A healthy lifestyle can help you thrive throughout your life. Making healthy choices isn’t always easy, however. It can be hard to find the time and energy to exercise regularly or prepare healthy meals. However, your efforts will pay off in many ways, and for the rest of your life.
These are the steps:
>Be physically active for 30 minutes most days of the week. Break this up into three 10-minute sessions when pressed for time. The sample activities are walking, dancing, yoga or any type of activity that you will enjoy.
>Eat a well-balanced, low-fat diet with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Choose a diet that’s low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and moderate in sugar, salt and total fat.
>Ask someone you trust for help if you think you might be addicted to drugs or alcohol.
>Don’t smoke, or quit if you do. Ask your health care provider for help.
>Drink in moderation if you drink alcohol. Never drink before or while driving, or when pregnant.
>Stay out of the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the sun’s harmful rays are strongest. You are not protected if it is cloudy or if you are in the water — harmful rays pass through both. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen that guards against both UVA and UVB rays, with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Select sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of the sun’s rays.
>Get enough sleep and rest. Adults need around eight hours of sleep a night.
In today’s modern world, many of our systems and customs seem to be organized in a way that separates the different facets of health- for example, a nutritionist might recommend ways to eat healthfully, and a therapist might recommend ways to cope with stress, but often, there is little to no crossover guidance, or framework for fitting the pieces together as a whole.
It seems that we have forgotten the idea that health encompasses not just the absence of physical disease, but involves healthy habits, thoughts, coping mechanisms, and peaceful ways of relating to our environment and to others.
So remember to stay healthy for you to have a happy life.
Just remember this sayings:
“Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.” – B.K.S. Iyengar
“It is health that is the real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver.” – Mahatma Gandhi