Healthy Life: Ways of Achieving

What does a healthy life mean to you?

I wouldn’t know what a healthy life means to you but then your understanding about it should capture this; A healthy life is such a life that is less prone to diseases, and at the same time keeps your mental, physical and emotional state stable.

It doesn’t end there, social well-being and healthy sex life are inclusive when we talk about what a healthy life entails.
In addition to the aforementioned, living a healthy lifestyle will always make you happy, maintain a positive mindset and add value to society.
A healthy lifestyle involves three major components which are; daily exercise, good nutrition and adequate sleep.

What does an exercise involve?

Exercise is a kind of physical activity that is well organised and planned to keep the body fit and maintain good health.
An exercise involves; strength and resistance training, flexibility and cardiovascular conditioning.

Strength and Resistance training:

Strength and resistance training makes bone strength, body metabolism and mass increase.
This kind of exercise adds more strain to the muscle.

Flexibility:

Flexibility reduces the chance of muscle strain. It also helps to maintain and improve the joint span motion.

Cardiovascular conditioning:

Cardiovascular conditioning is a tough and athletic physical activity that increases the heart rate for a given period. Cardiovascular exercise helps the lungs, heart and circulatory systems to function efficiently.
Exercise is such a good thing that the benefits cannot be ignored.

The 7 benefits of daily exercise;

We already established that exercise is a kind of physical activity it’s good for the body.
The question is, do you know how good it is for your body?
Read the following points below to find out the benefits of daily exercise.

1. Exercise boosts mood:

If you want to get relieved of stress or get out of a bad emotional state, engaging in exercise is a good way to make that happen. An exercise revives different brain chemicals. It makes you less anxious, feel happier and more relaxed.

2. Exercise enhances energy:

Are you choked up with domestic chores or daily activities? Engaging in an exercise will help you meet up your daily demands. How is this possible? Exercise helps the cardiovascular system works well. More also, it delivers nutrients and oxygen to the tissues.

3. Exercise better sleep:

If you are the type that struggles to sleep, regular exercise will help you sleep faster and better. Ensure you don’t engage in an exercise shortly before your bedtime to avoid being too energetic to sleep.

4. Exercise checks weight:

Exercise either helps you watch your weight or maintain weight loss. When you engage in exercise, you burn calories. The more exercise you do, the more calories you burn.

5. Exercise fights diseases:

You reduce the risk of heart and cardiovascular diseases when you exercise. More also, it helps to prevent high blood pressure.
Some other health conditions that regular exercise helps to manage are;

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Stroke
• Arthritis
• Metabolic syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes, etc.

6. Exercise is a social activity:

Exercise is not just a physical activity but social as well especially when you make your exercise an outdoor activity. It creates room for you to connect with new friends and it’s fun in the process.

7. Exercise energizes the sex life:

When you exercise regularly, it improves your energy level and keeps your body fit which makes it attractive for physical intimacy and gives you room to enjoy your sex life. Having explored what exercise involves and its benefits, let’s go further to look at the second component of a healthy lifestyle which is good nutrition.

What makes good nutrition?

Good nutrition is vital to healthy living. It involves eating a healthy diet which comprises the six classes of food namely;

• Carbohydrate: This can be found in sucrose, lactose, glucose, maltose, cellulose, starchy foods like rice, grain, yam, potatoes, bread, cereal products, etc.
• Protein: Examples of proteinous foods are; beans, eggs, meat from a cow, pig, chicken, turkey, goose, seafood like; prawns, oysters, mussels, lobsters, crab, fish, etc.
• Mineral: foods like cereals, nuts, bread, dairy, milk, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits especially the dry ones, etc. are rich in minerals.
• Vitamin: vitamins are sourced from fruits, vegetables, red and green peppers, strawberries, liver, grains, dairy foods, milk, etc.
• Fats: Avocado, coconut, fried foods, pastries, butter, magazine, lard, cheese, red meat like pork, lamb and beef, etc. contain fats.
• Water

Eating a healthy diet should be done consistently because it improves one’s health.

How to improve your health?

Adjusting the kind of diet you eat to a healthy one and being consistent at it may not be easy but then it is worth the change.
Below, are ways to improve your health;

• Take note of what you eat daily. Doing this will help you know the kind of diet you should eat more or less.
• Reach out to a dietitian to help recommend the appropriate diet especially on health conditions.
• Reduce the intake of unhealthy fats such as; poultry skin, fatty cuts of lamb, beef and pork, dark chicken meat, and high-fat dairy foods like butter, cheeses, whole milk.

Now, that you have known the unhealthy fats you should cut low on, the next thing to find out is how to reduce the intake of these unhealthy fats.

6 ways to reduce the intake of unhealthy fats

1. Ensure to eat more vegetables and fruits.
2. Take note of the foods you eat outside to avoid consuming too many fats.
3. If you must eat bread, butter, sour cream, baked potatoes, ensure to take a low-fat version of them.
4. Ensure you eat fish at least once a week. If you want to eat meat, boil, grill or bake the meat instead of frying. In the case of turkey or chicken meat, don’t forget to remove the skin before cooking.
5. Stay hydrated. If you must take beverages, drink the low-calories ones.
6. Always read labels on food before buying. If you don’t clearly understand what is written on the label, it’s recommended you reach out to a dietitian or doctor.

With the information you have read so far, I believe you have gotten a fair knowledge of the kind of food to be eating to ensure a healthy leaving. One more important thing you should always do to ensure healthy living is to have adequate sleep which is the third component of a healthy lifestyle.
You or your friends might have challenges with sleeping well and early at night.
All you need do now is to read through the recommendations below on how to overcome such a challenge and apply them. You can as well extend a helping hand by keeping your friends updated with the information.

9 tips for getting a good sleep

An Indian Ayurveda expert, Dr Dixa Bhavsar recommended 9 effective ways to sleep better which are outlined below;

1. Try waking up early in the morning: The first step towards achieving a night of better sleep is to get your sleep cycle right. “Starting your day with the sun can help you sync with nature, it’ll be easier for you to sleep with the moon,” says Dr Bhavsar.
2. Have a relaxing shower: Having a cool shower is an effective way to relax the stressed muscles and brain.
3. Drink warm milk/tea at bedtime: Relaxing the mind before sleeping cannot be overemphasized. To get the mind off the working state, it’s recommended to take “Turmeric milk or chamomile tea at bedtime.
4. Prayer/Chant/Gratitude: Starting and ending your day with prayer helps one to stay positive. Generally, showing consistent gratitude enhances healthy living.
5. Practise Alternate Nasal breathing: This is also known as Nadi Sodhana pranayama, Nasal breathing exercise involves breathing from one nostril at a time. The technique helps you calm down and it’s deeply relaxing.
6. Nasya (Instill nasal drops): It is an effective Ayurvedic technique that involves putting a few drops of cow’s ghee in each nostril. It helps one in getting a sound sleep and as well cure headaches.
7. Massage your feet: Massaging the feet triggers the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that induces calm feelings. It is also a good way of relieving anxiety and stress.
8. Practice Journaling: Getting into the habit of maintaining a journal helps you get stress out of your brain and keep it void of random thoughts. It is also a way of taking away so much weight from your heart.
9. Avoid using screens (phone) in bed: According to Dr Bhavsar, “staying away from screens helps in secretion of melatonin (sleep) hormone”. It’s important to note that the bright light of the gadgets we use is not good for the eye and can mess up one’s sleep.
   In conclusion, your health is in your hands.
   If you eat well, you will live well.
   If you apply the recommendations above, you will also experience healthy living.

For more healthy tips, check here!