit:
a. Incorporate cardio: Incorporate aerobics exercises like walking, jogging, and cycling into your daily activities. Some people wear smartwatches to ensure that they take 10,000 steps daily.
You can also take evening walks to exercise. There is no specific time to exercise, but you can start with 30 minutes.
b. Strength training: To build your strength, you should use strength-building exercises like weightlifting or bodyweight exercises at least twice weekly. Body weight exercises include push-ups, planks, squats, etc.
c. Stretching and flexibility: You can add yoga or stretching routines to improve flexibility and prevent injury. Sometimes, your body can be stiff if you don’t stretch yourself. Some examples of stretching exercises are side stretch, neck stretch, seat stretch, shoulder stretch, etc.
4. Focus on Mental Health:
a. Manage stress: Stress is something that needs to be managed. While some stress is good for your body, too much stress is bad for your body. To live and maintain a healthy lifestyle, you have to manage stress.
You can practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or mindfulness to lower stress levels.
These techniques have been around for a while and you can do them with little or no guidance, but they are so effective.
Many personal development and mental health coaches recommend these activities to people.
b. Engage in hobbies: One of the ways to live a healthy lifestyle is to pay attention to your mental health. And one of the ways to do that is to engage in hobbies. Many of us lose our childlike attributes because of adulthood.
You are so focused on making a living that you forget to pay attention to yourself. While making a living is good, you shouldn’t remove pleasures from your life.
Dedicate time to activities you enjoy. It can be reading, painting, or gardening. Attend a hangout and enjoy yourself. Remember, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
c. Seek support when needed: Don’t hesitate to seek the help and support of your trusted friends when you feel overwhelmed. Share your burdens with them and lean on them.
Don’t carry your burdens alone. Also, you can contact a therapist or counselor when you need help.
5. Get Sufficient Sleep:
a. Stick to a sleep schedule: To get sufficient sleep, you should set the time you sleep and wake up in your internal clock.
Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Remember, sleep is an essential part of living a healthy lifestyle.
b. Create a restful environment: To sleep well, make your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. When you do this, you activate the sleep hormone called melatonin.
You can also take a cold bath to help you sleep better. Lastly, try to avoid screens at least one hour before bed.
c. Avoid caffeine late in the day: Yes, caffeine is good for your body, but you should avoid it late in the day. Caffeine is mostly useful in the morning. Taking caffeine in the evening may disrupt your sleep at night. Avoid caffeine so you can have a restful sleep at night.
6. Practice Self-Care:
a. Take time for yourself: You should have a “me time” to rejuvenate yourself. It could be reading, a warm bath, singing, a quiet walk, etc.
I have a friend who takes herself to a good restaurant and has a good time. She would eat chicken, take pictures, and enjoy herself. She calls it her “me” time.
b. Pamper your skin: This is for both males and females. Maintain a skincare routine to keep your skin healthy. This includes moisturizing your skin, using sunscreen, etc.
c. Mind your mental well-being:
Engage in positive self-talk and challenge negative thoughts to build confidence and resilience. As much as possible, say positive things both to yourself and people.
7. Foster Strong Relationships:
a. Cultivate social connections: To maintain a healthy lifestyle, you must connect with people.
Humans are social beings, so communicating with people is part of our genes. Spend quality time with loved ones and create strong bonds with them. Also, step out and build connections with people.
You need as many connections as you can get. But don’t just get them for getting sake; cultivate, nurture, and water them.
b. Practice gratitude: Make it an attitude to practice gratitude. Don’t let the word, “thank you” be far from you. Make it a habit.
Also, you can take a step further by being specific about what you are thanking them for. You can even thank them for being present in your life.
c. Resolve conflicts healthily: As long as we are humans, we will always have conflicts. Conflicts can cause a lifetime feud or deepen connections.
But you have to solve them healthily. Don’t keep grudges in your heart and stay mute.
Address misunderstandings or conflicts in relationships through open communication. Sometimes, you have to make a compromise to allow peace reign. You don’t have to agree on the same thing, but you can have a common ground.
In an interview about his marriage, an international leadership expert from Nigeria said he asked himself, “Do you want peace or do you want to be right?”
He said if he chose the latter, he would be right and feel good, but at the risk of his marriage. But if he chose the former, he could compromise to make things work.
8. Get Regular Health Check-ups:
a. Annual physicals: You should go for health checkups at least once a year. Do an all-around checkup and catch potential health issues early. Prevention, they say, is better than cure.
Many health issues could have been avoided if people went for regular health checkups.
b. Monitor key metrics: Many things are important in your checkups, but you should focus on key metrics like blood pressure levels, cholesterol, and weight. Stay on top of your health issues.
Pay attention to all parts of your checkup. You can ask your doctor questions if you need clarification about any part.
c. Vaccinations and screenings:
Vaccinations and screenings are important for different age groups because they protect you and help prevent serious illness and disability.
Vaccines work with your body’s natural defenses to build protection against diseases.
They can prevent diseases like pertussis, influenza, and pneumonia. On the other hand, screenings help detect health issues early.
Don’t wait till you need to travel, work at a new job, and so on before you do checkups. Make it a habit to go for checkups.
9. Build Healthy Habits Gradually:
a. Start small: I understand that I have said a lot and you must be wondering where to start. You don’t have to start everything simultaneously to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Introduce one change at a time. For instance, drink more water, then add a short daily workout. And keep the change going like that.
b. Track your progress: What are habits without a tracking system? You will withdraw to your default mode if you don’t track your habits.
For example, Let’s say you don’t sleep on time and decide to create a sleep routine.
If you don’t intentionally track when you sleep or wake up, you’ll return to sleeping late the next week.
But what if you have an app that always reminds you to go to sleep 10 minutes before the time and rings your alarm at the time you should wake up?
Do you think you’ll do better? I’m certain you know the answer to that.
c. Be patient: While building this habit, life may happen. You might fall off track once in a while.
Give yourself grace when things don’t go as planned and celebrate yourself when you stick to your habits.
Conclusion on Maintaining Healthy Lifestyle
To recap, the 9 tips are as follows:
- Prioritize balanced nutrition,
- Stay hydrated,
- Make exercise a regular habit,
- Focus on mental health,
- Get sufficient sleep,
- Build healthy habits gradually,
- Practice self-care,
- Foster strong relationships, and
- Get regular health checkups.
That said, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong commitment and lifestyle. You have to take small, active steps to get the results.
Honestly, they won’t be easy at first. To live a good and healthy lifestyle, you have to discipline yourself. It won’t be easy, but it’s worth it.
You have most likely seen agile 60-year-old men and women. And even 70-year-olds who are agile. They didn’t get there today.
Being agile at that age is because of the cumulative effect of their healthy lifestyles. And you can start now too. You can enjoy your youthful and old age.
Lastly, I want you to start implementing one or two tips from today. Just pick one or two tips and incorporate them into your life. You’ll thank me later.
If you learned something, share it with your friends.
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