8 lifestyle changes for better health

The new year is around the corner, and everyone will be busy thinking about making certain changes to their lifestyle. When it comes to lifestyle changes, health tops the list. Then it will be followed by materialistic things. The blog will give certain lifestyle recommendations for healthy living.

What is a lifestyle?

A person’s living conditions and behaviour determine their lifestyle. To be precise, the way of living of an individual, group or culture defines a lifestyle. A lifestyle of person can reflect their values and attitude.

The lifestyle of a person can determine their physical and mental health. If a person does not have a proper sleep cycle and consumes more junk food, it can have a negative impact on the person’s physical and mental health.

On the other hand, if a person consumes healthy food and maintains a proper lifestyle, they will have a positive impact on both mental and physical health.

Why do you want to change your lifestyle?

Before changing your lifestyle, ask yourself these questions.

Why do you want to change your lifestyle?

Do you want to be more active?

Do you want to cut on those unhealthy foods and consume healthy foods?

Want to change your perspective on life?

If the answers to the above questions are yes, then this blog can help you to endorse a new healthy lifestyle.

Old habits die hard, the saying goes. Accepting and following a new lifestyle will take 21 days. These small habits can create a major difference in life.

Some of the common lifestyle habits in life are

• Sleeping patterns
• Physical activity
• Hydration
• Stress management and
• Eating habits.

How to make healthy lifestyle changes?

As discussed earlier, practising and successfully incorporating new changes will take 21 days. You cannot just stop an unhealthy habit. It will be really hard to abruptly stop a habit. So, you can replace them.

Habit replacement can help you cope with your lost habit, and also you can manage the new habit. For example, when you munch on unhealthy foods and want to switch to healthy eating habits, you can reduce the number of unhealthy foods.

If you abruptly try to stop the consumption of unhealthy food, you might end up eating too much. So, you can reduce the quantity of food intake.

Sometimes, you might get back to the old habits while getting switched to the new habits. But never give up, work hard and just keep going.

When you decide to change or change certain things in life, there will be an impact on the following categories.

• Psychological changes
• Behavioural changes
• Dietary changes

When you make psychological changes, it will impact your attitude and mood and help you to manage stress effectively.

Behavioural changes are changes made to your sleeping pattern, planning efforts and levels of physical activity.

Dietary changes involve making healthy choices and substituting unhealthy foods with healthy foods.

When you try to make certain lifestyle changes in life, keep these things in mind.

• Set achievable goals.
• Measurements or portion size.
• Goals don’t work until you take actions.
• Proper education on healthy lifestyle changes.
• Let go of past habits and make new changes.

Lifestyle changes for a better health

Some small ideas that can really change your life are

1. Regular physical activity

Intensity will not work until you become consistent. Regular physical activity, even for a short period of time, can have significant impact on your lifestyle.

If possible, try to have a workout routine. Do not tend to change the routine until it has become a habit.

After the workout routine has become a habit, you can change or increase the intensity of the workout.

After a certain period of time, you can notice physical and mental changes. Also do not forget to take adequate rest. Too much physical activity can also lead to muscle spasms.

2. Try to maintain a healthy body weight

Regular physical activity can help maintain a healthy body weight. When you maintain a healthy body weight, lifestyle diseases like Diabetes can be prevented in the future.

3. Avoid sugar intake

Sugar can have a negative impact on your health. Excessive sugar intake can lead to weight gain and cause other health complications.

Sugar contains no nutrients and is also bad for your teeth. Fructose which is present in sugar, can damage the liver and cause insulin resistance. This can further lead to type 2 Diabetes.

Additionally, sugar can become a source of illness. So be watchful about your sugar intake and try to cut down on sugary beverages and foods. When you know the measurement your sugar intake, it will be easy for you to cut down the sugar intake.

You cannot abruptly cut down your sugar intake. Instead, try some alternatives like palm sugar, brown sugar and jaggery.

4. Substitute unhealthy foods with fruits and vegetables

When you munch on unhealthy foods, it can become an addiction. It will be really difficult to stop it. So, in place of French fries, you can try boiled potatoes or shallow fried potatoes. Keep in mind that even shallow-fried potatoes are unhealthy.

You can have fruits and vegetables that can be a good alternative. Apples are a great snacking option. Watermelons are seasonal fruits. However, they are rich in water and will not add up calories.

Vegetables can be steamed and consumed. Carrots can be consumed without steaming. They can be crunchy and also good for your teeth. They are packed with nutrients and minerals that can be beneficial for health.

5. Hydration

Hydration can be a crucial part when you try to change your lifestyle. Sometimes, we might confuse ourselves with the feeling of thirst to hunger. So, when you are not sure of the feeling, try to drink more water.

Hydration will also help to flush the toxins out of the body. Water aids weight loss, improves skin elasticity and temperature control of the body, and improves mood.

According to NCBI, men can consume 3 litres of water, and women can consume 2.2 litres of water. Higher consumption of water does not have any convincing health benefits apart from preventing kidney stone formation.

6. Proper sleep cycle

Adequate sleep can have a beneficial effect on your health. Even if you consume good food and hydrate yourself well, without proper sleep, you can get affected with health illnesses.

To be healthy, 7-9 hours of sleep is mandatory. To perform to your full ability and recover from the previous day’s tiredness, sleep is adequate. Good sleep can reduce stress and have positive benefits on your health. According to NCBI, 7 hours of sleep per night is mandatory for a person to promote optimal health.

7. Avoid the habit of smoking and alcohol consumption

Alcohol consumption and smoking can have negative effects on health. Both these habits can lead to terminal illness.

Some of the common illnesses caused due to smoking and alcohol consumption are respiratory diseases, lung cancer, reduction in blood flow and can even cause death.

Controlled drinking will not have a big impact. However, it can cause certain health effects. In certain cases, you cannot avoid alcohol consumption, and social drinking cannot be avoided. Be watchful about the pegs you consume.

8. Reduce stress

Stress can cause aggressive behaviour and reduces the satisfaction of your life. There are chances of losing the feeling of gratitude, and living can become a burden.

So, try to overcome stress. Stress can be caused due to various reasons. Do not procrastinate anything, which can be the main cause of stress.

Try to enjoy small things in life which can reduce stress in feeling. If you think you need help, do not hesitate to get it, as it is your priority to take care of yourself.

Conclusion

Switching to a healthy lifestyle can be difficult in the initial stages. When you adapt to a new lifestyle, you will feel more lovely and enjoy life.

Try to do something new. When you repeat things in the same old way, you can become more stressed. Working out and physical activity can help reduce stress, and you will feel more energised.

Try to concentrate on your positive things more than your negative feelings. Be watchful about your health, and do not ignore any of your symptoms.

Work-related stress can be reduced by improving your skills and learning new skills. Prioritise your personal and social life.

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