While there are many benefits to a healthy lifestyle, what’s deemed healthy by one person may not be so by another. Many things determine a ‘healthy’ way of living but whatever it is that works for you will most likely increase your positivity and at the same time the more positive you are, the more healthy you will be, so it’s a win-win situation.
Psychological studies have shown that people recover from illnesses such as flu and colds faster and are less symptomatic if they have a positive thought process as opposed to a negative one.
To begin with, one of the easiest and obvious places to start is to look at your diet. A healthy diet will include a variety of fruits and vegetables of many colors, whole grains and starches, good fats, and lean proteins. Eating healthily also means avoiding foods with high amounts of added salt and sugar.
The benefits of this are endless; it’s not just weight loss itself which can help you to look and feel your best, losing weight can help to reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes
There is increasing evidence to show that a healthy diet also improves your mood, while a menu with a high glycemic load which includes many refined carbohydrates, such as those found in soft drinks, cakes, white bread, and biscuits may cause increased symptoms of depression and fatigue.
A healthy lifestyle also includes getting a good night’s sleep, and again you can do this by reducing the consumption of alcohol and caffeine in your diet. There are easy swaps you can make to your lifestyle to make it ‘healthier’ if you are just getting started and these can help toward a positive change overall.
For example, swapping soft drinks for water and herbal tea, having a meat-free day at least once a week, swapping cow’s milk for plant-based milk, avoiding processed meats and eating more lean protein, which can be found in eggs, tofu, fish, and nuts. Likewise, there’s the option of taking the stairs rather than the lift, walking more, going to sleep earlier, reading more and watching TV less, limiting screen time before bed, switching from smoking cigarettes and nicotine or tobacco to 100% vg vape juice.
Little changes can make all the difference, and as mentioned earlier, it’s not just the positive physical benefits but the mental ones too. Having a positive attitude can keep you healthy, but if you’re finding it difficult to feel positive, then positive physical changes will help to do that for you.
If all you do is start with one change and then slowly incorporate more, you will see a difference and feel able to do more rather than trying to do everything at once and remember that ‘healthy’ doesn’t have to mean boring and you have to do what’s right for you. People that have an obsession with food or running aren’t necessarily healthy, it’s all about balance and finding what out what works for you.
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