The demand for our time and attention especially the hard pursuit of money, fame, career success, and fulfilled marital and parenting life amongst others has left us with little or no time to take care of our health. We have not so much given healthy living the attention it deserves, we need to urgently rethink and realign our priorities considering the numerous benefits of healthy living highlighted below.
To live healthily is to involve yourself in things that contribute to your overall well-being.
Benefits of Healthy Living
- Health is wealth – in the sensible scheme of things, the health of a man is his greatest asset and the fulcrum for other aspects of life. The healthier a person is, the wealthier he is. It is a sheer waste to have money and other things while living in bad health, the bad health condition would soon erode other benefits and vice-versa.
- Improved productivity – Good health enhances productivity, the healthier you are, the more active and productive you will be.
- Mental Soundness – if you are healthy in your body, you would be mentally active, sound and creative.
- Emotional balance – sicknesses come with emotions of pain, regrets, disgust, and anxiety while good health makes one happy, and fulfilled and helps makes life enjoyable.
- Longevity – the healthier you are, the higher the chances of living long, all things being equal. Living long enables you to achieve loftier dreams, enjoy the fruit of your labour, serve your community better, serve God better and make yourself available to support your family members.
How to Live and Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
- Eat a balanced diet – a balanced diet contains the right amount of carbohydrates, protein, fats, minerals, vitamins, and essential oils and should be eaten in right proportion. It may also entail feeding more on organic foods and minimizing the consumption of processed foods which are often loaded with bad oils, high sugar and other chemicals that can cause diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart problems and others.
- Sleep and rest well – adequate sleep can be therapeutic and can help us to reset our body system. A minimum of eight hours of sleep is recommended daily.
- Exercise regularly – if you exercise well, it helps maintain an adequate flow of blood in the body system, depletes excess sugar and destroys stored fat in the body, and generally helps the organs to function effectively. One could involve in exercise that tests endurance, strength, balance and flexibility like taking a walk or running, weightlifting and sporting activities.
- Avoid dehydration – according to Wikipedia, 65% of body mass is made up of water, therefore, it is essential to ensure the body is always fluid by drinking adequate amounts of water. Harvard Health recommends nine to thirteen cups of water per day depending on the age. A good test of the amount of water in the body is sometimes the colour of your urine. The yellowish your urine, the lesser the water in the body and vice-versa.
- Manage stress properly – since the body requires a minimal level of stress to function effectively, one must ensure the stress level does not go out of hands. We can leverage emotional intelligence to handle situations that can stress us. Sicknesses, dehydration and lack of sleep can add more stress to the body and should be dealt with.
- Have fun doing what you love – you must do things you love and be involved in moments that relieve you of anxiety and stress. It is helpful to be involved in social and recreational activities away from normal routines to help unwind and rewind the body system.
- Avoid addiction – everything such as alcohol, sex, social media, electronic gadgets and others should be done moderately and excessiveness should be minimized to avoid the adverse effects of addiction.
In conclusion, the responsibility to live healthily lies with you, it is possible and rewarding but requires intentionality and discipline of adequate planning and implementation.
I would like to hear your thoughts and experience on this matter.
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