10 Healthy Habits To Live By: Lifestyle improvements for a better you

 

Exercise to help boost wellness: Photo credit Unsplash

These days, an increased majority of people are tapping into healthy habits to change and improve their lives for the good. Living a lifestyle steeped in stress can lead to ill-health and  concerns that may hamper wellness. 

But thankfully, there are some good habits to follow. These little changes can help to improve your wellness on a large scale. 

Why do healthy habits matter? 

Getting into healthy habits will benefit you and your family in many ways. When you eat and live healthily, you may avoid health conditions that develop as a result of bad eating choices and other negative practices. 

Healthy habits matter because it leads to:

• Better health 

• Improved wellness 

• Improved weight-loss 

• Weight control 

• Higher energy levels  

1. Healthy eating

It’s important to maintain not only an active lifestyle but also a healthy diet. Bearing this in mind you can consider starting off wit breakfast. Let’s face it, breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day and starting your day with a good breakfast will fuel and help you to get through your day.   

When you’re eating healthily with your kids, you teach them from a young age to practice these healthy habits. Not only you will benefit, but your children too. 

Healthy breakfast examples: 

• Oats topped with fruit and nuts

• Bran cereal with fruit

• Muesli and yoghurt 

• A fruit smoothie

• Protein such as eggs, bangers and or a strip of bacon (opt for less greasy)

**Tip: Eat healthily throughout the week and spoil yourself with treats on the weekend. Never deprive yourself of your favourite foods as it will only lead to binging. 

2. Plan your meals

Eat for wellness: Photo credit Unsplash

Good eating habits come with carefully planned meals. Preparing your meals ahead of time will not only reduce the prep time on the day, but it gives you a better perspective about  ingredients and what you’ll eat throughout the week. 

Preparing your meals will also help you to have a better handle on ”what you put into your body.” In other words, you won’t feel the urge to buy that greasy cheese burger and chips if you’ve packed a healthy, tasty lunch. 

**Tip: You can prep breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinners a week ahead of time. 

3. Habits of health includes drinking water 

Drink more water, the fresher the better. Photo credit Unsplash

Water has so many positive benefits for your health and because our bodies are primarily made up of water it is crucial to stay hydrated. Water also helps to supress hunger because feeling hungry can also be a sign that you’re dehydrated. 

**Tip: If you’re not sure how much water you’re drinking, try measuring via flasks. 8 glasses a day is very good. You can also drink warm to hot water to help clean the gut of toxins. 

4. Good health habits through exercise

Moving more is what your body needs to be healthy. Our bodies are such amazing creations it has the ability to maintain itself and heal when injured or infection occurs. It’s important to lead an active lifestyle by exercising more often. If you can’t go to the gym, simply incorporate 5 minutes of brisk walking into your day, every day. 

If you have more time then walk longer, 10 to 15 minutes a day. It will do your mind and body wonders of good. Putting it into practice or routine is another way to keep the momentum going. 

**Tip: Make exercise part of a daily healthy habit. 

5. Unplug from online activity

Take a break from the screens: Photo credit unsplash 

Unplugging your mind and body from the digital world is extremely important. Our lives are very involved with digital activities like social media, messaging, emails, video calls, cute cat videos, and the list goes on. 

Digital aspects form part of our personal and professional lives and this is even more reason to unplug from it all. 

*Tip: Set a time to unplug from social media and screen time. Instead of these, you could take part in therapeutic activities like drawing, listing to music, and spending time in nature. 

6. Quit smoking

Kick the bad habit: Photo credit Unsplash

Smoking doesn’t have any positive effects on our health. There are many health studies that show smoking can lead to heart disease, cancer, lung disease and lots more health conditions. If you are a smoker, try to quit ASAP. If you’re not a smoker, don’t be tempted to start. 

**Tip: If you’ve quit, try and manage weight gain. Oftentimes people who quit tend to gain weight. 

7. Get into a healthy habit of sleeping well

Insomnia is one of the number one reasons we feel even more exhausted the next morning. A lack of sleep is often the cause of increased feelings of agitation or irritability and even feeling under the weather. 

Getting enough sleep is a very important healthy habit to practice. 

**Tip: Try to go to bed at night at the same time every evening to help get your body into a rhythm.

8. Keep your muscles healthy 

Keeping muscles strong: Photo credit Unsplash

Our muscles play such a huge role in us being able to move and do things. When the muscles become weak, it can lead to easy injuries and even weight gain. Weight training can help you to build and strengthen your muscles. At the same time, you’ll burn fat. 

**Tip: You don’t have to use weights when exercising, but you can use the weight of your body as well.

9. Go out and enjoy nature

Nature is beautiful, a creation so amazing it can literally uplift our mood. What better way to improve how you feel than to step out and enjoy some sun on your skin, the breeze of the wind and fresh air into your lungs. Breathe deeply and unwind. 

**Tip: Go for a walk on the beach, or enjoy a picnic with the family. Make it a weekend ritual or habit. 

10. Learn a new skill

Enjoy nature an learn new skills: Photo credit Unsplash

This may not sound like a healthy habit, but learning a new skill will help with mental and overall wellness. You may want to improve on an existing hobby or learn a brand new thing. Again when doing this think about the therapeutic benefits that some activities have to offer. 

**Tip: Learn to dance, sing, play an instrument, paint, arts and crafts. Have fun and enjoy every moment. 

The Conclusion about incorporating healthy habits into your life

I cannot stress it enough that balancing life, work, and healthy habits is what’s needed for a positive way of living. It isn’t always easy to simply “slide” into healthy habits but it is possible. While not everyone is able to implement big changes, you can go ahead with smaller changes first and progress from there. 

What are you doing to include healthy habits into your life?