How you live your life can make a difference between staying healthy and spending your more limited time in the care of a doctor. Luckily, you control that. It’s important to get a health strategy that suits your personal lifestyle and start making changes that will keep you active and viable for years to come. While almost everyone has heard of the ravages that drugs play on the body and the horrible price to pay for addiction, most people can’t relate that to legal addictions like caffeine, sugar and tobacco. Start looking for factors that you can change and identifying those that will be difficult to eliminate.
Exercise should be on your list of things to do for good health.
A sedentary lifestyle is one of the factors that send people running to the doctor. It can be as simple as it causing back problems to obesity, which is now the leading cause of preventable deaths. Osteoporosis, dementia, depression and anxiety can all be helped with more activity. Exercise also extends the telomeres that protect the cells and keeps you younger longer. It boosts the immune system as well. The next time you jump in your car, see if walking to your destination is feasible. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and get off the computer and enjoy some physical activity.
Eat healthy!
It seems simple enough but we’re a country of fast, premade foods that often aren’t the healthiest to consume. Sugary treats lurk close to every checkout counter and hidden sugar is in all our foods. Start eating more whole foods and eliminating sugar from your diet. You’ll still get some, since it’s in almost everything we eat that’s not a whole food. You’ll find your taste buds return and you’ll start to appreciate the taste of fresh vegetables and wholesome foods.
Get plenty of sleep.
As a nation, we are often shorting ourselves on hours of restful sleep. During sleep, the body not only repairs itself, it also uses fat exclusively as energy. If you’re trying to lose weight, getting a good night’s sleep can mean you’ll burn off more fat than muscle tissue. Sleep is important to heart health. It also helps regulate your mood, curbs inflammation, improves your memory and lowers levels of stress.
- Find the substances or outlets that feel like an addiction, because they probably are. Wean yourself off them. Cigarettes, sugar, computer time, alcohol and even television can be offenders.
- Get regular checkups and discuss your health plan with your primary health care professional. That can help ensure you’re healthy enough for exercise and may also bring up other changes you might make.
- Be aware of all the over-the-counter medications you take and find if you can relieve the problem in other ways. If you’re taking ibuprofen or other pain relievers daily, it can create a health issue.
- Get a social life. Studies show that people who have a healthy social life tend to live longer and healthier. You can learn something new by taking classes to provide it or join a group involved in something that interests you. It doesn’t have to be socially significant, such as saving the rain forest, just something that peaks your interest.