We want to live and enjoy our lives, but we want to enjoy great food, dining out, drinking, and nightlife with friends. Sure, we can do these things occasionally. But, to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, and longer life, we’ll have to take the right steps to improve overall health, wellness, and well-being. These are a few simple tips for your everyday life, to help you maintain that healthy lifestyle, and enjoy the things you love to do on occasion as well.
Avoid “Sugar Calories”
You want to enjoy your favorite foods and feel satiated. If you’re drinking sugar calories all day, you have very few calories to play with when it comes to actually eat (chewing) your meals. Avoid
- Coffee creamers with hidden sugars
- Sodas
- Fruit juices
Not only do these beverages have more sugar than you should consume throughout the entire day, but they also contain far more calories than you might know. A can of soda has about 10% of your daily calorie intake if you’re following a 2,000 calorie a day diet.
Processed and Refined… Kick it from your Diet
If there are words you can’t pronounce on the label, take it out of your pantry. Foods which last for 5 years and are still safe to eat, contain many artificial ingredients, fillers, and by-products, our bodies don’t need, and shouldn’t consume regularly. Again, it’s okay to enjoy your favorite “cheat” snack once in a while. But, avoid buying it and keeping it in the home (only buy one when you have a craving) so as to avoid over-consuming these foods.
Sleep
It’s not all about our diet. A healthy lifestyle encompasses everything. How much you sleep has a direct correlation on energy, your mood, your cognition, and your attitude. Make sure you’re getting in a minimum of 6 to 8 hours a night. Make it a habit to go to bed/wake up at the same time (even on the weekends). Your body’s clock will get used to it, and you’ll have more energy and feel better because of it.
Don’t Diet
The Term “diet” automatically has a negative connotations Diet means
- Restriction
- Cant’ have
- Bad
- Overweight
These are all negative terms we want to remove from our vernacular. Instead, use the phrase healthy lifestyle. You’re making a lifestyle change when you choose to change the foods you eat, to exercise more, and to make better choices for your body. Reframing the words you use and the way you view food/exercise, has a major impact on you actually doing these things, and following through with them.
Bonus Tips
What else can you do for a healthy, enjoyable, long life? Some additional practices include
- Lift weights
- Do cardio (some) and engage in HIIT (high-intensity interval training) when you do
- Eat healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, coconut oil) your body needs it and burns more fat when you give it healthy fats
- Eat a high protein meal plan (not a diet, remember)
- Don’t cut out carbs
There are many ways to live a healthy lifestyle while enjoying life every day. Start incorporating a few of these practices into your daily routine, to see the positive changes you want to see!
