If the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic taught us one thing, it is the fact that human life is a fragile thing. As fragile as it is, the more we need to look after it. One of the things that can do this for us is to practice living a healthy lifestyle. To some, this comes easily, as they may have been doing it for the longest time and has become second nature to them, however to others it may need some practice or a push in the right direction.
This article focuses on this topic in helping you to choose your way of living but with the added benefit of being well through a few practices. Some are easy while others may come hard but you will reap the benefits of them, so let’s dive right in by first getting the idea of a healthy lifestyle out of the way.
What is a Healthy Lifestyle?
According to this published online article regarding the same topic, the idea of having good health does not stop at the fact that if you don’t get sick or have any adverse effects to a disease or sickness, that, this is what to be well means, this page can tell you more.
If it more to do with a state of mental well being, as well as a complete physical and social well-being too. It involves several activities such as eating the right types of foods i.e. a well-balanced diet, which we will look at later in this article.
If you see your body as a mechanism similar to a machine, which needs ‘fuel’ to operate, you would probably understand its role better. It requires several things such as the right kind of foods i.e. carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, waters, fats and such. If you don’t follow this balance, you may not be repeating the full benefits of what your body can do for you.
A Balanced Diet and The Benefits Thereof
This comprises of eating the right foods and food groups, as well as the right amount of it. If you eat too much, your body will suffer because it may not digest everything and any excess is usually stored as fat. A balanced diet comprises of several things:
- Eating a variety of foods that are good for you
- Drinking plenty of liquids such as water and home-made fruit and vegetable juices
- Eating vegetables and fruits
- Replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats such as olive oil and avocados
- Eating foods rich in carbohydrates like potatoes, rice, bread
The key here is -balance. For instance, if you eat a heavy meal at lunchtime, you can have a light dinner as opposed to stuffing yourself with a heavy meal again. Its also about the right combinations of foods, for instance, if you eat red meat today such as beef or a steak, you should try something else the next day such as fish.
There are countless benefits of living this type of life, we look at a few below:
- You get to build a strong immune system to prevent and fight infections
- Internally, all these essential nutrients will help to support tissue growth throughout the body
- You can maintain and lower any high blood pressure and keep it stable
- You will be able to maintain a healthy weight and not obsess over losing weight
- You will have more energy
- You lower the risk of certain types of cancers
If you are uncertain as to where to begin or what to throw out of your pantry and what to replace it with, there are tons of online resources or health and well-being books in your local library that can help point you in the right direction, for instance, this online resource: https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/10-healthy-lifestyle-tips-for-adults#2, and don’t forget you need to stay active to keep this machine running properly as well.
It’s about starting slowly and eliminating all the bad things and replacing them with good things. If you go ‘cold turkey’ and throw out all the food in your fridge and replace it with other foods that you may have never been interested in, but are now, your body may not take it too well. This is why when you start by introducing new healthier food groups to your plate, it can gradually be increased in a couple of days or weeks to allow your body to adapt.
Water-Water Everywhere!
If you forget about anything else, the one thing you should still make a habit of is drinking plenty of water. As the saying goes, ‘water water everywhere but not a drop to drink!’, at least the good thing is, you do have water all around you which you can drink and there are plenty of good things about this miracle drink that nature has provided for us.
It can help with an array of benefits such as flushing out toxins from your body, aiding digestion, carrying essential nutrients to the rest of your body and cells, you can use it to maintain an electrolyte balance in your body, as well as regulating your body’s temperature and the good thing is if you think drinking plain water is boring you can add something extra to it such as fruits or flavour, this fruit infuser water bottle with time marker can do just that for you, and help give you some motivation to drink water, as opposed to seeing it as a boring drink.
Once you start, you can make a habit of it, and before you know it will become second nature to you too, just like those individuals we mentioned at the beginning of this article. Staying hydrated is key to a properly functioning mind and body.
Out body is made up of over 60% water, and we tend to remove this through various means such as sweating, or going to the toilet, and if we don’t replenish this ‘stock’ we may not feel out utmost best. Start today with one small change such as adding fruit to your meal, or drinking an extra glass of water and see what wonders occur in your internal system!
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