How
healthy are you? Do you have a healthy diet? Do you exercise
regularly? Do you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day? Do you get
enough sleep every day?
Our body is our temple, and we need to take care of it to have a healthy life. Do you know that a shocking over 65% of Americans are either obese
or overweight? That’s insane! Think of your body as your physical
shell to take you through life. If you repeatedly abuse it with
unhealthy food, your shell will wear out quickly. While you may look
okay on the outside, on the inside, your arteries are getting clogged
up with cholesterol and arterial plaque. That’s not a pretty sight!
Life
is beautiful and you don’t want to bog yourself down with unnecessary
health problems. Today, your vital organs (kidney, heart, lungs, gall
bladder, liver, stomach, intestines, etc) may be working well, but
they may not be tomorrow. Don’t take your good health today for
granted. Take proper care of your body.
Good
health isn’t just about healthy eating and exercise – it also
includes having a positive mental health, healthy self-image and a
healthy lifestyle. In this article, I’ll share with you 45 tips to
live a healthier life. Bookmark this article and save the tips,
because they are going to be vital in living a healthier life.
- Drink more water. Most
of us actually don’t drink enough water every day. Water is essential
for our body to function – Do you know over 60% of our body is made
up of water? Water is needed to carry out our body functions, remove waste
and carry nutrients and oxygen around our body. Since we lose water
every day through urine, bowel movements, perspiration and breathing,
we need to replenish our water intake.
Furthermore, drinking more water alone actually aids in losing weight. A Health.com study
carried out among overweight/obese people showed that water drinkers
lose 4.5 more pounds than a control group. The researchers believe
that it’s because drinking more water helps fill your stomach, making
you less hungry and less likely to overeat. I agree with that, and I
have an added take that your body tries to retain whatever water you
take when you don’t take in enough water, leading to increase in
weight. Whereas when you regularly drink water, your body knows that
it’s going to get its supply of fluids, so it doesn’t try to retain
more water.
The
amount of water we need is dependent on various factors such as the
humidity, our physical activity, and your weight, but generally we need
2.7-3.7 litres of water intake! Since food intake contributes about 20% of our fluid intake,
that means we need to drink about 2.0-3.0 litres of water, or about
8-10 glasses (now you know how the 8 glasses recommendation came
about!). One way to tell if you’re hydrated – your urine should be
colorless or slightly yellow. If it’s not, you’re not getting enough
water! Other signs include: Dry lips, dry mouth and little urination. Go
get some water first before you continue this article!
- Get enough sleep.
When you don’t rest well, you compensate by eating more. Usually it’s
junk food. Get enough rest and you don’t need to snack to stay awake.
Also, lack of sleep causes premature aging, and you wouldn’t want
that. Learn more about sleep mastery.
- Meditate. Meditation quietens your mind and calms your soul. If you don’t know how to meditate, don’t worry – learn more about meditation and yoga.
- Exercise. Not just a few times a week, but every day. Movement is life. Research has shown that exercising daily brings tremendous benefits to our health,
including increase of life span, lowering of risk of diseases, higher
bone density and weight loss. Increase activity in your life. Choose
walking over transport for close distances. Climb the stairs instead
of taking the lift. Join some aerobics classes. Take up a sport of
your liking (see tip #5). More exercises
- Pick exercises you enjoy.
When you enjoy the sports, you’ll naturally want to do them. Exercise
isn’t about suffering and pushing yourself; it’s about being healthy
and having fun at the same time. Adding variation in your exercises
will keep them interesting. Fun fat-burning exercises
- Work out different parts of your body.
Don’t just do cardio exercises (such as jogging). Give your full body
a proper work out. The easiest way is to engage in sports, since they
work out different muscle groups. Popular sports include basketball,
football, swimming, tennis, squash, badminton, frisbee, and more. Total body workout plans
- Eat more fruits. Fruits are a plethora of vitamins and minerals. Do you know that oranges offer more health benefits than Vitamin C pills? Taking in synthetic supplements are not the same as consuming the foods direct from nature. Fill your palate with these 10 most nutritious fruits: Watermelon, Apricots, Avocado, Apple, Cantaloupe, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Guava, Papaya, Strawberries.
- Address emotional eating issues.
Emotional eating is eating to fill an emotion, rather than real
hunger. Do you eat when you feel stressed out, down or frustrated? Do
you reach out for food when you hit a block at work? Chances are,
you’re emotional eating. However, emotional eating will never make you
feel happy, because you’re trying to fill a void that has nothing to
do with food. Food doesn’t give you love or happiness; it’s just food.
