Everyone is constantly telling you what to do, from your parents to your friends to the media. Unfortunately hardly anyone tells you that you should be living a healthy life. Don’t be surprised when too much stress, junk food and little exercise take their toll on your body.
Keep the following quote in mind the next time you catch yourself indulging in unhealthy habits.
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” – Edward Stanley
That being said…here are 10 simple, effective ways that you can apply right now to live a much healthier life:
1- Stop Drinking Alcohol
Alcohol in general is one of the worst things for your body. It damages your organs, drains your energy and contributes to your increase in weight.
Modern society almost expects us to drink, especially when we’re with friends or go out for the night. Drinking becomes a habit from as early as college, when your free nights are spent partying and getting wasted. This bad habit can stick with you for many years after college, and can have a serious effect on your overall health.
Ideally it would be best to cut out alcohol from your life completely, but I know how hard it can be to quit cold turkey.
Start gradually and cut down to 2 beers or glasses of wine per week.
2- Stop smoking
Peer pressure and stress are two of the biggest reasons why people start smoking in the first place, usually not out of free will.
Smoking has absolutely zero health benefits. By smoking you’re not only damaging your own health, but also the health of others around you. And on top of that it’s a pretty expensive habit (I’m talking about just the cost of cigarettes, not even factoring in the future health costs you will probably incur from excessive smoking).
Try to cut down your smoking gradually by reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke each day. Your goal is to stop smoking entirely in order to live a healthier life. If you smoke because you’re stressed, find another way to relieve that stress (E.g. Exercise or EFT)
3- Eat Fruit And Vegetables Daily
This may sound like the most obvious advice you can think of, but how many people do you know that actually follow it? Do you even follow it?
There is just too much processed and junk food easily available, and with the lack of time and high stress levels it’s just too easy to forget adding fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.
Try to eat at least 3 servings of fruits or vegetables every day. The easiest is to east a piece of fruit as a snack between meals and add some veggies to every meal.
4-Replace Fast Food With Home-Cooked Meals
As I mentioned above, it’s far to easy to get caught in the trap of eating takeaways on a daily basis. I personally caught myself stuck in this habit for a couple of months, ordering pizza, Chinese or McDonald’s every day of the week.
Not only is eating fast food in this manner bad for your long-term health, you can immediately feel how it makes you sluggish and leaves you with little energy throughout the day. Your body needs REAL FOOD.
Cooking takes a little effort, but it’s much more enjoyable and usually costs less than take-outs. You can learn to cook easy healthy dinner recipes in just 10 minutes.
5- Exercise Daily
Do at least 30 minutes of exercise every day (whether it be walking, climbing the stairs or mowing the lawn).
It’s too easy to get caught up in work and the stress of life to remember to exercise every day, especially because you often don’t have the energy to do it after a long day’s work. It may sound contradictory, but exercising actually gives you more energy throughout the day.
If you don’t feel like joining a gym, just take a walk outside, go swimming or do something fun like aerobics, dance classes or tennis.
6- Drink More Water
It’s recommended that you drink at least 8 full glasses of water per day.
I actually know quite a few people who don’t even drink one full glass of water per day. Their liquid intake consists of coffee, tea, soda and alcohol. Of course these drinks contain water, but they contain harmful toxins to the body like sugars, caffeine, acids, artificial flavorants and much more.
Try to cut down on other drinks (except freshly squeezed juices) and replace them with water.
Another useful tip: Drink a full glass of water immediately when you wake up in the morning. It’ll make you feel much better throughout the whole day.
7- Breathe Deeply
Take at least 5 minutes every day to inhale and exhale deeply. Outside in the fresh air would be best.
When you take these 5 minutes, allow yourself to forget about everything around you. Forget your worries, troubles and responsibilities. Concentrate on the process of breathing. Count every breath you take and inhale as much air as can fit into your lungs.
8- Smile More
Stress is one of the worst things for your health, and when you’re stressed…you don’t smile.
Make it a habit to smile as much as you can, on a daily basis. Positivity is contagious, and you never know who’s day you might brighten with your smile. Yup, that’s right, smiling is beneficial for you AND those around you.
9- Leave Your Work At The Office
Don’t take your work home with you.
I know it’s difficult to do, but try to make a clear distinction between work and free time. That way you don’t have too much stress in your life and you can use the time you have free to relax and get the most out of life, instead of being stressed out 24/7.
10-End Negative Relationships
One of the biggest influences on your physical health is your emotional well-being. There will be times for everyone where you find yourself in a relationship (friendship, romantic relationship or work relationship) that is emotionally draining.
You’re being taken advantage of or being used. Maybe you’re giving and not getting back. Maybe the relationship is mutually destructive. Either way…you need to put an end to the negative relationships in your life.
The sooner you cut out the emotional drain, the quicker you’ll feel a relief both mentally and physically. Don’t allow other people to make you miserable and unhealthy.
I’m convinces that if you apply the 10 ways to live healthier that I’ve listed above and there is no doubt that you will become healthier, have more energy and feel happier.
Diggy is the author of one of the top personal development blogs on the web, where he helps people find happiness and success. If you’re looking for more financial freedom, you may also be interested in Diggy’s free tutorial – how to start an online business.
