There is a very famous quote: Health is wealth. However, in reality, we often don’t value health until something goes wrong.
The modern lifestyle makes it even more difficult to create a balance. We have food loaded with too much salt, sugar, and other unhealthy things. They are great for the taste buds but often not that great for the health.
But, if you are determined to be better— physically and mentally, you can beat the temptation.
If you are here reading this post, chances are you have at least begun thinking about improving your health and lifestyle, and this is a great sign; this is where we all start.
But it can be challenging. In fact, it is going to be challenging. Making big shifts in life requires effort. And healthy living is one such big shift.
So, get ready for a major change in your life with these 9 things that you should know to get started with building a better life for yourself.
1. Health Will Require Effort
Yes, it will. Do you know why? Because we don’t live in the kind of environment we evolved in.
We no longer actively need to run in the wild. We do not connect with nature.
We don’t connect with others very well either because of lack of time and in some cases, unfortunately, people prioritise inanimate objects and social media over in-person human connections.
These are some of the reasons why so many lifestyle diseases exist today.
While there are some obvious benefits of not living in the wild, our life has become very sedentary. Our food is no longer all-natural, and our mind is plagued by thoughts that make us sick in the long run.
We are living, but most of us are not thriving in the way we live currently.
However, this is something that can be improved upon— by adding more natural food to our diet, being active, and making other health-promoting changes in our lifestyle.
Now, I know it’s easier said than done because we are surrounded by things that promote unhealthy behaviours. Therefore, it will require some effort from your side to go against the conditioning that we all grew up with.
But, it can be done.
2. It’s A Gradual Process
As mentioned in the above section, health will require effort, and anything that requires effort brings about change over time.
Why?
Because change is difficult to make. And so, don’t expect a drastic change overnight.
Habits are not just habits. Long-term habits are neural connections that are formed in the brain that enforces a certain behaviour automatically. The brain creates more solid neural circuits/connections for the things/habits we perform each day to save energy.
This is true for all of our actions— good, bad and mundane.
That is why it’s difficult to break habits because it’s not just bad behaviour you are working against or that you are lazy. You literally go against your brain when you try to break a bad habit.
And that’s why change is a slow process. You will find it difficult to quit your old unhealthy eating habits or to get started with exercise.
Over time things become easier because new neural connections will form that will reinforce healthy habits and so good habits will eventually become second nature.
But the initial days of change are challenging for all.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO MAKE THINGS EASIER?
Always start with small changes.
You can start by altering one bad habit at a time. For example, you can start by reducing the amount of alcohol you consume or adding fruit to your diet every day.
You don’t need to wake up tomorrow at 5 AM, go for a run, come back, do the meditation and prepare a complicated breakfast.
You should take one step at a time— this will ensure long-term compliance with your healthy living plan.
Healthy living doesn’t have to be boring, tasteless, or too hard on the body.
You don’t need to go to the gym; you only need to make your daily routine more active. If walking and sightseeing are your thing— that’s awesome– you can do just that.
Also, you don’t need to eat only boiled foods. I once saw a post that said healthy foods sautéed in oil are bad for health. Claims like these are incorrect, as your body does need healthy fats too.
There is a difference between fried junk food and sautéed food at home. They are not the same just because both have oil content in them.
There are more than one way to keep your food healthy. Try out different things and find out what suits you the best. If you like boiled food, that’s great. But if not, then that’s okay too.
Eat what you like, do workouts that you enjoy, and make one small change at a time— only this will stick for a long time.
3. Diet And Exercise Are Important
I know you must be tired of hearing this in practically every health-related article, but that’s just how important these two factors are.
You may be tired of hearing this but it wouldn’t change the fact that your body needs them and there is no alternative to a good diet and exercise.
There is no shortcut or hack to skip these two. None.
Our body has evolved to derive nutrition and other health benefits from food and physical activity. They are what build our body and are the two very basic building blocks of health.
EXERCISE
The recommended amount of workouts you should get per week is a minimum of:
- 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic workouts (like brisk walking) per week with 2 days of strength training per week. Or,
- 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic workouts per week with 2 days of strength training per week. Or,
- You can do a mix of vigorous and moderate-intensity workouts with 2 days of strength training per week.
- As per studies, 30-60 minutes of strength training per week is enough and is beneficial in preventing various diseases like diabetes and cancer.
The goal is to get all the major muscles— legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms— worked out.
You can spread this 150 minutes over a week. For example, you can do 30 minutes of workout for 5 days a week and take 2 days rest. Similarly, you can spread out the 75 minutes of vigorous workouts throughout the week and do 15 minutes of vigorous workouts for 5 days a week. Rest is important because you must allow your body to repair itself as well.
Now, this is the minimum amount of workout you are recommended to do. However, you can do more if your body, time and physical health allow you to. The more you do (without unnecessarily straining your body) the more health benefits you will experience.
Cardio workouts will improve your heart’s health and prolong your life, and a little bit of strength training (even with your body weight) will make you feel stronger, prolong your life, and improve balance.