Why do you reach out for food when you’re down? How can you address
it? Get to the root of the issue and address it. Read: How To Stop Emotional Eating (6-part series) Here is another great eating solution
- Eat small meals.
Choose several small meals over a few big meals a day. This balances
out your energy distribution throughout the day. In general, eat when
you feel hungry, and stop when you’re full (see tip #20). You don’t
need to wait until official meal times before you start eating. Listen
to your body and what it tells you.
- Stop eating when you feel full.
Many of us rely on external cues to tell when we’re full, such as
whether everyone has finished eating, whether your plate was empty or
not. These are irrelevant – you should look at internal cues, such as
whether your stomach feels full or not. Don’t feel obligated to eat just
because there’s still food at the plate. Personally I like to stop
when I feel about 3/4 full – if I eat till I’m totally full, I feel
uncomfortable as my digestive system goes into overdrive. Use your gut
as your indicator (literally).
- Go for brown carbs vs. white carbs. White carbs are
refined grains like white rice, pasta, white bread, crackers,
noodles, tortillas, wraps, anything with white flour and breading. The
nutrients have been removed in the production process, leaving them
rich in calories but low in nutrients. They also cause unhealthy spikes
in our sugar levels. Go for brown carbs (unrefined complex carbs)
instead, like brown rice, whole grain, oats, oatmeal, legumes, nuts.
These come with nutrients and vitamins intact. 5 Steps To Looking 10 Years Younger
- Live a life with purpose.
Positive health starts from within! Are you living a life of meaning?
Are you living in line with your purpose? After I started living in
line with my purpose 2 years ago, I’ve never ever been happier. And you
can experience that too. Read: The 11 Forgotten Laws That Make The Law of Attraction An Unbreakable Force
- Say no to oily food.
Reduce your intake of fast food, fries, doughnuts, chips, wedges, and
foods that have been deep fried. Not only are they very fattening (1
tablespoon of oil is 120 calories), deep fried food contains
acrylamide, a potential cancer-causing chemical. According to a BBC report,
an ordinary bag of crisps may contain up to 500 times more of the
substance than the top level allowed in drinking water by the World
Health Organisation (WHO). I personally find that when I consume oily
foods, I feel sluggish. There are better alternatives, such as grilled,
steamed, stir-fried or even raw food (see tip #41).
- Cut out sugary foods. These are your candy bars, your pastries, chocolate, cookies, cakes and jelly donuts. Not only do they not
fill you, they trigger you to eat more due to the sugar rush they
cause (see tip #16). Go for healthy snacks instead (see tip #36) -
you’ll be more satisfied and happy. Raw Food Gourmet Recipes For Busy People. Also read: 50 Guilt Free Desserts
- Go organic.
Organic foods are foods produced without “synthetic inputs such as
pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified
organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial
solvents, or chemical food additives”. (Wiki)
The organic movement is slowly catching on, with more supermarkets,
especially in US, offering organic options. Organic food tends to cost
more, but hey – would you rather save some money and feed your body with pesticides or pay a few extra dollars for a cleaner, healthier body? Read Organic Gardening Secrets
- Improve your posture. Good posture improves your breathing (see tip #18) and makes you look more smarter and more attractive. Read more: Benefits Of Having A Good Posture (And 13 Tips To Get One)
- Cut out soda and caffeine. Drinks with caffeine are diuretics
– meaning they speed up the rate of urine production. Hence, these
drinks do not contribute to your 8 glasses of water/day requirement –
they actually take away from it! Furthermore, soda is unhealthy, causes
weight gain, is an artificial stimulant, among other reasons. Ditch
your soda and go for plain water or fresh fruit juices instead! Read
more: 5 Reasons To Quit Soda (And How To Do It)
- Don’t drink alcohol. Like caffeine, alcohol is a diuretic. Not only that, alcohol is repeatedly proven to have negative effects on our body and health
– impacting the proper functioning of our brain, liver, lungs, and
other major organs. If you drink alcohol regularly, it’s time to cut it
out. Read How To Give Up Alcohol and How To Rescue Your Marriage From An Alcoholic Spouse
- Prepare your meals.
Lately I’m beginning to appreciate the value of preparing my own
meals. When you prepare your meals, you control what goes into them. No
more being in a dilemma between eating healthy and choosing between
the sub-optimal food choices.
