Unless you already have a great eating and exercise routine you may be wondering how you can live a healthier life. Even if you already have a great routine there are probably still some little steps you can take to improve your health. Many of us struggle with healthy living. We give up when the task looks too big. Eating right and exercising regularly are vague concepts. What is a person to do? Incorporate little steps in their life to make living healthy a lot easier…
- Chew Your Food More. Taking time to chew your food more aids in digestion and helps your body get more of the vitamins and minerals it needs to be healthy.
- Learn to Laugh more often. Plenty of research shows that laughter helps to cure or prevent just about anything. Try it out and watch the results of living a happier life.
- Just relax. How often do we do that? Our culture creates a sense of urgency that seems to be never ending. It is really important for your health to learn how to wind down and relax. Stress is one of the main killers of people in our society.
- Water is a miracle drug. We all need to start shooting for reaching the gallon a day mark. A gallon seems like a lot, but its not when you spread it out over the day. Increased water intake has shown to help people loose weight, increase their energy levels, and cure headaches. It could help you too!
- Go for long walks. The Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, stated that “Walking is man’s best medicine.” Modern research has certainly backed that notion up. People don’t exercise enough and starting a walking regimen is one of the best ways to get and stay in shape. In fact, you should go for a little jaunt right after you read this.
- Eat at Home. Eating at home can be more healthy and less expensive for you. The main reason is that you have control over what you are going to eat. To take this little step just plan one more dinner at home then you usually do. Once you make that one day at habit add more days. Your body and your wallet will thank you for it.
- Drink less non-water drinks. All drinks should be taken in moderation. These include but are not limited to, coffee, soda, pop, alcohol, and juice. Juice? Yes, juice. You may already know about the potential side effects of the previous four: the shakes, abnormal heart rhythms, infertility, headaches, hangovers, beer goggles, dismemberment, and death. I think that list may be even longer. But juice, why juice? If you happen to be dieting and want to lose weight, juice packs an enormous amount of calories. Stick with step #4 and you have no worries.
- Eat more Fruits & Vegetables. Think back to the last couple of meals you ate. How much of that was in fruits and vegetables? This step relates to #6 in that you should make a conscious effort to add a little bit more fruits and veggies to your diet every couple of days or weeks. It is also like step #6 because it makes you healthier and saves you money too. Meat is our number one killer and the most expensive food we can buy. Don’t get me wrong. I love my meat just as much as any other red-blooded American, but we should eat less meat, and more veggies. Start taking little steps now to move in that direction. Again, your body and your wallet will thank you.
- Take time to play. Why do kids get to have all the fun? We adults should to right? That’s right. Play, even in adulthood is healthy. There are so many studies out there proving the benefits of play for kids, but not so much for adults. Should work both ways. Right? So start finding a little more playtime in your busy day.
- Spend time connecting with people. It can almost be said that the bigger your social network and group of friends, the better health you will have. Humans are created as social animals. We are not meant to live in isolation no matter how introverted we are. So take little steps to keep in better contact with your friends.
- Reflect. Take the time to look over your life and how you want to improve. Stopping to reflect really helps you realize where you are at in life, where you are going, and more importantly, if you want to change it for the better. This last little step will help you put everything into perspective and start helping you to take some of the little steps mentioned above to improve your health.
If you want to change to a healthier lifestyle then start small and start now. There is no better time than the present. Take some or all of the little steps above and begin today. Also, if you have any other ideas of little steps to improve your health then please add them in the comment section below.
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Hi Jeremy – What a wonderful and valuable post. All of your points are valid. I especially agree about eating at home more often. I like the fact it’s less expensive, and also when cooking from scratch we know exactly what’s going into our bodies. When we’ve eaten out and get the bill, I look at it and almost cringe. It reminds me of how many groceries I could have bought for that amount, and in most cases, the food we make at home tastes even better. Plus, if cooking with loved ones, it creates a memorable occasion.
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Hi Barbara,
Thank you so much. Its great to see that people are finding value in my posts. I agree with you. I am very much looking forward to a great Thanksgiving dinner. mmm hmmm.
Cheers,
Jeremy
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Excellent! I completely agree! Especially going for walks. I dont know what I’d do without them. Helps a person in SO many ways.
Hi Lauren,
Nice to see you still checking out the archives!
You are right. Walking is pretty nifty!
Jeremy
Jeremy – This is a truly inspiring list! Any family physician would be very smart to offer these 11 recommendations to her patients.
#4 – drinking much more water – is key. I’ve always told my patients and clients that drinking more water is the most important nutritional step anyone can take. And your advice regarding juice is a subtle, important point. I used to drink a lot of apple, orange, and grape juice. One day I realized how many extra calories juice contains. That was the end of that.
#8 – more fruit and vegetables. This is so important. The old advice of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is actually pretty accurate. And, now more than ever, we need an apple a day. And hopefully some carrots, peaches, blueberries, and yams. All these colorful F&V contain phytonutrients, the mysterious biochemicals that turn out to be extremely important for our health and well-being.
Great, great post!
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Hi David,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a lengthy comment. It means a lot. And it adds a lot to the article!
Cheers,
Jeremy
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That is a great list. All I can say is I’m pleasantly surprised and will use a few of those on myself and my clients!
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