Health is a major concern for everyone. It has a direct influence on your quality of life and even your lifespan. Although this is common knowledge, you may struggle at times to find the balance that will promote a feel-good condition and ensure that your body is well maintained. With all the different approaches to dieting, exercising, and mindfulness, the task of becoming your healthiest self can seem intimidating, or feel overwhelming to take on.
However, if you feel motivated to improve your personal experience of life, there is certainly a simple and practical method for doing so. These 7 secrets can be applied by anyone who wants to be healthier and live better.
1. Wake Up Ready
Wake up ready to have the kind of day you will like to have, but be open to life’s surprises. This means before you reach for your phone, or do anything else, breathe. Take a few breaths and take a moment to mentally prepare yourself for the day’s activities. Don’t allow anxiety and pending deadlines to creep in and rob you of how great it is to be alive and awake at the moment. Although sometimes it may be hard to ditch the warm comfy bed for whatever lies ahead, learning to wake up ready can decrease the dread.
Know that you have what it takes to take on whatever life throws at you. Jump-starting your day as soon as you open your eyes can have physical health effects as well according to an article published in NBC. For example, your blood pressure needs time to adjust to your bodies position as you go from lying flat to sitting upright and then to standing. Getting up too quickly may even cause a strain.
2. Eat Breakfast
Eating breakfast is one of those things you may or may not do depending on how late you wake up in the morning, what food choices are available, or what your stomach feels like at the time. Going hungry until later in the day can cause irritability and low blood sugar. It can even cause you to overeat later, which is counter-productive for those who skip breakfast in a weight-loss effort. Take in some protein. Have some juice. Have some water, and maybe some coffee. Maybe you would prefer fruit and grains. Just make healthy choices and take in balanced portions.
3. Exercise
When it comes to exercise, some is better than none. You do not have to join a gym or subscribe to any popular methods. All you need is enough space to move your body and enough time to dedicate to your pre workout, workout, and post-workout activities. If you are pressed for time, there are 5, 10, and 15-minute workouts all over the internet.
You can copy others and/or mix things up to create your own. Be sure to stretch and stay hydrated. Use good body mechanics to avoid personal injury. Also, listen to your body and stop any activity that is painful beyond the general discomfort associated with working your muscles. Regular exercise will improve your health. It also promotes a feel-good condition each day by releasing endorphins.
4. Maintain Your Work/Life Balance
Work/life balance has become a popular subject and even a selling point for some job ads. It generally means that you are not letting your job swallow up your whole life. However, the “life” portion of the balance should include time for yourself and not just more time to attend to all the other duties you have outside of the workplace. Be sure to make time for things you enjoy. Also, make time for moments of solitude.
Avoid taking work home with you. Although we all need to vent sometimes, or may have the occasional project that requires a bit of homework to complete. Make a habit of minimizing the degree to which your work is still demanding attention after you have left the building. If all of your conversations with friends and loved ones are about your job, then you may need to re-evaluate your balance. Letting go of on-the-job stress and allowing yourself to fully experience other things promote a more healthy lifestyle than having work dominate all of your time and focus.
5. Drink Water
Your body is composed mostly of water and water is lost throughout the day. It is important to make up for the loss, for the overall function of your body. Replenishing yourself throughout the day will have a positive impact on your health and even your appearance. Water protects the body’s organs, transports oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells, and maintains the body’s temperature. Therefore, a lack of water can have terrible effects on your body. Water even helps to increase energy and burn off excess fat.
6. Sleep Well
A healthy lifestyle requires adequate rest. There are countless effects that lack of sleep or poor-quality sleep can have on the mind and body. Your mood can be negatively affected by sleep deprivation, causing you to be irritable throughout the day. It can even lead to anxiety and depression. It causes memory problems and trouble concentrating. A decrease in sex drive and an increase in accidents are perhaps some of the less-known symptoms. Then there is weight gain and high blood pressure.
7. Have a Hobby
Hobbies are related to #5 on this list. Living a full-life and being a well-rounded person is certainly healthy. Do things that you enjoy doing just for the experience of doing them. The best hobbies are things you can do without any outside pressure to perform. They are things you can do at your own pace, and only when you feel like doing them. Anything you start doing and lose track of time and forget about your obligations is likely a good hobby choice.
Although hobbies can be enjoyed with friends and family, it is important that your healthy balance includes things you do for yourself with yourself as well. In a super-social era where nearly everything is shared and compared, it may seem strange to do much of anything alone.
Adopt these 7 Secrets and start feeling better each day. Becoming healthier is always a great goal because it can help you to live longer and to live a fuller life. Mobility, weight, mood, strength, stamina, everything that is human life is influenced by health. Regardless of your background, lifestyle, or fitness level, you can use these secrets.