Physical Health

​Living a Healthy Lifestyle

Living a healthy lifestyle is essential for maintaining physical well-being.  Adhering to such a lifestyle doesn't require immediate and drastic change from life-long habitual and unhealthy behaviors.  Instead, it involves making incremental, consistent, conscious choices that support overall wellness.  A few of these choices include eating a healthy and balanced diet, getting regular physical exercise, ensuring that you are getting enough regenerative sleep, avoiding harmful habits, and managing stress. Each of these is discussed in more detail below:

1.  Healthy and Balanced Diet

Obviously, nutrition plays a key  role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Eating a well-balanced diet rich in whole foods, preferably organic, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats provides all of the essential nutrients for proper bodily function. It means avoiding heavy or ultra processed foods and those grown with heavy use of pesticides, or processed with preservative additives to increase shelf life, or those made with other additives like excessive amounts of sugars or salt, or certain artificial food additives and unhealthy fats.

 
In general, that means staying away from packaged foods located in the interior isles of most grocery stores and generally shopping instead in the outer perimeter isles of these stores.  It means avoiding buying foods made with addictive, highly processed or refined and unhealthy ingredients like seed oils, excessive additives like sugars, salts or flavorings like msg. It means avoiding foods sold in man-made packaging or foods sold with a bar code printed on their container. Instead buy unrefined or minimally refined products and ingredients; especially those without addictive or harmful additives; and those that do not have most of the nutrients stripped out of them during the growing process (typically from factory farms with soil nutrient defficiences or those not following appropriate soil conservation measures) or by manufacturing process that strip nutrients from the raw food during the refining process.

 
Home cooking is another consideration for insuring healthy eating. It is not only easier on the budget, but it also allows complete control over the ingredients used in preparing meals as well as the handling, processing, cooking and storage of the ingredients used. Home cooking also helps with portion control (many of us tend to over-eat) and, usually results in healthier food and meal choices.

 
Following these guidelines alone over time will help to maintain or improve your health and reduce the risk of many chronic diseases such as arthritis, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, certain cancers and heart disease. Many of these chronic diseases take years to develop before symptoms become obvious and you may not realize them until  damage has already been done.  Often by the time you begin noticing, it has already become much more difficult to reverse a condition. However, even in these cases, the body is remarkable in its ability for healing if given the proper healing circumstances and support.

 
Aside from nutritious foods, it is also important to drink plenty of water or other appropriate liquids to help support proper hydration, digestion, circulation, and even energy levels that your body needs for efficient and healthy functioning. Look at labels of these liquids to avoid those with excessive additives like sugars, salts or artificial sweetners though. 

2. Regular Exercise

Physical activity is crucial for maintaining a healthy body and mind.  Regular exercise, such as walking, jogging, dancing, cycling, swimming, yoga, or strength training, all help in improving cardiovascular health, strengthen muscles, enhance flexibility, and even in improve mental health. A common saying in physical therapy circles is “motion is lotion” and is certainly an appropriate dictum to follow.

 
Nature is extremely efficient in maintaining all of the  body’s systems. The old cliche “use it or lose it” is certainly appropriate here.  It doesn’t even matter how long one has been inactive before deciding to start an exercise regimen back to better health. Consistent physical activity will certainly help to regenerate muscle systems that may have atrophied through years of underutilization.  However, for people who have been inactive, have chronic conditions, are elderly, or have other health issues, it is strongly advised that consultation with a physician or other licensed health care provider be done before starting such a routine.

Recommended guidelines for adults is at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity daily coupled with strength training 2-3 times a week.  Regular incorporation of movement into daily routines, such as parking some distance away from store entrances to facilitate walking, taking the stairs whenever practical, stretching and, for those with desk jobs, getting up and walking around frequently, all are easy to do and support long-term health benefits.

3. Adequate Sleep

Sleep is very important to overall physical health.  Quality sleep rejuvenates both the body and the mind. Adults should target 7–9 hours nightly to improve cognitive function, foster cellular regeneration and repair, improve immune response, and even enhance emotional resilience. It is important to maintain a regular sleep schedule by going to bed by following the same schedule every evening.  It is also apporpriate to avoid distractions before sleep such as limiting display screen viewing time (phones, computers, TVs, etc.) before bed, avoiding stimulants (like caffeine laden drinks) or even avoiding an exercise routine within a few hours of sleep to create a restful environment that will promote falling asleep easily and will also enhance sleep quality.

4. Avoid Harmful Habits

It is important to avoid harmful habits like smoking, limit alcohol consumption, and prevent toxic substances including drugs from exposure or being ingested into the body. These substances can lead to many severe health issues, including respiratory diseases, liver damage, heart disease, and addictions. Instead, it is much better to substitute harmful habits with healthy and beneficial activities, such as engaging in fitness, sports  or creative pursuits to enhance health and well-being.

5. Stress Management

Experiencing chronic stress also impacts physical health. It negatively impacts overall health, increasing the risk of anxiety, depression, and many physical ailments.  Practicing mindfulness, meditation, yoga or deep breathing promotes physical and mental resilience. So does engaging in creative activities, engaging in hobbies, spending time outdoors, and maintaining social connections to foster emotional well-being are all important way to reduce stress.

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Getting Started

 

Starting a healthy lifestyle can feel both physically difficult and overwhelming, especially if you are addicted to something like manufactured and processed foods or drugs that are designed to do that on purpose.  Breaking healthy choices down into small and manageable steps can improve your chances for success.  Old habits and addictions die hard and it takes being mindful and introspective to identify them and having a willingness to change them. But, "where there is a will, there is a way" and overcoming them is achievable.  It doesn’t have to be done alone; it also helps if one has (or joins) a support group to provide encouragement and help during the transition to a healthy lifestyle as well as for ongoing support.