A healthy lifestyle seeking optimal wellness encompasses actions, attitudes, and built-in habits with the goal of a better, healthier future that is free of illness and full of vitality. Epigenetics could be affected by exercising with friends, eating local pesticide-free food, taking vitamin supplements, family dinners, and seeking your preferred spirituality.
Testing your Own Level of Wellness
If you wake up tired, groggy, wanting to press that snooze button a million times, and absolutely not wanting to face your day, you may need a wellness overhaul.
First and foremost, rule out any medical conditions that could cause fatigue like anemia or sleep apnea. A simple yearly exam with your primary care physician or nurse practitioner would do the trick
Diet & Nutrition
Next, take a look at the foods you are eating on a consistent basis. Do you buy a high percentage of your food already prepared? You are consuming way too much sugar, salt, and preservatives. Even the so-called “healthy” versions of canned soup, stew, and chili all have too much sodium and sugar. The majority of your food should be cooked from scratch.
If that sounds too daunting, do some research in your spare time on Crockpot cooking, slow cooking, and cooking several meals at one time to be eaten throughout your week. Remember take it one step at a time. Consistent actions, although small, are your key to success in improving the way you eat.
If you want a healthy diet but do not know where to start looking, just remember most popular diets today can be summed up in the following way:
1. Eat less saturated fat
2. Eat more greens
3. Eat more omega-3 fatty acids
4. Exercise more and burn more calories
Variations of amounts, sources of food, and kinds of foods exist among the different techniques, but all tend to agree with these 4 rules for the most part. No need to buy any program, DVD, or book. Just start eating healthier—easier said than done of course. Small changes often make the difference. Change the kind of oil you buy, a good organic olive oil or macadamia nut oil is a good place to start. Read the labels, buy food that is made without preservatives or additives and limited in fat, sugar and salt.
Get Moving
Now look at your level of physical activity. Our bodies were not created to sit in an office cubby all day staring at some screen with no contact with the sun and no movement in our bodies. If this is you, then make it a goal to walk 5 minutes a day outside. Even a consummate couch potato cannot find an excuse to avoid this goal. That is all you need to do.
Once that becomes a habit, you can bet you will want to walk longer and you will look forward to your daily walk. There are so many health benefits to walking—it’s amazing!
If you walk just 30 minutes a day and add a day or two of strength training per week, you will accomplish 95% of the benefits that any exercise program would give you. Running a marathon or becoming an Olympic gymnast is overkill and not necessary to achieve optimal health.
So calm your mind about the lack of exercise and all the bad food you are eating in your life. Sometimes just thinking about all the things we should be doing are a lot more stressful than actually doing them. So after reading this, go for a 5 minute walk and strategize about ways you can eat healthier.