Healthy Lifestyle: 5 simple tips (reminder)
The basics of healthy lifestyle
With good tips and tricks our modern era offers, you are probably on your way to a healthy lifestyle already. However, there are always things we need to be reminded of. Some of these might seem like for dummies, but you need to ask yourself the tough question. Do I comply with all of this?
You may know that sport (working out) and healthy eating are going hand in hand. Many people are saying that 80% of a healthy lifestyle is healthy eating and only 20% exercising.
I experimented on myself and right away I could tell that my body doesn’t agree with that. I don’t eat clean all the time. I eat sweets, I eat chocolate and I am still losing weight if I want to.
It’s because of the ratio of daily calorie intake and exercise. This determines whether you’re losing or gaining weight.
However, this doesn’t mean you are the same. Every organism is different and gaining or losing weight isn’t just about Maths.
What is "healthy lifestyle"?
I guess we all think that a healthy lifestyle or healthy living means the same but in reality, it depends on each person.
I understand this term as mental and physical well-being. Mental and physical health is well balanced and they are functioning well in a person’s body.
World’s Health Organization (WHO) is defining health as: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Healthy as a goal
Most of us, humans, care about being skinny and fit. I understand that. I was a chubby girl my whole life and I was always struggling with that.
I felt insecure, timid and I simply wasn’t feeling good about my body.
Today it’s different. With all bodies are beautiful movements it is easier to let those bad feelings go and be happy.
But that isn’t the topic of today’s post. I wanted to tell you, here in the beginning that your goal shouldn’t be skinny. Your goal should be healthy.
realisticThe mentality of wanting to be skinny or to change your body drastically because you feel disgusting of yourself won’t help you. It will tear you down and broke you. You’ll be worse than when you started. I’ve been there. It is better to actually get a positive mindset and set realistic goals.
1. Drink more water
One of the key factors of a healthy lifestyle is definitely daily water intake. Pure water makes you feel hydrated and full of energy. Your brain functioning gets better (the brain is mostly of water), your muscles have better performance and your blood pressure tends to improve.
However, you can’t drink way too much water. There were shreds of evidence of people who overdrank in a very short period and they’ve had several issues. Your body is 80% water. Cells need to have an isotonic environment to work well. If there is way too much water, you can have a lack of sodium. Sodium helps your cells to balance fluids. If it is absent, liquid moves from your blood to your cells that cause swelling.
2. Eat healthy food
We all know what is the healthy food right? It’s vegetables, grains, and fruits. We all need to eat properly for growth in childhood and maintenance in adulthood. There is no other shortcut here than eat a lot of fruits (1 apple per day par example), a lot of vegetables (My side dish is always vegetable-based) and also grains – for better digestion.
I also eat meat since I think that in a small amount (once per week) it is healthy. Meat is full of animal-based proteins that are necessary for muscle growth. I only eat chicken and fish, even though they have the most additives (hormones) from all of the types of meat.
In every stage of our lives, we have different requirements. A senior needs something different than a child or an adult.
We don’t only have different requirements regarding the food, but also the portion. For example, infants tend to eat more times a day than a normal adult.
food 3 times a day
Many people would say they can’t eat breakfast because they are sick in the morning. As I said earlier, this article isn’t inclusive, but I think it’s better to eat breakfast.
And here’s why: If you are eating breakfast you don’t have to eat much at dinner. Dinners are supposed to be smaller portions because your body is going to sleep – it doesn’t require that many calories and it can’t process it. Therefore if you overate and went to sleep, you wouldn’t have such a good sleep as you would have without eating that much.
This causes gastroesophageal reflux (gastro – digestive, esophageal – the muscle between esophagus and stomach, reflux – suffering from heartburn and acid indigestion). It’s because your stomach needs to process all the food and it can’t get rest.
control portions of your food
It’s best to eat the smallest portion to only satisfy your hunger. Overeating is not healthy and you will feel bloated afterward. The goal of healthy living is to feel the good and happy and healthy diet is part of that.
How to spot when you had enough?
- Try to eat in the slowest possible way. This way the information of fullness from your stomach to your brain will get in time.
- Snacks are fine if they consist of fruits, nuts or whole grains. I sometimes “cheat” and eat something sweet and that is completely okay too if you do it in moderation.
- Avoid sugary drinks and sodas. They all have excessive calories you don’t need and are full of chemicals that aren’t healthy for your body.
3. Sleep Well
Sleeping is very important, to achieve a healthy lifestyle. When you work out you also need to have a good amount of sleep. If you can´t sleep you should drink milk with honey, it is proven to help. When you are gaining muscles it isn´t recommended to drink coffee later than 4 p.m.
4. Try not to stress
What more should I say? Just try to be calm, relax and let it slowly go off your mind. However, a bit of stress is good when you need to perform. It makes you faster, more aware and awake. High levels of cortisol, the hormone that causes stress, can take some of your years away. There are many causes as well as stress symptoms, but try to remove at least some stressors from your life.
5. Relax
Relaxing is truly the best way to really achieve a healthy lifestyle. Balanced diet and exercise are both very important, but nothing makes the mind happier than a good afternoon nap.
Conclusion
To sum up, there are five key points to a healthy lifestyle. Some of them are very obvious, however, we often neglect them. Firstly, it is important to drink a lot of water, as it cleans your body out.
Secondly, you should eat more vegetables, less saturated fats and lots of fruit. Besides, it is necessary to control your portions and eat 3 or 5 times a day.
Thirdly, getting enough sleep is vital to living a healthy lifestyle, which ensures longevity. Furthermore, we need to reset our minds and try not to stress that much.
Relaxing is also a key factor in having a long and prosperous life, so you should always think about that when planning your day.
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