Now, if your job requires you to be physically very active—- where you are walking and standing a lot, or if you work at a place where a lot of muscle use is required— it is still recommended to perform some sort of workout because our goal is to move all the major muscle groups of our body.
You can read more about it on this dedicated post talking about how much exercise an adult needs, why both cardio and strength training are important, and some other additional things to keep in mind. Find the article here: How Much And What Exercises You Should Do To Boost Your Health?
NUTRITION
In addition to workouts, make sure you are eating well— preferably homemade nutritious food.
When you add a lot of natural food ingredients in your diet, you won’t have to worry about not getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
However, you should keep in mind that certain diets and health conditions may require an additional supply of nutrients either from an alternative natural source or supplements.
For example, if you are, say, vegan, you will be at a higher risk of developing certain nutritional deficiencies and therefore, you should ensure that you get vitamins and minerals from different sources.
Similarly, if you are post-menopausal, make sure you get a lot of calcium, as you will be at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis.
Please remember, carbohydrates, proteins and fats— are ESSENTIAL for our body.
Focus on being a balanced eater.
The following image indicates how many calories should come from each macronutrient per day.
Find out more about healthy eating in this dedicated article. 11 Tips For Healthy Eating And Weight Loss The Right Way
4. Diet And Exercise Are Not The ONLY Important Thing
Turmeric won’t prevent cancer, and brain-protective teas won’t prevent Alzheimer’s—- if your overall lifestyle is unhealthy.
If you consume 3 cups of green tea during day time and then binge on alcohol at night, hoping that the green tea will do its magic— well, it won’t.
Healthy food indeed helps prevent many health issues, but they act slowly, and their effect builds over time.
On the other hand, harmful habits, like substance abuse and other behavioural habits like sleep deprivation, are capable of causing a lot of damage in a very short period.
Many factors can affect our overall health, like:
- Environment.
- Education/ awareness and financial status.
- Social support.
- Genetic inheritance.
- Individual behaviour.
- Access and use of the available health services, etc.
Out of these, for the sake of this discussion, I’d like to pull your attention to individual behaviour for this section.
Answer these questions: are you sleeping enough? How stressed do you feel? Do you smoke? Do you drink a little bit too much? Are you leading a very sedentary life? Do you have a habit of overthinking? Do you stress eat?
You must analyse your lifestyle and figure out what changes you can make to live your best possible life.
Making improvements in your sleeping habits and stress management are a great place to start. Both sleep deprivation and being stressed all the time can contribute to many health issues over time.
HIGH-RISK OR CARRIER STATE
If you have any diseases that run in your family or if you are a carrier of any disease or mutations, please make sure you go for regular follow-ups and do the required screenings as advised by your doctor. Doing this will ensure early diagnosis, early treatment and therefore better health outcomes. Speak to your doctor about all your concerns. Find out the risk factors and measures that may help prevent the disease from manifesting— if possible.
EXISTING HEALTH ISSUES
Similarly, if you have any existing illnesses, get the appropriate treatment to minimise the potential complications that can arise. If you suffer from any health issues, speak to your physician regarding any changes you need to make in your lifestyle and the kind of workouts appropriate for you with the existing health conditions.
Also, there are also certain age-related health issues, like diabetes, hypertension, enlarged prostate, heart diseases, etc– which can be kept an eye on with regular medical exams.
We should aim to do our best in whatever situation we are in right now.
All you have is now to make the change, and we all can do something to improve our health at any stage of our life.
5. Understand The Power Of Socialising
Socialising has many proven health benefits— both mental and physical.
Studies have shown that people with better social ties live longer and are healthier.
The overall death rates in people with poor social ties are two times higher than in people with better social connections— with or without any health conditions.
In fact, lower involvement in social relationships is associated with a higher risk of development and progression of various heart diseases, cancer, recovery from cancer, and delayed wound healing.
Additionally, people with better social ties are more likely to adopt behaviours that support health, like eating a healthy diet, exercising, better compliance with the treatment, etc.
But it’s also true that relationships are often a major cause of stress for many people.
Therefore, it’s important to socialise with the right, reliable people. If there are any issues with the loved ones, attempts should be made to establish peace in whatever way possible to avoid unnecessary long term stress.
6. There Are No Quick Fixes
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. What gives you quick results, is probably not good for you in the long run.
Anyone promising you 10 kgs (~22 pounds) of weight loss in 10 days, don’t trust them.
This also goes for claims like a 3-day cleanse for detoxification— which you actually don’t need. It’s mostly not harmful, but doesn’t do anything special either.
Why?
You can for sure lose weight by not eating enough food each day. But doing that will damage your metabolism. As a result, you will eventually stop losing weight even with low-calorie intake, and when you will start eating normally again, you will gain your weight back very quickly in the next few months.
Similarly, a 3-day juice cleanse will not ensure good kidney or any other organ’s health in the long run.
Firstly, you don’t need a special drink to cleanse your body. Our body has its own natural self-cleansing mechanisms. All our body needs is plain water to cleanse itself. That’s why it’s recommended to drink a good amount of water each day.