Get some quality kitchen equipment – these will be your best
investments ever. I bought my blender 3 years ago and it’s been such a
breeze making my own fruit juices!
- Learn to say no.
Don’t feel like you’ve to eat just because you’re out with your
friends, or because other people offer you food. Simply say no and say
you’re not hungry if you don’t feel like eating. Read: How To Say No To Others
- Bring a water bottle when you go out.
That way, you can replenish your fluids whenever you want to. It
saves you money as well and you don’t need to subject yourself to poor
alternatives like soda, which increases your fluid outtake instead
(see tip #27).
- Eat more vegetables. Like fruits, vegetables are important for the well being of our health. Experts suggest that we should have 5-9 servings
of fruits/vegetables, and unfortunately most people don’t even have
at least 5 servings! Some of my favorite vegetables include: Kidney
beans, black beans, asparagus, long beans, french beans, sprouts,
button mushrooms and carrots. What are your favorite vegetables and how
can you include more of them in your diet today? How To Grow 10 Times The Vegetables In Less Time
- Pick bright colored foods. Fruits and vegetables with bright colors are usually high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are good for health
because they remove free radicals in our body that damage our cells.
So get your fill of fruits/vegetables of different colors: White
(Bananas, Mushroom), Yellow (Pineapples, Mango), Orange (Orange,
Papaya), Red (Apple, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Watermelon), Green (Guava,
Avocados, Cucumber, Lettuce, Celery), Purple/Blue (Blackberries,
Eggplant, Prunes). Here’s a full list under the color wheel.
- Cut down on processed food. Processed foods are not good because (1) most nutritional value is lost (2) the preservatives added are bad for our health. Many processed foods
contain a high amount of salt content, which leads to higher blood
pressure and heart disease. Processed foods are anything that are not in
their raw form. In general, most of the food in supermarket are
processed – the more the ingredients on the label (especially the ones
ending with ‘ite’ or ‘ate’), the more processed they are. Watch out for
those with salt/sugar as the first 5 ingredients and go for natural
foods as much as possible.
- Love yourself. How much do you love yourself on a scale of 1-10? Why? How can you love yourself more starting today? Day 16 of Be a Better Me in 30 Days Program is about learning to appreciate yourself and identifying the great things about yourself.
- Barefoot walking/running. There have been many proven positive benefits of barefoot walking/running, from better posture, less stress for your feet, less stress for your joints, etc . I’ve been running barefoot since May ’10, and loving it. Read more: 10 Reasons To Run Barefoot
- Purge negative people from your life.
Positive mental healthy is an important part of a healthy life. You
don’t need toxic people in your life. If you feel that a friend is
overly critical or negative, then let him/her go.
- Purge negativity from yourself. You don’t need negativity from yourself either. Listen in on the thoughts that come up in your mind and get rid of the negative thoughts
you hear. A lot of eating happens because one feels unhappy, so by
staying in a positive, up state by yourself, you cut out that unhealthy
dependence on food to be happy. Read The Lasting Happiness And Success Formula
- Journal out unhappy thoughts. One great way to purge negativity from within is to do brain dumping exercises whenever you feel frustrated. This is something I do with my 1-1 clients
as well, where I ask them to journal out their deepest thoughts so we
can address them. Don’t keep these thoughts pent up inside of you –
it’s not healthy.
- Avoid trigger foods.
Trigger foods are the foods that make you go berserk and binge like
crazy after you eat them. Everyone’s trigger foods are different (mine
are donuts, pastries, pasta and chips), but generally trigger foods
are candy bars, chocolate, confectionery, chips, cookies, or anything
with high level of refined sugar, salt, fat or flour. These foods
cause a blood sugar imbalance, hence triggering one to eat more. What are your trigger foods? Identify them and remove them from your diet.
- Breathe. Deeply.
Oxygen is a vital source of life. You may know how to breathe, but
are you breathing properly? Most of us don’t breathe properly – we
take only shallow breathes and breathe to 1/3 of our lung capacity.
Athletes are coached proper breathing techniques to get their best
performance. A full breath is one where your lungs are completely filled, your abdomen expands and there’s minimum movement in your shoulders. Read The Seven Benefits of The Ocean Breath
- Dine at salad bars more often.
