Do you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle to get all the benefits for your mind and body?
Indeed in these recent years, more and more people have realized the impact of their lifestyle on their health and spirit. For example, over-consumption of food, lack of exercise, or a life based on always more consumption produces stressed, anxious, and often not-so-healthy individuals. Considering that, the rise of the healthy lifestyle comes up thanks to all its benefits for well-being. However, figuring out where to start can take a lot of work. It is also often difficult to stay motivated, facing all temptations. But do not despair. Here are some of our tips for adopting a healthy lifestyle.
In Pret-a-Train, we promote a healthier lifestyle to the people we work with. This is why it was natural for us to create a guide on being healthy. So we will then make this guide in four steps, including the nutrition part, the moving part, the environment in and around and finally, the healthier lifestyle habits.
1 / Nutrition, the central core of a healthy lifestyle
You are what you eat. Your body is your temple. Those sentences sound clishé, but this is just real. Taking care of your food is the first step to a healthier lifestyle and feeling well.
A diet based on natural products
Logically, to feel good in your body, paying attention to what you provide is essential. So, a good diet is the first key to a healthy lifestyle. First, it is vital to avoid, as much as possible, junk food and products that are too fat or too sweet. Instead, favour a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. These are much richer in benefits than you might think. Many are also “Super Foods, ” with ingredients full of vitamins and minerals that are great for your mechanism. Drinking water daily (between 2 and 3 litres) is also essential. Drinking enough rehydrates your body while helping kidneys evacuate toxins faster and boosting energy.
Regularity for your meals
Nevertheless, what you eat is not the only factor for healthy nutrition. The way you feed yourself also plays a vital role. Thus, it is necessary to respect some essential rules. First, make sure to eat breakfast. This meal will bring you the first energy gain and make you start the day well. Also, making a nice lunch in the middle of the day and dinner at the end is essential to make your body function nicely.
In the same way, eating at regular hours and at least two hours before bed is necessary to avoid compromising your sleep. Finally, if you’re hungry, don’t hesitate to have a snack, but a healthy one. We have created a complete guide if you need to know how to eat healthily.
Related –> How to eat healthy: Guide to healthy eating
In-depth knowledge of our foods
Finally, knowing the origin of our food is essential. For that, read the labels of products, and avoid those containing a lot of preservatives or added sugars. Generally, the best way to consume healthy food is to avoid processed or frozen products as much as possible. However, the best solution is still to cook by yourself. Cooking lets you know the source of products you ingest (for example, by using organic products). In the same way, you can be aware of the quantities of fats, using the ones most beneficial for health, such as olive oil.
2 / Physical activity, a tool to activate your body.
After taking care of what you ingest, the magic combo will be to move, to be active—trying to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. The goal here, then, is to move. Your body is built for that!
Exercise to feel better
Sport, or any physical activity, is often absent from our lives. Not enough time or motivation are the excuses that come up often. However, it’s essential to practice physical activity. Indeed, you’ll have a more active lifestyle which will be part of a healthy one. It will increase your desire to do many more things and be productive. This is why it’s essential to practice regular physical activity, preferably several times a week. We advise you to vary the exercises, alternating, for instance, between cardio, weight lifting, and team sport. Variation allows you not to be bored while activating more body parts. You can also choose a versatile sport for this purpose, such as swimming, running, or climbing.
Related –> Best Benefits of Sport l Health Mental Physical
Listen to the needs of your body
As for nutrition, practising physical activity is essential to a healthy lifestyle. First, hydrate yourself enough. The body cools down and drains a lot of the water by sweating and using it to supply your muscles during exercise. It’s therefore essential to bring back what he has spent. Similarly, consider eating to rebuild your stock after effort (not before or during exercise). Finally, the excess is your worst enemy. So it would help if you allowed short breaks for recovery during training (around every 30 minutes). And also enable someday, when you don’t do anything, your body can fully rest.
If you need more motivation to do exercises, why not have someone to help you, like a personal trainer? He could be a great option to get the fire started.
Find alternative ways to practice physical activity
You might need more time to practise a sport or exercise regularly, like going to the gym. It’s not an issue. There are countless opportunities to stay active without doing any sport, and you need to grab them. For instance, go for a stair climb instead of taking the elevator. Use your feet rather than taking the car or public transport. Don’t hesitate to walk for several hours, especially if the weather is nice. Finally, replace public transport with a bike to go to the office. These options are amicable, especially during the sunny season. All these tips will make you adopt a healthy lifestyle, and you will benefit from it quickly enough by moving more often.
Related –> Tips for better health with healthy habits to start
3/ Environment, a good impact on adopting a healthy lifestyle
Do you know that what you think and who you are with considerably impact you? It can play a significant role in the way you feel. That’s why considering your emotion and environment are very critical.
Emotions of our close circle on positivity
Environment, which is everything around us, drives a healthy lifestyle. First, it is made by our environment, including family and friends. Indeed, people around us act on our world’s perception by sharing their moods, for example. For this reason, being with very negative people is also toxic. This causes a vicious circle of negativity, preventing us from moving forward. To counter that, get closer to positive people and do not hesitate to start a cycle of gratitude. Positivity is one of the essential points to keep the desire to have a healthy life. Talk to yourself nicely, avoid being too harsh, and be conscious. Allowing your emotions to come out is also vital, so express them. That’s how sports can help as well to release them.
