Making changes to your eating, sleeping, and activity levels is the key to improving your health. However, making big lifestyle changes can be daunting and hard to maintain. Defining your goals for achieving a healthier lifestyle and breaking them down into smaller, more achievable tasks is the easiest way to accomplish these goals. Here are a number of small steps that you can take to live the healthy life you have always wanted to.
1. Drink a Glass of Water With Each Meal. Drinking water is essential to health, and drinking it along with meals is an easy way to see that you drink a reasonable amount of it. Water can also help you to shed weight by filling your stomach and keeping your daily calorie count low.
2. Keep Walking. Walking is an excellent form of exercise that will have a direct benefit on your health. Start small by just walking for 30 minutes every day. If that feels a little too much, slightly shorter walks can be beneficial, too.
3. Practise Single-Tasking. Multi-tasking isn’t as time-efficient as it sounds. In fact, performing only one task at a time improves learning capacity, understanding ability, and utilization of new information.
4. Let Vegetables Fill Half of Every Plate. It’s best to choose less starchy vegetables as these contain more carbohydrates and calories than the colorful, non-starchy variety. On top of being low in calories, these vegetables are packed with nutrients.
5. Wake Up Earlier. Getting an earlier start to the day can make it much easier to get some of the things done that you struggle to find time for. It can also give you time to just relax before the business of starting your day begins.
6. Eat Before Going Shopping. Going shopping with a hungry, grumbling stomach can be disastrous for your shopping list. Shopping on an empty stomach will have you salivating at every high-calorie food you cast your eyes on. Going shopping after you’ve eaten will have you staying on track with your original meal plans and will help you to steer clear of impulse buying.
7. Start Reading. Reading is very beneficial for brain function, and reading fewer books and reading matter is even better. Doing this will allow you to spend more quality time on each book instead of making your reading list larger and making your brain have to struggle through too much information.
8. Stretch. Stretching can increase your flexibility and improve your posture and balance. It’s also one of the easiest exercises to engage in as it doesn’t require any equipment and can be practiced anywhere, even during lunch break at the office.
9. Take the Stairs. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is a great and simple way to incorporate exercise into your working day. It can even have you arriving at the office before the elevator does.
10. Shut Off Electronic Devices Before Bed. The artificial light that technological devices emit is one of the major causes of poor sleep. These devices emit the kind of light that is found during daylight hours and can cause your brain to think that it’s daytime.
11. Use a Smaller Plate. Eating from a smaller plate and bowl can lower your calorie intake. The illusion of seeing a smaller plate filled with food could have you believing that you’ve eaten much more than you have.
12. Park Your Car Further Away. Leaving your car some distance from where you’re headed will add additional exercise to your daily routine that you won’t even realize you’re getting.
13. Eat at the Dinner Table. Eating on the go has become more prevalent as the pace of modern life has sped up. However, eating while you’re doing other tasks can lessen your ability to detect that you’ve eaten. Sitting down for every meal will make you more aware of what you’re eating and of your calorie intake.
14. Spend Time in Nature. Being in a natural environment holds positive benefits for mental health. Some of the most important benefits are stress reduction, improved mood, and a sense of well-being.
15. Be Kind. Performing acts of charity and kindness is good for the recipient as well as for you. These activities produce oxytocin, which is beneficial for heart health, as well as lowering blood pressure. And the amount of good causes that could do with extra volunteers is endless.
When it comes to living a healthier life, you don’t have to commit to a complete overhaul of your lifestyle to make a change. Just add a few small alterations to your routine and stick to them. After a few months, you will not only see and feel the difference but will have greatly improved your chances of keeping ill health at bay.