Stay healthy with these easy changes to your everyday life

Staying healthy is easy if you incorporate hearty foods and simple exercise into your daily routine.

If you want to live a long and enjoyable life, there are changes you can make every day to your lifestyle, routine and diet to help you to stay healthy for longer. A healthy lifestyle involves being aware of your activities all day long. Here are some easy little changes that you could apply to your everyday life:

Drink water morning and night

The body is 70% water and needs a decent amount to keep the body hydrated and organs flushed to work optimally. Drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning, is the best way to start the day, replacing fluids lost during sleep. If you don’t love the taste of water, try a glass with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Drink tea

Tea is packed with antioxidants and polyphenols which are great to keep your immune system healthy and also are good for the skin, keeping you looking younger. Replace sugary soft drinks with tea.1

Stretch

Stretching warms the muscles up and gets blood flowing to all parts of the body, as well as releasing tensions that build up in the joints and tendons. A great way to start the day can be to do some yoga to warm up the body ready for the day. Getting the blood to rush to your head is not only great for circulation but can also improve your appearance, as the exercise gives the face a healthy glow and improves circulation. If you work in an office, sitting at a computer screen for 8 hours will leave your body feeling stiff and muscles tight. Take some time every few hours to stretch out the neck, arms and legs and try to get outside even just for 10 minutes at lunch time.

Eat breakfast

Breakfast is essential for the body as it breaks the 8 hours of fasting while we are asleep. When you wake up in the morning, depending on the time you ate dinner, you may have gone without food for 12 hours, leaving your glycogen levels low. Glucose is the body’s energy source and is absorbed by the body from the food and carbohydrates that we eat. Glucose is converted to glycogen in the muscles and is released slowly to keep blood sugar levels stable throughout the night. Keep your morning meal interesting and have a variety of different foods, to keep you interested in breakfast.

Get enough omega-3 fats and antioxidants

Foods rich in these nutrients keep your body immune to disease and your skin looking fabulous. To consume omega 3s through food, eat fish, legumes and nuts. For antioxidants eat berries, drink tea and don’t underestimate the power of mushrooms which are also a rich source of antioxidants.

Pack your own lunch

It’s easy to grab a sandwich (or burger) from the local shop or take away. But, this is also the easiest way to consume more fat and calories at lunch time than is needed by the body. If you pack your own salad or sandwich you can ensure what ingredients have been used and you can plan your meals for the week, ensuring you get all the nutrients you need, and none of the additives you don’t. Also you can save a lot of money by taking a packed lunch to the office. Check out Eating Well’s cheap healthy lunch ideas for work.

Keep clean

An easy way to feel good about yourself is to scrub down! No-one enjoys body odour nor unkempt hair and broken nails. Taking care of your personal appearance is not only great to wash away any pathogens on the skin and germs on the hands, but is also great for your self-esteem and confidence. Wash your hands frequently throughout the day.

Breath

Modern life can be stressful and busy. Quite often we are conducting a balancing act of work, relationships, social life, exercise, and finances. We can get caught up in these activities and neglect to take enough time to relax and declutter our minds. Taking some deep breaths and exhaling slowly can work wonders to relax the body and slow the mind down. Each day when you are outside, take a few minutes to practice deep breathing, it can help as well to sit and close your eyes as well.

Life can be busy, but it’s easy to be healthy by making small changes every day to live a fulfilling life. Even though work, relationships, and daily chores are important, nothing is more important than your health, so invest some of your time to ensure you are healthy and life may seem a little less stressful.