Many factors play a role in staying healthy. There are several things that you can do from eating healthy foods, managing your stress levels, drinking plenty of water and making adjustments to your lifestyle like reducing your alcohol intake. Ensure that you eat balanced nutrition by choosing healthier foods. In case you have a problem with alcohol intake, find out more on how to quit drinking to maintain a healthy body state. Here’s what you can do about getting healthy in the New Year.
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Stay active
Stay healthy by including exercises to improve both your physical as well as mental health. Get involved in physical activities like gardening, walking or jogging. You can also dance or join a gym or sports. All these help you to stay active, maintain a healthy weight and prevent diseases like heart disease, stroke, depression, and high blood pressure. Some exercises are not only social but a lot of fun too.
Sometimes all you have to do is reduce your weight, especially if you are overweight. Too much weight leads to several health conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and even gallbladder disease. Arthritis and joint-related problems are also weight-related.
Manage your portion size
Manage how much you eat by eating from a smaller plate. If you regularly eat from larger plates there is a high chance that you might be eating more food than is expected. It’s said that a smaller plate creates an illusion that can help you feel satisfied fast. Above all, avoid substituting supplements for food if you take any and go for a good, healthy diet.
Connect with other people
Socialize with other people, meet with them and build a connection by attending events, dinner or joining a club or team. You will be able to boost your mental and physical health, reducing loneliness and be happier, productive, and healthier. But, remember that not just anyone is good for you so stick to good company to avoid unhealthy habits.
Take plenty of rest
You need to include ample rest and mostly enough sleep in your daily routine. Sleep for at least 8 hours each night and take plenty of rest whenever you can. This is because a lack of sleep can be bad for your health and lead to diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.
Include fruits in your diet
Fresh fruits are a great addition to your diet. Make it a habit to incorporate fruits such as oranges, bananas, berries, mangoes among others in your meals. Fresh fruits are the best sources of vitamin C and fiber and minerals such as potassium and folic acid. They also have low calories, sodium and fat. Better still, if you could take the fruits as a whole instead of in juice form. This is because sometimes pure juices lose nutrition especially when due to the processing, and some contain a lot of hidden sugars which aren’t healthy.
Take lots of green leafy vegetables
Vegetables, both starchy and non-starchy vegetables play a huge role in protecting your body against diseases due to the nutrients present in them which include vitamins and minerals. Include greens like spinach, broccoli, and kale, among others. Starchy vegetables are potatoes and corn and have high carbs and calorie content while non-starchy are spinach and other green leafy vegetables like broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. Vegetables are also low in calories and have high fiber content.
Avoid unhealthy fats and sugar
Accumulated fats, especially unhealthy fats like Trans fats, which are usually added to some foods like baked products and pizza to keep them fresh for longer are harmful to body parts like the heart. But, some of the healthy fats like those from dairy products, fish, whole eggs, avocado, and nuts, are a great addition to your diet. Sugar is good at making food tasty but excess sugar is not. Sugar has no nutritional value and it adds calories which can make heighten your blood sugar levels affecting your health.
Get sunlight
Sunlight is good for your health since it provides you with vitamin D. It also improves your cells functionality improving your mental and heart health. Just ensure that you stay in the sun for less time and always wear sunscreen to avoid sunburn. Apart from sunburn, the sun’s rays can also cause skin cancer.
Sometimes you just have to make a choice to make staying healthy a reality. You can keep track of your progress and your New Year goals by making a list. Write down all that you need to do to get healthy, create time and accomplish them one by one.
