5 Tips to Become a Healthy Person

The lifestyle choices you choose makes a big difference when it comes to your physical and mental well-being. Lifestyle choices one makes has an impact on an individual’s overall quality of life. Here are 5 tips for maintaining good physical and mental health and to live a lifestyle that leaves you healthier and feeling happier.

Photo by Saksham Gangwar on Unsplash

In order to stay healthy, one needs to make certain lifestyle choices. These choices lay in the hands of the individual looking to make a change to live a happier and healthier life. In order for an individual to maintain the goal of living a happier and healthier lifestyle, it involves discipline. In addition, an individual’s family history, genetics, age, any medical conditions one is experiencing, can influence an individual’s health and lifestyle. It can also influence one’s likelihood of developing certain medical conditions.

There are several factors that an individual can control to maintain a happier and healthier lifestyle, such as making the change to eat healthier, working out (finding workouts that best suit your needs), workout apps, keeping a mindset to keep yourself motivated, and maintaining a workout schedule. Finding what works well for you will help you thrive and live a long, happy, healthier, and productive life.

Let’s take a dive into the five tips in becoming a healthier, happier, and more productive individual.

1. Exercising/Moving Your Body: In order for one to improve physical health, one needs to get up and get moving. Moving around helps you with your mental and physical health. When one regularly exercises, you are benefiting your health in a multitude of ways, which includes longevity, leaves you feeling more productive, benefits your mental and physical health. Exercising is free and you don’t need a gym. When I say get moving, it could be a number of things. Here are some ideas to get moving: walking for 3 miles per day, jogging, running, zumba and fitness dance, and weight training workout. What I found that I like the most is fitness dance. You can choose to do fitness dance from the comfort of your home by watching Youtube or you can join an in- person fitness dance class. When YouTube looking for fitness dance, I came across “The Fitness Marshall”, a YouTube fitness dance channel that provides free fitness 30 minute workouts, member only workout live streams, and free short videos (usually about 3 minutes long) that is paired along modern day songs, such as ET by Katy Perry and Houdini by Dua Lipa. These are free to do on your own without a gym membership.

• If you would like to sign up for a gym, I invite you to do so. Joining a gym has multiple benefits such as socializing with others who have the same goals, being around others who can help you stay motivated and disciplined, and joining classes that the gym offers. When I was in college, I used the college’s gym when I first started on my fitness journey and had the goal of living a healthier and happier lifestyle. When I joined the gym, I was around others who helped me stay motivated. In addition, I joined classes that I thought I would never join. I signed up for rowing and took a rowing class. You don’t need to sign up for a gym, however, it does come with benefits.

2. Keeping Hydrated: Keeping yourself hydrated and drinking enough water everyday is the key to for good health. Your body needs water for several functions, such as maintaining body temperature, delivering nutrients to your cells, and making sure your organs are working properly. When you don’t stay hydrated, you may start to feel sluggish, tired, have headaches or migraines, and have a hard time staying focused during the day. If you need assistance with drinking water, there are plenty of ways to get water intake. For example, Dollar Tree, Five Below, grocery stores, CVS, and Walgreens sells powder water flavor. Some of the flavors include strawberry, grape, and ice tea to name a few. You put the flavors in the water, shake, and now you have a flavored water. In addition, there is a company called Cirkul, where it is a water bottle that comes with flavors in which you can adjust how much of a taste you would like of the flavor.

3. Self Care- Managing Stress: Stress is part of everyday life. Stress can be short -lived or chronic. Stress can impact you mentally, emotionally, and physically. Scientific research has shown that stress can cause an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, and high blood pressure. Yoga, meditation, listening to ASMR, exercising, breathing exercises, socializing, and being out your creative side are some ways to help you manage your stress.

4. Getting Enough Sleep: Sleep is a necessity for every process in the body. Sleep is a time for your body to restore energy to prepare you for the next day. It is recommended to get 7 hours of sleep. Here are some tips to help you with a sleep routine and to get a good night’s sleep.

• Creating a quiet, dark, and comfortable environment by using a sleep mask, turning off lights, and making sure your bed and pillows are comfortable for you to sleep.
• -Avoid screen time before going to bed. It is recommended to avoid screen time starting at least one hour before bed time.

5. Eliminating Processed Foods and Eating More Whole Foods: Whole foods are foods that haven’t been processed as the processed foods have. Whole foods don’t contain the amount of chemicals that processed foods contain. Organic foods are considered whole foods. A store where you can purchase whole foods include Whole Foods store or you can go to your grocery store to find non processed foods. Whole foods are healthier and better for your body. Whole foods provide your body with essential nutrients and vitamins. Processed foods often contain artificial sugar, salt, trans fat, and artificial colors. Whole foods include fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, meat, plain yogurt, and whole grains ( brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, black rice). Processed foods include crackers, chips, hot dogs, microwavable frozen packaged meals, ice cream, flavored yogurts, white bread, and white rice.