There’s a popular saying in the world of health and fitness, that goes something along the lines of ‘health is wealth’. With that said, how wealthy do you feel you currently are? If you want to lead a long, prosperous, and productive life, it’s important to do everything in your power to be as fit and healthy as possible. This is where healthy living proves to be so important.
In order to be healthy, you need to recognize the fact that healthy living is about changing your lifestyle, rather than just following a quick fad diet in the hopes of dropping a couple of pounds. If you’re serious about improving your health and fitness, here are 6 great healthy living tips for you to try.
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Drink more water
The human body is composed of more than 70% water, and without it, we’d die, and die very quickly. We can go for weeks without food, yet any longer than 24 hours without water and we may find ourselves in a lot of trouble.
Water hydrates the body, which in turn helps to balance your hormones, regulate your blood sugar levels, improve organ function, boost the metabolism, improve cognitive health and function, and much more besides.
Each and every single day we lose fluids, which in turn need to be replaced. We lose them via perspiration, through urine, through bowel movements, when breathing, and occasionally, through tears. All fluids lost must be replaced.
Water has also been found to help promote weight loss as it helps to increase metabolism. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.
Stop drinking “diet” sodas
When people are trying to lose weight or be healthy, they’ll see the word ‘diet’ printed on the side of a soda can and will sadly think that it will help them to lose weight. This is, of course, a perfect example of the power of advertising. Diet sodas do not contain sugar, so they are virtually free of calories. This is why they’re marketed as being diet-friendly.
However, they get their sweetness from something far worse than sugar. Artificial chemical sweeteners used in diet sodas do the body no good at all. Chemicals such as aspartame are used to replace the sugar, and it is these chemicals that many healthy living advocates are trying to have banned. Artificial sweeteners have been linked with various forms of cancer, along with metabolic syndrome, headache, ADHD and much more besides.
Diet sodas are not healthy, and ironically, they have also been found to suppress the metabolism, so they make it harder for you to lose weight. Instead, stick with our first healthy living tip and drink water.
Eat more fruits and veggies
When it comes to healthy living, fresh fruits, and vegetable reign supreme. In order to lead a healthy lifestyle, you need to ensure that you are getting at least 5 portions of fresh fruits and veggies per day.
Ideally, you should focus on vegetables, as fruits do contain naturally occurring fructose sugars, that can lead to unstable blood glucose levels, plus they’re higher in calories. The reason why these foods are considered so healthy is that they’re loaded full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients that promote health and wellness.
The nutrients found in these foods help to boost the immune system, they reduce cholesterol, they aid with weight loss, they stave off illness and disease, and much more besides.
Stop avoiding all fats
Another common mistake that people make when trying to lead a healthy lifestyle is avoiding all fats. We’re living in the 21st century now, and we now know that not all fats are bad for us. Healthy fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, for example, have been found to be extremely beneficial for health and well-being.
They fight inflammation, they regulate hormones, they speed up fat metabolization, they’re great for the brain, they’re great for the heart and cardiovascular system, and they’re essential for energy production. Trans fats like those found in fast food, however, are bad for you and are the ones which should be avoided.
Some great examples of healthy fats include salmon, mackerel, sardines, oily fish, whole eggs, avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butter, coconut oil, olive oil, grass-fed butter, and plenty more besides. Providing you don’t consume too many, healthy fats will help to improve your health no end.
Do more walking
Many people lead busy lives, what with kids, work, school, housework, and life in general, which means that not everybody has the time to head to the gym to exercise five times a week. Does this mean that they’re therefore excused from exercising? Absolutely not! One of the easiest healthy living tips to follow when it comes to physical exercise and exertion is to simply do more walking.
Walk the dog, take the kids to the park, join a hiking group, walk to the local store instead of driving, go for a quick walk around the block in morning or evening, just do more walking! Walking is a wonderful form of low-impact cardiovascular exercise that helps to burn calories and gently tone the muscles in the process. Aim to walk 3 – 5 times per week and you’ll soon be reaping the rewards.
Cook different healthy meals
Once you’ve been to the grocery store to stock up on healthy ingredients for your fridge and cupboard, the next thing you need to do is start making a variety of different healthy meals.
Look for healthy recipes online that use ingredients that you know you enjoy and try making different meals each day to keep things fresh and exciting.
If you eat the same foods day in and day out, eventually you’ll grow bored and you’ll wind up losing interest and you’ll likely cheat with foods that you shouldn’t be eating. When you cook fresh and healthy meals you’ll discover new foods and meals that you enjoy, which also happen to be healthy and good for you.