Lately I’m falling in love with salad bars. Salad bars work like
this: You pick your greens, you select X number of toppings (usually 6
or limited, depending on the outlet) and you finish off with a
dressing. The variety is huge, it’s filling and it’s extremely
healthy.
- Go for low calorie, low fat alternatives.
There are many low-fat / non-fat alternatives today – from yogurts,
to salad dressing, soy milk, spreads, ice cream, etc. Check out this
comprehensive list: Lower Calorie, Lower Fat Alternatives.
- Stop smoking. It has been extensively proven that smoking is detrimental to health,
severely increasing the risk of lung cancer, kidney cancer,
esophageal cancer (of our gullet), heart attack, and more. Smoking
“light” cigarettes does not decrease health risks. Bottom line – if
you’re a smoker, quit for better health of not just yourself, but also
your family and friends. If you don’t smoke, stay that way and don’t
start. Read more: How To Stop Smoking
- Avoid passive smoking. Second hand smoking (breathing in air from smokers) causes many of the same long-term diseases as direct smoking (Wiki). Get away from smokers and avoid cigarette smoke where you can.
- Have healthy snacks. If you’re hungry during work, eat healthy snacks,
like fruits, salads, and fruit juices. These are nutritional and
don’t give you that sugar rush. Have them readily available so you can
dive in for a munch and stop when you’d had your fill. Get away from
cookies and candy bars. Read: 100 Healthy Raw Snacks & Treats
- Drink fruit/veg smoothies.
I love smoothies because it’s a quick way to get vitamins and
nutrients. Simply throw my favorite fruits into the blender, wait for 30
seconds, and it’s done! And it tastes great. I’m drinking an orange
and banana smoothie write now as I’m writing this article and it’s
delicious! Read: 180 Sensational Smoothies – Drink Your Way To Health Deliciously
- Juicing. Juicing
is where you extract the juice from vegetables / fruits (via a juicer
machine). Since the fibre is stripped away, you are literally
drinking the nutrients and minerals directly from the juice! Juices
and smoothies complement each other – the former gives our digestive
system a break while the latter gives us the fibre which aids our
digestion. Check out an introduction to juicing video below. If you’re
new to juicing, learn more about it here and check out these the Jay Kordich School of Juicing
- Go on a vegetarian diet.
First off, going vegetarian doesn’t necessarily lead to better
health, because there are many unhealthy vegetarian food out there
(fried food, white carb laden diets, etc). On that note, there are
many proven health benefits of a vegetarian diet.
I became a vegan because I tried it for 30 days and saw the positive
effects for my mental and physical health. Try it and see how it works
out for you. Get started here.
- Go on a vegan diet.
A vegetarian is someone who does not consume animal products. A vegan
is someone who doesn’t consume animal or animal-derived products.
This means no dairy, honey, cheese, milk, etc. So in that sense, it’s
seemingly stricter, but it brings about even more positive benefits on
top of a vegetarian diet. Learn more about veganism here
- Become a raw vegan.
A raw vegan consumes only non-processed, raw vegan food, mainly
fruits, vegetables and nuts. Notice that the progression from
vegetarian -> vegan -> raw vegan diet is toward foods that are
naturally occurring. There are many reported benefits in switching from
veganism to raw veganism, including increased youth, weight loss,
increased energy, increased health benefits and more. It’s an area that
I’m exploring at the moment and learning more of. Learn more about
raw veganism: here
- Get out more often.
If you have a regular 9-5 job, chances are you spend most of your
times holed up in the office and not a lot of time going out and having
fun. During weekends, you’re probably busy with work or running
errands. Make it a point to go out with friends at least once a week.
Get some sunlight. Go out and have a change in environment. It’ll be great for your body and your soul.
- Exercise good dental hygiene. Not only does good hygiene make you a lot more desirable, it is linked with better health (Read AHA Study). Brush your teeth twice a day, rinse your mouth after each meal and floss your teeth at night. Read How To Be Free From Dental Disease
- Join classes.
Dance classes, aerobics classes, tennis classes, ballroom dancing,
scuba diving, wake boarding courses, are all places to start off with.
Going there also lets you socialize with a whole new group of people.
- Hang out with healthy people. You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with,
so the more time you spend around healthy people, the better it is.
Eat with people who are health conscious and get workout buddies. It
makes healthy living even more fun.
Which
health tips are most applicable for you right now? These are timeless
tips, so bookmark this article and integrate these tips into your
life. Share these health tips with your family and friends too to help
them stay healthy
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