No human possesses perfection. We all have bad habits and do disgusting stuff consciously, unconsciously and subconsciously that are hazardous to our health. This makes it all the more important for us to revise and transform our lives. To do this, I have come up with nine healthy habits that you should inculcate in your daily schedule. Let’s begin.
At Least 8 Hours of Sleep Every Day
Sleeping is a healthy activity that everything breathing thing requires and we (humans) are no different. Technically speaking, it has a substantial say in your physical, mental and emotional well-being. You need to get a lot of sleep because your humanity is not made to be indestructible. In fact, it could self-destruct if you don’t give it the sleep that it so much desires and deserves. Apart from the established fact that a good night sleep refreshes your internal organs for further duties to be encountered, it also performs some restorative duties by providing an opportunity for the body to repair itself. There are other health benefits that flock with this activity. Follow a compiled list I have provided below, you will definitely find it useful.
- How well you sleep affects the brain and not surprisingly, it helps to re-sharpen your attention. This is because inadequate sleep keeps you inattentive and impulsive. We don’t want all those, do we?
- Still on the brain, giving in to sleep can actually help you to learn better. Sacrificing your sleep could lead to a significant functional impairment that won’t actuate learning and may affect your memory. So there`s need to consolidate your memory by sleeping and, therefore, strengthening the neural connections that form them.
- Stress and sleep are nearly one and the same and they determine a lot about our health. However, sleeping helps to lower the stress levels in the body. And that, inadvertently, implies that you are placing a better control on your blood pressure.
- Your chances of diabetes, heart diseases, and other infections become at an all-time low when you get adequate sleep. But wait! There`s more…
- Sleeping well maintains your weight by regulating the hormones that impinge on your appetite to crave high-calorie meals.
- A good sleep gives you a good mood, so you don’t get agitated and snap at colleagues or be grumpy. The better you sleep, the better you stay serene and composed.
Drink at Least a Glass of Water Every Day
Odorless, colorless, tasteless and transparent are not the only adjectives to define water. We could start with words such as curative and precautionary that functionally define the essence of water to humans. Drinking water every day can secure you three vital events. First up is that it keeps you from experiencing a situation where there isn’t enough water in your body system to perform vital functions ― dehydration. Furthermore, it boosts your immune system, energy levels and minimizes fatigue. As an added bonus, water helps to flush out toxins and choke off your body of irrelevant materials via the kidney, thereby keeping the organ healthy. More so, water remains an integral part of life because it forms 60% of our body fluid and it reroutes important nutrients crucial to the body system. Personally, I can’t stay without a bottle of water and if you ask me, I would say it is magical and we all need that magic.
Form Healthy Eating Habits
A good eating habit requires that you do not skip breakfast, prepare your own meal so you have no doubts about the quality and stay away from junk food. More importantly, eat within an hour of waking up; it helps to rejuvenate your entire system. Also, what you eat matters. For example, processed foods should be avoided because there is a massive loss of nutritional value in the production of these foods, so you may want to cut down on some of them.
Begin Walking Exercises
I know keeping up with exercises may be tedious, but there is always something better you can accomplish when you start walking. Walking is one of the easiest things to do for your health. Perhaps, you need the words of Dr. Melina Jampolis’ in her new book The Doctor on Diet. According to her, there is a good chance you keep the doctor off because that way, you are capable of losing excess weight, cut your risk of chronic diseases and calm your blood pressure. Better still, you remotely get some amazing results such as improving your mood, sparking your creative mind and even making your legs look fabulous by preserving your leg muscles. I sense someone preparing for a marathon walk already, Keep reading.
Quit the Smoking Sessions
If you smoke, then you are fully aware the pack says “smokers are liable to die young”, and that also means you know you are diminishing your life force because you could end up dead from cancer, stroke or a lung dysfunction. Doesn’t sound scary enough? Well, here are other dangers that accompany smoking; perhaps they may strike a chord.
- Apart from discoloring and damaging your teeth, smoking causes premature aging like deepening your wrinkles and distorting skin texture.
- Your senses of smell and taste dull and these most likely leads to you skipping dishes because they seem to lack flavor.
- People within your reach become passive smokers. They may face similar health repercussions such as cancer and heart diseases because they inhale your puff of carbon (IV) oxide. You may want to reconsider and quit for the sake of family and loved ones.
From research, the New England Journal of Medicine claims that long-term smokers lose about 10 years of their life to smoking. On the plus side, quitting at 35 could eliminate such risk. I suggest you make it a daily habit to avoid smoking because the sooner you quit, the longer you live.
Manage your Soda
Soda doesn’t pose an instant threat to the body but in the long run, it can lead to body conditions, especially when it is on a regular consumption. The increased risk of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome is a deferment to the consumption of soda. Why don’t you drink water instead, as I described earlier, it is so magical.
Stay Open to Fruits and Vegetables
This is better than your junk pack of donuts, hamburger and ice cream that you so much love. Why? They don`t provide you so much nutritional value whether they are fried, frozen, canned or juiced. Do you know that oranges improve your skin and reduce your risk of cancer? There you have it, start keeping tabs on fruits. Also, going green is another helpful stride to healthy living. Vegetables have a role in your nutrition and are relevant sources of treatments for poisoning and wound cuts.
A Moderate Gulp of Alcohol
The negativity that enfolds alcohol can only be credited to an excessive bad drinking habit that I dub “booze-abuse”. Truly, experts have acknowledged that it places a risk on the body, particularly the liver and the heart. On the flip side, it boasts of a list of benefits only if taken in moderation, a working example is the fact that it helps to eliminate any sign of ischemic stroke. Furthermore, the risk of diabetes becomes minimal. For the sake of emphasis, dietary guidelines clarify that drinking should not be a frequent affair. And it is in your best interest that I strongly recommend you take a bottle daily if you must drink alcohol at all. However, abstinence is just better, as there`s a thin line between moderation and abuse.
Move with Healthy People
Begin an engagement with healthy people and professionals that can influence healthy values into your life. There is every tendency that you will stay healthier than usual.
Final Words…
You may not necessarily adhere to each of these habits but sticking to a considerable number is not bad at all. Follow this list and visit your doctor for regular checkups; doctors are capable of recognizing risks and problems before they grow into serious health conditions, even when you think you are perfectly fine. This is the part where I leave you to renegotiate your health choices and remember that good health is wealthy living.