Related –> What it Means to be Healthy
Daily spaces which generate stress
The environment with which you interact each day is also essential. Indeed, it creates an atmosphere in which you live every day. For this reason, the place we live or work has to be where we feel good. Of course, if you are in a stressful environment, it is not always easy to change it, at least right now. In this case, the first step is to identify places that make you the happiest and most relaxed, such as a quiet cafe, a small town in the countryside, etc. Then you can transform and move to it to make it your daily place. Meditation, yoga, or even sophrology are good alternatives to manage stress during that time. Micro naps during the day could also help you feel better, which you can do anywhere.
We all have stress and emotions, and that’s ok. We need to find ways to evacuate and control them. Walking with a cherished one or by nature is a great thing to appease your mind. Find what suits you best and repeat it as often as possible.
The change in your living space
To be more precise, an excellent daily atmosphere begins in your immediate area. This can be your room and living space. These places are the first and last you meet during your day. That’s why they must be organized to make you comfortable. Keep a clean and tidy space. A clear place creates a clear, healthy mind. Also, remember to ventilate your room often. This refreshes your room and promotes sound sleep. Let the brightness in too. Finally, why not invest in indoor plants, which produce oxygen and improve the air you breathe?
4 / The good habits of life, the constancy for a healthy lifestyle
Implementing some pleasant habits is essential to keep fit, healthy, and feeling well. It could take time to create patterns and stick to them, but once you make them, you don’t have to think about them anymore. And getting to this last step is when you start to be an authentic healthier you.
Avoid risky behaviour
As said before, avoid excess for a healthy life. But, of course, we do not talk about small pleasures that do good when it’s in moderation. It instead includes all risky behaviours which significantly affect our health. They are all addictions, such as alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes. It’s important to evacuate all the accumulated toxins from consuming these substances. Good hydration, sports, or any other activity can fight these addictions while remaining healthy. Don’t hesitate to ask for a follow-up from a specialist or a support group to help you overcome these addictions if there is a real need. Again having a personal trainer or a therapist could be a good step, and there is no problem with being vulnerable and asking for help. We believe that asking for help is healthy and has helped many people to feel well on their path to a healthier lifestyle.
Related –> How can a personal trainer help you in life
Adopt a regular rhythm of life
We create the habits of healthy life with regularity. Being healthier involves several rules to respect. First, eating at fixed hours is essential, as mentioned in the eating part. Then, sleep is necessary to feel fit. Thus, we recommend having a nice and proper rest and sleeping 7 to 9 hours per night. Sleeping at night is essential because it is the time during the day when the body recovers and processes the information collected while fighting infections. Finally, taking some good habits is essential to be healthy, having an excellent breakfast and drinking water as soon as you wake up. A healthy morning routine will set the basis for a healthy lifestyle, so why not get one? Having an excellent relaxing time for yourself before and after you wake up can be effortless. For instance, you can read a book or do breathing or stretching exercises.
Getting energized with natural complements
However, it can be challenging to have so much energy overnight. This is especially true if you are not used to healthy lifestyle habits. Thus, it’s possible that you are feeling tired or you are often sick. Enriching your diet to achieve this goal can get you back on track and boost your energy. Indeed, in addition to the point and nutritional benefits of your new diet, you can also use dietary supplements. Nevertheless, they must be consumed in moderation and only in a secondary way. Therefore, promote natural supplements, and seek advice from your doctor or a specialist who knows your condition.
The secret to healthy eating: cooking
As I always tell my customers, to be healthy and eat healthily, you need to rediscover the desire for cooking, and above all, make the time, to do it. In today’s busy world, where having is more important than being, we get lost, develop bad habits and often neglect food and eating instead of spending time in front of the screen or doing other activities.
Healthy eating does take a bit of time. A bit of time to choose the right foods, a bit of time to cook them and make good meals. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s human nature, so it’s important to realise that eating is essential. What you put into your body is not something to be taken lightly. You have to choose good vegetables (pesticide-free if possible) and cook them. Because we know, and we decide what’s inside. Industrial food often contains acidifiers, sweeteners, pesticides, flavour correctors and other additives (the list is long). And in the long run, it’s no more natural food, and you lose vitamins and other good nutrients.
So getting back into cooking is essential for you and your family. Enjoy yourself, and start slowly if you’re not used to it. Try out different tastes. If you prefer to follow recipes, follow them. Or, if you’re the kind of person who wants to be creative like myself, then trust your intuition and your palate.
Thanks to this, you’ll be able to have a varied diet, eating a variety of good carbohydrates throughout the week, such as rye, buckwheat, bulgur, quinoa and anything else you can find. Add seasonal vegetables and the proteins you like.
To conclude healthily
Of course, there are many other ways to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Still, nutrition, sport, environment and habits are the four essential keys to starting and continuing to live healthily. These tips are achievable if you give yourself the means, so don’t give up, and stay motivated! Because this is how you can live your dreams by being at your best!
It’s always early enough to work towards being the healthiest you.
Start now.