Who Wants to Live a Healthy Lifestyle?

This is an easy question. Almost everyone.

But what can make this such a hard thing for us to do these days? In the US we typically live an eventful, busy life – filled with so many activities that to remember to treat ourselves well sometimes gets lost.

Journey to Optimal Health

To be healthy we should focus on five areas:

1. Good nutrition – what we eat matters
2. Weight management – how much we eat matters
3. Fitness – to make our bodies stronger and healthier
4. Stress management – to minimize unwanted influences to impact our well-being
5. Taking the right supplements – to give our bodies the best nutrients to stay at our best

Good Nutrition

Many times our eating habits are developed based on the wrong influences – eating what is handy, cheap, easy to find, or what tastes the best. Most people know what makes up healthy nutrition. We should cut back on fast foods, junk foods, and reduce soda intake.

Instead we should eat a healthy diet of the proper balance of macro-nutrients, healthy protein, heart-healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, as well as the all important Omega 3 supplement.
Easier said than done – right?  But many times it takes just as much time, money, and effort to eat the wrong things.

Weight Management

Sixty percent of Americans are overweight. There are many causes, but we need to find the solution for what works for ourselves.

The diet cycle is tough on our systems and eventually results in ending up back where we started. This cycle can actually cause us to lose ground by ending up with lower muscle mass. Lean muscle is important because muscle equals metabolism. The greater our metabolism, the more calories our body uses and that means being able to lose weight or keep our weight where we want.

40%-50% of our diet calories should be made up of complex carbs, 25% to 30% of lean protein, and the remainder from healthy fats. Of course the exact formula for each individual can be different. And it is always recommended that a health professional – doctor or dietician – should be consulted to make sure you are on the right track.

Fitness

Exercise is important for our well-being and healthy lifestyle for multiple reasons. Working out can be an important activity in any weight management program. Stress can also be reduced from physical exercise. Cardio exercises can be very useful in making our bodies more healthy and can reduce the cause of many of the factors in making us unhealthy.

One hour a day is recommended by many professionals as the required fitness training each day. But that does not mean that you need to spend that time in the gym. Just by taking the stairs at work, walking whenever possible instead of using the car, and staying active in the back yard with the kids all count.

Stress Management

Stress takes its toll on our physical and mental health. A healthy lifestyle includes reducing stress whenever possible. You can start by recognizing the biggest stress factors in your life and minimizing them if you can. Even taking 10 minutes of breathing exercises can help out. And it is important that we all get as much sleep as we can with our busy schedules – eight hours a night can do wonders.

Taking the Right Supplements

If we are conscious about eating a healthy diet, we still may not be getting every nutrient we need to keep us in top shape. Poor foods, less desirable food sources, pollution, and even junk food do not help out.
The recommended supplements include multi-vitamins, antioxidants, calcium, fish oil for omega 3’s, and probiotics for a healthy intestinal tract. There are many sources of natural nutrition vitamin supplements. This may take some time to educate yourself on what is best for you. But the time will be a good investment. And don’t forget to check with your doctor to get their advice as well.

Once you make the decision to leave a healthier lifestyle, you will probably discover that you have more energy, feel better, and want to do more in your active life.

And it is very important to remember that even small changes make a difference.

Good luck and get started today!