Instead of waiting for the New Year to make health resolutions, why not start now? Living a healthier life requires determination and dedication, not to mention discipline – but your older self with thank you. Learning how to live a healthier life is a process because the necessary changes need to become part of your lifestyle and not just for the first two weeks of the year.
Being healthier will make you happier, alleviate your chronic pain, and help you to live a longer life.
Below are the top five ways for you to live a healthier life in 2024:
1. Stay Hydrated
As simple as it sounds, staying hydrated does wonders for your overall health and well-being.
Drinking enough water each day will help support your body physically and mentally. Water helps your body to repair damaged cells, prevents headaches and constipation, and helps to maximize physical activity.
The average person should be drinking around 8 glasses of water per day, but athletes and heavier-set people need to drink more.
2. Food is Fuel Mentality
A healthy diet should include a combination of different foods, limit foods that aren’t good for you, and provide you with the energy you need to perform your daily tasks.
The ideal relationship to have with food is to adopt the mentality of food being fuel. After all, that is precisely what food is there for. There should be no emotional attachment to food, and your mood should never dictate what you eat.
That is easier said than done, so feel free to research ways to separate your eating habits from your behavioral patterns in the new year. You’ll be so glad that you did, especially if you are trying to lose weight!
3. Annual Health Screenings
It is essential to get your annual health screenings done each year. No matter how busy your schedule is, or how well you feel at the time – the only way to treat a disease or condition before it progresses is to get an early diagnosis.
Health checks should be part of your arsenal against diseases and underlying conditions, predisposition to some of these are genetic and others are environmental.
To learn more about what annual health checks you should do, click here.
4. Exercise Once a Day
Countless studies and medical journals have proven the direct correlation between improved health outcomes and daily exercise routines.
You don’t even need to join a gym to exercise – there are countless apps and YouTube videos that teach you new and creative ways to incorporate being physically active into your daily life. Exercise improves health, helps to manage weight, reduces the risk of developing certain diseases, and strengthens muscles.
Start by walking for 20 minutes each day, gradually adding time and increasing speed until you are walking briskly for 30 minutes each day.
5. Meditate
Some of you may be scoffing at this one – but meditating has multiple health benefits that cannot be denied.
Meditation helps to ease anxieties, tension, and stress and opens your mind up to embracing the concept of inner peace. Anyone can practice meditation, and the more experienced you are, the easier it will be for you to shut off from the noise of the outside world.
Start meditating for ten minutes each day and you’ll quickly gain a new perspective on life and stressful situations.
Talk to your healthcare provider because, in a few rare cases, medication can worsen symptoms of certain health conditions.
Good luck on your journey to becoming a better you!