What we eat and do greatly impacts our health and lifestyle, so if you want to live your best, then eating and living right is definitely a must. But despite knowing this, most people don’t stick to a healthy lifestyle which leads to long-term physical and mental health issues down the line.
A common excuse for not living a healthy lifestyle is affordability, but this is totally incorrect. Despite your financial restrictions, as long as you adhere to a couple of fundamental basics of a healthy lifestyle, taking care of yourself isn’t that difficult at all.
Check out the four preventative health habits below that you should live by for a long and fulfilling life.
1. Healthy Diet
Your diet is the most crucial factor in your health. As the old saying goes, “you are what you eat.” If your diet consists of fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, and fish, then your body will get all the nutrients it needs to maintain it properly.
On the other hand, if your diet consists mostly of fast food, junk food, and soft drinks, then your health will suffer. Maintaining a healthy diet is not always possible due to accessibility and affordability.
Affordability isn’t as much of a problem as you might think; while meat and fish might be costly, vegetables, eggs, milk, and fruits are affordable even in this trying economy. As long as you’re willing to make the effort to cook healthy food and minimize junk food, having a healthy diet is easy.
2. Physical Activity
The human body has evolved over thousands of years based on movement, so if your lifestyle doesn’t include enough physical activity, your health will definitely suffer.
41.9 percent of adults are considered obese in the US and a little less than half the population is not only unhealthy but also don’t engage in enough physical activity.
Whether it’s hitting the gym, doing yoga, or simply running, keeping your body physically active reduces the risk of major illnesses like heart disease, kidney failure, diabetes, and more.
Even if you have a good metabolism and don’t have to do physical activities to stay in shape, including some form of exercise in your routine is a good idea.
3. Eye Health
Thanks to an abundance of technology, our eyes are more stressed than at any other time in human history. For most of the day, most people have to stare at monitors, screens, books, signs, etc., whether for work, study, or entertainment.
All these activities leave your eyes constantly stressed and prone to eyesight problems like nearsightedness. Maintaining a healthy diet plays a big role in preventing eye problems despite stress and the strain that comes with it on vision.
Eating certain foods, like carrots, milk, fish, etc., can boost your eyesight and prevent eye degeneration. So make sure to include them in your diet.
If you’re not already wearing glasses – to make sure you’re not suffering from eyesight problems – set an appointment with an eye doctor at least once a year.
If diagnosed with an eye condition, you might need to consider wearing glasses and that’s when quality matters in the interest of health.
Browse a large range of eyewear and take advantage of the convenience of purchasing glasses online rather than from a local business, which may be limited in stock and options – especially when you’re looking for a certain brand or designer and want a balance of style to the practicality and health benefits to wearing specs.
4. Sleep Well
Don’t neglect your sleep. To function properly the human body requires proper rest through sleeping. If your body isn’t getting enough sleep, you’ll start feeling tired, cranky, and physically among a number of other things.
That’s why ensuring your body gets 6-8 hours of proper sleep every day should be one of your top priorities. Usually, sleep deprivation doesn’t affect the human body till it reaches the mid-twenties, which is why young people usually have bad sleeping schedules.
But even if the body can take it, not maintaining a proper sleeping schedule in your youth can pave the road to health issues and dependence on sleeping pills down the line. In your body’s best interest, lay down a fixed sleeping schedule for going to bed and waking up.
Understand your smartphone is your sleep’s biggest enemy, so make sure to turn off your device before hitting the bed, preferably an hour beforehand.
Live A Healthier Lifestyle
Living a healthy lifestyle is not easy when the temptation to live an unhealthy one runs quite strong in most people. If you opt for bad habits and focus on instant gratification, you’ll find yourself facing a lot of problems once your youth is over. So try to incorporate good habits and live a healthy lifestyle for a long and happy life.