Good Lifestyle Habits
Hey there, folks!! All of us would have come across the word “lifestyle” at least once in our lives. So what is this thing — lifestyle? The word “lifestyle” means the way in which a person leads his life. Your lifestyle determines your health and energy. It also influences mental stability to a great extent.
The first habit in the list is the first thing to do in the morning, right after you wake up and do your brushing. It is — “drink a glass full of water”. 60% of the human body is made up of water. There are certain fluids in your body which carry out the functions of digestion, absorption, circulation, saliva creation, nutrient transportation and body temperature maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary to drink water in order to maintain the balance of body fluids.
Drinking water also helps in reduction of calorie intake. The cause of that is the replacement of higher calorie beverages with water. Drinking a lot of water is a part of skincare as the water in your skin acts as a protective barrier to stop excess fluid loss. A good amount of water is required for proper functioning of your kidneys as the kidneys remove toxins, mainly Urea Nitrogen from your body only if fluid intake is adequate.
The next point is to “Strengthen Your Immunity”. The capability of multicellular organisms to defend against harmful microorganisms is called immunity. So, obviously, good immunity is necessary to ensure the survival of any living being. The question that remains here is — How can we humans strengthen our immunity? The most simple way to achieve that would be to get enough sleep. Adults should sleep for 7 hours or more, teenagers need 8–10 hours and younger children might need up to 14 hours. Eating more whole plant foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes also strengthens your immune system. They are storehouses of antioxidants that help in decreasing inflammation by attacking compounds called free radicals. Added sugars and refined carbs are one of the main causes of overweight and obesity. Since obesity makes the body prone to sickness, limiting sugar intake to maximum 2 tablespoons per day can improve your immunity. Doing regular moderate exercise like speed walking, steady bicycling and jogging reduces inflammation and helps your immune cells to regenerate.
“Practising self-care” is another lifestyle habit that can transform you beyond your imagination. Your work life may be hectic and very time-consuming. But….my dear brothers and sisters, you must take special care to allocate some time for yourself and your health. Self-care is the magic word! It is the process of taking care of oneself through habits that support health and handling of illness. The types of self-care practices vary from person-to-person. You yourself have to find out what works best for you! Self-care should be done mentally, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Physical self-care includes how good your diet is, if your sleep-time is sufficient, how much exercise you are involved in and many other things. Socialization is necessary for your well-being. You can create and sustain good relationships by putting time and energy into it. Do practise mental self-care by doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles. Also, self-love and acceptance strengthens your conscience.
Research has proved that including spirituality in your lifestyle makes you a healthier person. Spiritual self-care need not necessarily mean following a specific religion. It can mean focusing your attention on something that gives a meaning to your life or connects you to your surroundings. Emotional self-care is the development of coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions.
In our busy lifestyle, many a times we would have faced pressure and sadness of not being able to do certain tasks within a designated time frame. This problem can be solved by the habit of “Making a schedule”. Having a schedule makes all the tasks organized, which in turn, makes it easier for you to carry them out. Putting your activities into a schedule reduces stress as you will have a clear picture of your working order. Schedules also improve your productivity to a great extent.
Ok people, let’s discuss how to make an effective schedule.
Identify the useless activities that are wasting your time and stop doing them. This change can be brought about by using a time tracking tool like Toggl. Everyday, before going to bed, use this tool to see where you have spent your time. Make necessary changes in your action on the next day to make it more productive. The next step is to fix your priorities. Make a list of the tasks that are to be done in an emergency and have to be completed by the end of the day without compromise. Such tasks have a higher priority than the rest. So, make sure that you complete them, even if it requires you to leave out other tasks. Another thing that is absolutely important is that you must include breaks and recreation time in your schedule. Remember….if you don’t have the time to relax and enjoy, your tight-packed schedule will put stress on you.
These are the lifestyle habits that I would suggest you to incorporate into your daily lives. Do take your time in practising these habits. Please, please do not be demotivated if it doesn’t fit into your day-to-day activities immediately. Recall the proverb “Slow and steady wins the race”. When you have practised these habits for a while, you can notice changes in your health and thought process. Good lifestyle habits give long-lasting benefits to the practitioner. I conclude this article by wishing you all success in your future endeavours!
