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One of the best decisions you can make is resolving to have healthy lifestyle habits. Since health is wealth, keeping your body healthy should be your number one priority. By maintaining good health, you can have a good body shape, enjoy a better mental health, and have more energy.
You will also look better, live longer, avoid diseases and feel more confident. However, with today’s lifestyle, it’s quite challenging to have healthy lifestyle habits. This is why people are not only dying young but also suffering from health issues that can be prevented. Here are the top 10 healthy lifestyle habits to help you live long
1. Regular exercise
Physical activity and exercise are not only good for your body but also a fun way to engage yourself. They are a chance to be outdoors, unwind, be social or participate in something that makes you happy. From improving your mood, to preventing cardiovascular diseases, there are a lot of benefits that you can get from exercise.
Even if it’s for 15 minutes, make sure you exercise daily as this will make your body younger, stronger, healthier, and even fitter. Some of the activities you can do include jogging, swimming, walking, stretching, yoga, push-ups, and weight lifting .
2.Healthy Breakfast
To be at your physical best and give your body enough fuel, you need to eat a healthy breakfast daily. Eating a healthy breakfast helps improve your metabolism rate, gives you more energy and improves your memory and concentration.
On the contrary, skipping breakfast means nutritional deficiencies and less focus. Regardless of how your schedule is, you can always prepare a nice breakfast that has carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins, and minerals. Some of the best foods include whole wheat toast, nuts, fruits, fruit smoothie milk, and omelet.
3. Avoid sugar
While this is one of the toughest, it’s achievable. Nowadays the average person consumes 135 pounds of sugar in a year. This is higher as compared to 109 pounds 15 years ago. Some of the common diseases attributed to sugar include cancer, obesity, heart disease and diabetes .
The first step is to eliminate all sugars from your diet. Once you remove the taste of sugar from your taste buds and mind, you will get used and stop craving. Make every effort to avoid sugar.
4. Get enough rest
Due to busy schedules and hectic lifestyles many people normally sacrifice their rest. Since the lack of enough rest can cause problems, you need to avoid this. Research has shown that sleep is among the most important things that your body needs.
You need to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily for your body to function well. Proper rest will also help you reduce stress, reduce inflammation, improve your memory, keep your heart healthy and even make you smarter. You need to avoid drinking caffeine and other foods late in the night. Above all, always create a good resting environment.
5. Stay connected
As humans, we are social animals and one of the best things we can do is to stay connected. If you want to avoid depression and premature death you need to have regular contacts with loved ones. Some researchers even think that the most important thing that old people should get is regular social interactions that come with walking, exercising and going out.
Having a proper connection with a family member or a friend can also give you an added advantage of having someone watch over you. They will tell you if they think you are not fine and might even urge you to see a doctor if you have not realized it yourself.
6. Breathe deeply
Typically breathing is an activity that inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. When you consciously control this and breathe deeply, it will have a huge effect on your overall health. It not only maximizes your oxygen intake but it also relaxes your mind and body so that you can manage stress and anxiety well.
Make sure that you engage in deep breathing for 20 minutes daily as the first step towards a healthy life. To make it workable, practice it in an open area very early in the morning when the atmosphere is not yet polluted. By doing this, you will inhale fresh air and your system will also get vitamin D from the sun.
7. Have a routine
If you want to have a healthy lifestyle, you need to live by routines. You can start by eating the same kinds of food and engaging in the same activities. Sleeping and waking up at the same time is also one of the best habits that can help keep your body in equilibrium. Remember, as you grow older your psychology becomes weaker and it can be harder to start training your body to do the things that you really want to do.
8. Stay hydrated
While you can survive without food for a few days, it’s hard to survive without water for long. Every organ, tissue, and cell in the body need water to work properly. Staying hydrated will, therefore, help increase your alertness, improve your activity and control your appetite.
Moreover, it will prevent headaches, fatigue, and dry skin. To ensure that your body functions to the maximum drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. However, this often varies from one individual to another. Instead of reaching for unhealthy beverages, remember always to carry a bottle of water that you can drink when feeling thirsty.
9. Practice dental hygiene, personal hygiene and go for regular screening
According to studies, periodontal diseases contribute to diabetes, heart diseases, and even premature births. It’s, therefore, important to practice good dental hygiene and to floss at least twice a day.
Apart from this, it’s very important to maintain good personal hygiene. You should take care of your skin, hair, ears, nails, toes among others and wash your hands several times a day to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria.
It’s also important to get regular screenings and tests to help you detect any health issue before it becomes a big problem. Some of the most important checkups include regular blood pressure checkup, dental checkups, skin cancer screening, and mammogram, among others.
10.Stretch in the morning and the evening
Staying healthy and physically fit depends on your physical flexibility. Since most of us sit behind the desk the whole day, you need to stretch every morning and evening to ensure that your body works like a well-oiled machine. Alternatively, you can engage in some light activity so as to test and see whether your body is working well.
11.Maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight is a serious health problem for many people, as it increases the risk of developing serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure.
On the other hand, being underweight has a direct relationship with heart problems, low resistance to infections, chronic fatigue, anemia, depression, and very low defenses.
These conditions are preventable if a balanced diet is followed and the weight is controlled.It is best to change habits including food and physical activity. In this way, it is possible to maintain a healthy weight for life.
12.Meditate
A Thai study found that individuals practicing Buddhist meditation had lower levels of cortisol and blood pressure. Those who meditated daily for four months also decreased their cortisol levels by 20%, according to a study by Maharishi University.
Meditation can help us treat disorders at the level of body and mind, significantly improving our quality of life and allowing the connection to our inner source of happiness and peace.
Final words
Well, those are some of the best healthy lifestyle habits. If you practice these well you will not only boost your self-esteem and confidence but you will also enjoy a long healthy life. Just treat yourself well, be good to others and create a habit of being fit, healthy and disciplined.
