In many parts of the world, citizens’ attitudes towards health are distressing, because people are reactive to health problems instead of being proactive. They look for help when health problems occur, but oftentimes, some damage has already been done by then. Fortunately, leading a healthy lifestyle does not require crazy sacrifices, and making even a few small changes in your routine can go a long way towards ensuring health for years to come. Let’s look at some changes for the better that anyone can make.
1. Analyze and improve your diet
If you feel like you aren’t eating as healthy as you should be or just want an accurate reading of your state of diet, an analysis would be beneficial. You can leave it to the professionals and sign up for something like macro nutrition coaching or get a notepad and track/analyze what you are eating yourself. Once you have the data, you can easily compare it to health experts’ recommendations and come up with a plan for what you want to change and how.
2. Pick up a new sport
Everyone knows how important it is to stay physically active, yet many people still fail to do it. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons is a lack of motivation and interest, which might be solved by trying a new sport. For example, many people with a low level of physical fitness find a new passion in powerlifting, because the sport makes them feel strong and capable, and supplies them with plenty of endorphins after a workout. But it can really be any sport that you’ve always been curious about. (1)
3. Make time for in-person interactions
Human beings are not meant to live in isolation, and spending very little time in physical contact with friends and colleagues can be very detrimental to mental health. Thus, if for example, your work is done remotely or involves very little in-person contact, you can seek more interactions through study groups, clubs, competitions, and other mediums where you can share your thoughts and feelings.
4. Say no to salt and yes to spices
Salt is an invaluable part of our daily nutrition, but we tend to have a very poor feel for how much of it we really need in our food. And so, when we add too much salt, it has an immediate negative effect on our blood pressure in the short term and our heart in the long term. So the healthy change here is to cut back on salt and embrace more spices (such as cumin and ginger) which not only make food more delicious, but have a modulating effect on mood, digestion, and even cognition.
5. Improve sleeping conditions
With millions of people all over the world consistently experiencing low quality of sleep, decisions about this process have never been more important. What we know is that the sleep environment should be as dark and disturbance-free as possible, and the sleeper himself should tone down their electronic use before bed and abstain from drinks high in caffeine or alcohol. (2)
Speaks from heart, always too passionate and driven by emotions. Spins the words with kindness & sharpness, intriguing your ever-inscrutable minds.