Adopting a Healthier Lifestyle

                                                                  

I feel as though the term “healthy lifestyle” is used so often that it’s really losing its true meaning.    

To many a healthy lifestyle means not eating fast food and only drinking water. To some it means quitting smoking or not drinking alcohol. To others, it means taking a walk after dinner or riding a bike on the weekends.These are all great choices. But while each is a healthy living "component", it takes more than 1 or 2 good lifestyle choices to continue a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy life means you’re making the best choices when it comes to exercise; water intake, nutrition, spirituality, sleep and stress management.       

Three healthy living components—water intake, sleep and stress management—are easily overlooked. Here’s why they’re important!

Drink plenty of water

The human body is made up of about 60% water. Making sure you receive your daily water intake is vital-It’s so important that humans don't go without water—it’s essential for life. Drinking plenty of water supports total health, including digestive health; skin care, heart health, kidneys, weight maintenance and nearly every function in the human body. The majority of medical institutions recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. I suggest having a bottle of water with you everywhere you go—the grocery store, the car, your desk at work, your nightstand, the gym etc.. If you struggle to drink enough water, consider adding fresh citrus or berries to your water or drinking naturally decaffeinated herbal tea. If you are worried about PH levels in you water-Alkaline water would be your best option. Which can be found at your local Whole Foods.  

                                      

Get enough sleep

Sleep is truly under rated. Sleep usually takes a back seat to your obligations to your career, studying for school, your social life and numerous life obligations. Sleep is just as important as eating healthy and exercising. The benefits of sleep extend to memory, learning, metabolism, weight, mood, heart health and immune function. Yet, even with all of the positive effects of a good night’s sleep, many people still don’t get enough including myself. Just seems like there are not enough hours in the day. Most sleep institutions recommend around eight hours of sleep per night. But that number varies, as a person’s baseline sleep need might be slightly less or substantially more. People under high stress may need as much as 10 hours of sleep or more each night. To determine your right amount of sleep for your body, start with eight hours and add 15 minutes a night until you awake feeling rested and refreshed. If you’ve been getting substantially less than eight, go to bed 15 minutes earlier each evening until you hit the eight-hour mark, and keep adding until you wake up feeling well rested. 

                                                 

Manage your stress

Sometimes we just can’t avoid stress in our lives, but we can manage it. Adequately managing stress supports total wellness, healthy heart, lungs, digestive system, teeth and liver. Plus, well-managed stress helps support mental health, healthy blood pressure levels and immunity.To help manage stress, I recommend doing calming, centering activities like yoga or meditation. If you don’t have time for those activities, breathing deeply can help. Slowly breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, focusing on your breath. Ten minutes a day is optimal, but as little as 10 breaths can have positive effects. If you’re making healthy choices every day, don’t discount the incredible impact they’re having on your body. But also look for other ways to work the components of a healthy lifestyle into your own life. A nutritious diet, regular exercise, plenty of water, enough sleep and rest, and stress management are all important components to living a long, vital life.