Normally, our body never “stores” toxicity in it which needs to be cleansed manually. The only time waste or unhealthy metabolites accumulates in our body is when there is some organ failure. And when an organ fails, you need immediate medical attention. No amount of juice cleanse can save your life in that case.
In fact, people with any kind of organ failure should never attempt such cleanses, as that can overload your system with water and worsen your health, and even cause mortality.
Secondly, the key is to drink healthy amounts of water EVERY DAY. Doing a cleanse for 3 days and then going back to your normal unhealthy ways will not ensure good health.
Additionally, these juices mostly contain a lot of antioxidants which are labelled as the cleanser and the protector. But the thing is, you can get antioxidants naturally from your diet. All you have to do is eat a lot of green and bright-coloured fruits and vegetables. Tea and coffee are loaded with antioxidants too. So, there is no need to buy things that are basically not doing anything special.
These are just a couple of claims that you can commonly see on the internet.
So, the point is— good health is a long-term game, and your body is a wonderfully designed natural machine. All it needs is a healthy diet, a lot of water, and regular workouts. Rest it will manage on its own, in normal states.
Always go for slow, long-term management. This will allow your body to adapt to the new change in a healthy way.
If anyone is promising a short-term plan for anything, it’s either not going to work or is not a healthy way to achieve what you are hoping to achieve.
7. Everything Does Not Work For Everyone.
Everybody is different. Something that may work for me, may not work for you. For example, one method of therapy may work well on one person but fail miserably on the other. Similarly, all kinds of diets, workouts and practices may not work for you.
You want to calm down, but meditation doesn’t work for you? It’s okay. Try journaling instead.
You want to eat better, but mindful eating is not working for you? It’s okay. Focus more on trying on different recipes instead, or scheduling what you will prepare each day of the week.
There is no need to feel bad about taking time to find what works for you.
The goal should be to try new things and see what works for you the best.
Also, as mentioned earlier, change requires time.
So, you need to be a little patient before declaring something as not working for you. Additionally, you can always revisit the idea after taking a break from it.
8. Make Sure You Are Getting Your Health-Related Advice From A Credible Source
Do not take health advice from someone:
- Who doesn’t have a relevant qualification, or
- Who doesn’t have a living experience of what they are talking about.
Well, the reason is self-explanatory. You don’t want to make major decisions related to your health and body based on something you read on the internet, which was written by someone who has no idea what they’re talking about.
A health professional will talk from both knowledge and experience about the issues in their respective fields. So, when you are looking for information on the internet, make sure you are reading articles which are either written by someone who is a health professional (doctor, nurse, nutritionist, psychologist, physiotherapist, etc.), reviewed by a health professional, or is an interview of a health professional.
Similarly, people who have a living experience of something are a great source of information too, because they know what they are talking about from personal experience. They know the drill. They know about that specific health issue very well from experience.
If you are trying to lose weight and looking up on a website where the writer has never undergone weight loss themselves, how do you expect them to understand your issues? Should they be telling you what exercises you should do and why, and what issues you might face? Or what kind of food you should be eating to support healthy weight loss?
The articles you read online are for information purposes only. If you are planning for a major lifestyle change, it’s recommended that you consult a health professional in-person before making any significant changes in your diet or exercise.
Please be careful about where you are taking information from, especially if you have an existing health issue, if you are pregnant or lactating, or if you are seeking information for your child.
This goes for everything on the internet— health, law, technology, education— you name it. Whenever you take information from the internet, please make sure it is coming from someone credible— from experience or qualification.
9. Stop Trying Too Hard; Make The Process Fun
Why? For the simple reason that non-fun things are hard to stick to for a long time, and achieving good health is not a sprint but a marathon.
You should always follow your instincts and your preferences if you are building a healthy lifestyle.
Ask a friend to join you and reward yourself when you hit your short term goals. Make it fun— whatever fun means to you.
Don’t think of how much you hate the workout. Change your perception. Think about the benefits it will give you. It may take a while to get used to your new routine, but if you make things fun, the whole process will be much easier.
Keep it simple because practicality is more important for the long-term maintenance of healthy habits.
Also, you don’t have to check your weight every day or count your calories. You only have to take small steps each day that are not too hard on your body. Results will be inevitable.
The bottomline is, do the exercises you enjoy in a setting you prefer. And, eat the food that you like, which is easily available to you, is budget-friendly and nutritious.
You don’t have to do what someone else is doing or eating. But you must do what you like doing.
When you enjoy what you are doing, you naturally feel motivated to do it regularly.
So, What You Should Remember About Healthy Living?
When you decide to start improving your health you should remember diet and exercise are important but there are other aspects which affect our health too.
It’s going to be a slow, gradual process, and therefore patience is one attribute that you need to develop. Be careful about what information you accept and make sure you try out different things and make healthy living fun.
Remember, your efforts will have a positive ripple effect in other aspects of your life as well.
Reference
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physcial Activity, Adutls. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefits of Physcial Activity. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm
- Milly Ryan-Harshman and Walid Aldoori (2006). New dietary reference intakes for macronutrients and fibre. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1479724/
- Debra Umberson and Jennifer Karas Montez (2011). Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/
— Featured image: Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash
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