Everyone wants to live healthy — but healthy living is not as easy as it seems. Life can get in the way of a healthy lifestyle. Kids, school, social obligations, and tough jobs all get in the way of a healthy lifestyle.
If you’re someone who’s how to be healthy, you may feel like there’s no solution.
Thankfully, that’s not true. Healthy living goes beyond eating healthy. It’s a whole way of looking at the world.
If you want to learn how to live healthily you’ve come to the right place. This article will walk you through six small healthy habits that will help you improve your health today.
1. Stretching
While strength training is important, equally important is muscle elasticity. Muscles aren’t only good for picking things up, they also need to be able to bend. Think about it — every time you move your muscles, you’re flexing them in some way, shape, or form.
Stretching ensures that you won’t incur any injuries throughout your day-to-day life. Injuries are bad news, and as you get older they’re harder to heal from. Being injured won’t just hinder you on its own, it’ll make it harder for you to execute other healthy habits.
Stretching won’t just prevent injuries, it will make you feel great. Many people report feeling less tense, looser, and more capable after stretching. It’s almost like giving yourself a massage!
If you want to create a healthy lifestyle, make sure you stretch once or twice a day.
2. Walking
This one may seem basic. After all, most of us walk every day of our lives. But walking for exercise is one of the most efficient ways to burn calories and get your heart rate going.
Think of all the motivation it can take to run or go to the gym. On top of that, people with chronic pain, low time, or heart conditions might not be able to go to the gym or take a run. Almost everybody can walk, however, and it’s a great, safe, way to get your daily exercise in.
Establish a time of day where you go for a walk. Feel free to make it fun for yourself; invite friends, or family to come on a walk with you, or simply bring along your phone and headphones to listen to music/catch up on a podcast.
3. Drinking (Enough) Water
… with an emphasis on enough.
Of course, everybody drinks water every day. Water is in our coffee, soda, tea, and energy drinks, so it’s virtually impossible to not drink water.
However, many people don’t drink enough water and don’t understand the deleterious effects this bad habit can have.
Dehydration doesn’t just come in the form of thirst. It can manifest itself as anxiety, stomach cramps, depression, and irritability. If you’ve just been feeling unhealthy in a vague way, check your water intake — you may just be dehydrated.
Drinking water is extremely important for any diet you might be on. When you haven’t had enough water, your body will send signals to your brain for any sustenance possible. This might cause you to feel extra hungry and overeat when all you need is water.
For all the fad diets and health trends out there, a lot of the time the healthiest habits are the ones right in front of your nose.
4. Cook For Yourself (Or Your Partner)
Home-cooked meals aren’t just popular for the sentiment. When you cook a meal for yourself (or your partner) you have better control over the portions, and what goes into your meals. You can assure that you eat vegetables, and don’t stuff yourself full of carbs.
Cooking for yourself is better than any single fad diet because it’s personalized. You don’t need to worry about “meal prep” or shopping at health food stores if you simply take time to care for yourself.
Once again, this is an example of health being more simple than we make it out to be. Healthy living doesn’t have to be about drinking kombucha and chasing trends. It’s as simple as taking the time to care about your health.
5. Read
Health isn’t just about what goes into your body and what exercise you give out — it’s about lifestyle. The average person spends nearly 4 hours on mobile devices a day. The amount of blue light and brain-scattering updates that are constantly flying at us can take a toll on our health.
The best way to combat this is to read.
In a world full of data, factoids, and one-off opinions, reading is a fantastic way to center your brain. When you read a book, you get someone’s full train of thought. Writing is organized thinking, so you’re training your brain to more fully take in the world.
Your health isn’t just about your physical health — it’s about your mental health too. Reading is a wonderful way to de-stress and train your brain. After reading, don’t be surprised if you feel rejuvenated and ready to take on a new world.
6. Go to Bed Early, Wake Up Early
This is another tip in the line of “simple, but easy to forget”. When you go to bed early and wake up early, you don’t just gain the benefits of a full night of sleep; you set up the schedule for a successful life.
Going to bed before it’s too late and rising with the sun means having more time in the morning to make yourself a healthy meal. It also means you’re less likely to spend the night looking for late-night snacks.
If you want to develop a healthy lifestyle, go to sleep early, and wake up early.
Make Use of Healthy Habits
Many of us struggle to live a healthy style. Because of this, we often turn to fad-diets, health trends, and over-the-top exercise routines. However, the answer is often simple healthy habits like getting a good night of sleep, drinking enough water, going for a walk, and reading.
The best way to ensure that you’re a healthy person is to keep your health in mind in every moment of your life.
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