Good health and good sense are the two most valuable things in our life.There is a saying “you never understand the value of something until you lose it,” which is true in case of health and wellness. Of course, we all know the importance of a healthy life. But it seems that you have to maintain some superhuman habits to stay healthy. However, that’s not the case.
Do you know that the United States spends the biggest portion of its budget on healthcare but it still has the lowest life expectancy ratio among all the developed countries? Yes, it is true. A report published in Global Research indicates that our government spends $9400 per capita on healthcare, which is the highest and it ranks 31st in life expectancy ratio list among all the countries. The number suggests that there is something wrong. All of us want to have a good health condition, but don’t know the right way to achieve it.
You don’t have to be perfect, nor you have to be superhuman to get healthy again in case you have recently lost your health. You just have to incorporate some new healthy habits and get rid of the bad ones in your daily life. We are what we repeatedly do, so never underestimate the power of habits. In this article, we are going to share 10 healthy lifestyle secrets. These quick health tips are easy to incorporate in your daily life but have a tremendous impact on your overall health.
Healthy Lifestyle Secrets
1. Rise Early
You have already heard the benefits of rising early in the morning. But believe me, you won’t realize the real magic of early morning until you’ll incorporate this practice in your daily life. This is one of the healthy lifestyle secrets that almost all successful people in the world are aware of. It affects your physical, mental, and spiritual health in a very positive manner. You can greet the new day by experiencing the most amazing natural phenomenon – the sunrise.
Rising early helps increase your productivity at work. It provides you a peaceful time without going through any chaos of the busy hours, making you stress-free. You can make good use of this time by reading, exercising or reflecting on life. Early rising can set the tone of your day. I am personally inspired by a quote by Dalai Lama-
Tips: If you face trouble in rising early, try to do so gradually. Rise 15 minutes earlier than your usual time, and then get used to it for some days. Then again rise 15 minutes earlier a few days later. Continue this process and slowly advance to your desired waking time.
2. Follow a Balanced Diet
You already know the importance of a balanced diet. There is a lot of talk about it on every media platform of our life. But one important thing we often miss about following a balanced diet is, it is not only about the calories. A lot of physicians and fitness advisors talk about calorie as if that’s the only focus point of a balanced diet. Surely this is one of the important aspects of a diet, but you should incorporate lots of genuine, healthy, and nature-given immune boosting foods into your diet.
You can try following the Mediterranean or the Japanese diet because their diets have lots of green vegetables and seafood. One little but powerful change you can introduce to your eating habit is replacing all kinds of fat (fatty oil, butter) with olive oil. In fact, olive oil is the essence of Mediterranean diets. Whether it is the Greeks, the Italians, the Turks, or the Syrians – as much as 40% of their dishes contain olive oil in one form or another. Another positive change you can make is replacing red meat with seafood. It will make you healthier and help slow down the aging process of your body.
3. Pick Your Own Type of Exercise
A human body is naturally designed for physical as well as intellectual labor. But today’s work routines rarely involve manual labor. To keep our body healthy and fit and lose weight, we must do physical exercise regularly. People often refer physical exercise to weightlifting or bodybuilding exercises. These are great exercises but the problem with them is they require a lot of motivation and willpower that many of us don’t have. And there is a high chance that you will throw in the towel sooner or later if you don’t really enjoy your exercise sessions.
You should pick your own kind of exercise to make the most of your effort. Find what works for you and what type of exercise you enjoy. You can take a long walk in the morning or run along the beach, or do other cardiovascular exercises. The main point is if you don’t like to do any physical activities, it is hard to incorporate them into your lifestyle.
4. Sleep Well
Sleeping is the natural healing time of our body cells. Your body and your brain’s fitness depends on the quality of your sleep. Your physical health and emotional well being are largely dependent on sleep. Sleeping time is positively correlated with the cognitive functioning of the brain. You must develop a healthy sleeping habit and take sleep aid supplements if necessary. For most of us who sleep in a monophasic cycle (one single uninterrupted sleeping period), 6 to 8 hours sleep is mandatory for us.
However, don’t use smartphones or any gadgets on the bed before you sleep. If your daily life doesn’t allow you to have 7 or 8 hours of sleep at night, try to sleep in biphasic or Dymaxion cycles.
5. Break Free from Social Media – Make Time for Yourself
Staying healthy is not about your physical health only, your mental well being is also a crucial part of your effort to become healthy. You should avoid any type of activities or places that make you stressed in some way. Minimize your stress level as much as you can and make time for yourself. You can spend this time with your family or friends. Or you can spend it on your own way, such as by reading or meditating. It would be much better if you do this before going to bed. That way you can incorporate these two healthy habits with maximum utility.
Various studies suggest that using social media is directly linked to depression and anxiety. It also changes the normal neural pathway of your brain. Cut back on social media and try to get active in real life.
6. Quit Smoking and Drinking
Alcohol and tobacco are the top two reasons for unnatural human death all over the world. According to WHO (World Health Organization), 6.8 million people are expecting to die worldwide by 2020 just for smoking. If you are smoking and drinking on a regular basis, you should quit immediately. And if you find it hard to do it on your own, seek help from any community support groups in your area. Research shows that quitting smoking and drinking can help reduce the chance of any heart diseases by 85%, and in cases of stroke, and cancer, that is 70%. You definitely know every organ in your body is negatively affected by these harmful habits. So, do yourself a favor and quit smoking and drinking as fast as you can to get healthy again.
7. Avoid Processed/Fake Food
Another major epidemic we are facing today is the abundance of fake food. You may think by fake food I am referring to fast foods only. Instead, what I am talking about is almost every food product processed in the food industry. Almost every processed food contains chemical sugar whether it tastes sweet or not. This artificial sugar alters our eating habits which result in artificial hunger and other problems. Consuming fake foods is directly related to the obesity epidemic and indirectly related to diabetes, cancer, heart diseases, and strokes.
Tips: Eat only natural food and cut junk foods out of your diet altogether. Avoid any processed foods that contain sugar. There are many names for chemical sugar used in numerous foods we eat on a regular basis.
8. Travel Frequently
It is not surprising that traveling is essential for healthy living. Traveling helps you a lot in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It exposes you to new environments which helps your body to improve its immune system. Traveling refreshes your mind and reduces stress and anxiety to a great level. It also opens new perspectives for you. It is said that the world is a book, and those do not travel read only one page of it. You should travel at least twice a year.
9. Discipline Yourself
Discipline your life. It has an unbelievable impact on your overall health and life. You should follow a simple routine for your daily activities. It doesn’t mean that you have to be rigid in your daily life. It means you have to bring a level of consistency in your life with the right nutrition and lifestyle. If you really care about knowing the healthy lifestyle secrets, all you need to know is discipline is an integral part of this. The great Buddha said-
10. Schedule A “Cheat Day”
Schedule a “cheat day” once a month. This habit is primarily for those who find it very hard incorporating these aforementioned habits. You can treat yourself with a rich meal once a month. That is not going to harm you that much. Scheduling a cheat day often allow you to break the monotony of life.
To sum up, habits are the most important but underrated part of our everyday life. A habit may seem small but can weigh more than you can imagine. To conclude, I would like to mention a couplet from James Allen.
