3 Tips for Healthier Living
By Rachel Shouse
Living a healthy life may not be on the top of everyone's priorities. It's understandable. When one area of life isn't crazy, another one is. There are simple and quick ways to lead a healthier life, though. You don't need to stress over all of them at once. We as humans aren't very good at multitasking anyway. Giving all of your focus to one area at a time is beyond beneficial. Areas that can usually use some help are diets, exercise routines, and relationships.
Getting a Lid on Your Eating Habits
I say habits because that's where this all starts. In order to live a healthier life, you need to establish better eating habits. Eating a lot of sugar increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease, and more. Taking care now can prevent a multitude of problems later on in life. Eating salty and fatty foods also pose their own problems. Take in too much salt and you'll retain water and easily become dehydrated. Fatty foods can clog up arteries making heart attacks far more likely. There are some simple ways to combat bad habits though.
- Exchange enriched white bread for whole wheat
- Try half-and-half or milk in your coffee instead of creamer or sugar
- Eat fruit when you have a craving for sweets
Establishing an Exercise Routine
A lot of people start a new workout regimen with all sorts of angst and motivation. It seems that those feelings tend to dwindle over time, unfortunately. This happens a lot because people don't see the results they want, their goals are taking a long time to achieve, and/or they've forgotten why they're making this change in the first place.
Working out doesn't have to be a miserable experience. In order to make it more fun, try inviting friends to work out with you. Ask different friends to do different activities throughout the week. This helps keep your workouts interesting and provides some much needed accountability.
The Healthy of Your Relationships
We are, statistically, the median of the five people closest to us. That kind of helps show how much of an impact your relationships have on your daily life. You need friends who are willing to comfort you, but are also willing to hold you accountable as well. Beyond that, you also need to be sure you're being a good friend as well. Use the golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated.
Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't guarantee that you'll live a long life, but it surely doesn't hurt. In order to keep yourself motivated, try writing down the reasons you're doing this. Keep that on you. Look at it whenever you start to feel a loss in motivation. It's simple, but it really helps.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Fayetteville, N.C.