Living a Healthy LifestyleI have been around for a while now—long enough to know that living a healthy lifestyle has to do with more than just eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep. Life gives us cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, as well as times of plenty and scarcity. Then, there are the unexpected challenges that can send us into stress and anxiety.
One of the challenges of living a healthy lifestyle completely (who can do that anyway…) is to not allow the stresses of life get the better of us—to endure the many challenges of life while remaining positive, even optimistic. It’s important to learn how to manage stress. I’ve had many ups and downs in life, and I’m sure to have more. But, as a person of faith and hope (sometimes that’s all you have), I’m able to bounce back and get on about life in spite of difficult times. By not living a healthy lifestyle, many areas of our life are impacted. Given the fast-paced world we live in, it’s easy to ignore the significance of living a healthy lifestyle. If we don’t—we’ll pay, in one way or the other. The best thing you can do for yourself—and your kids—is to be happy and healthy. When you make it a priority, you can control your overall health. Healthy Living Tips
• HEALTH AND
PHYSICAL FITNESS Inactivity causes obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression, and even accelerates the aging process. This is the short list. Resistance training, or any other physical activity, helps not only our body, but our emotional health as well. What if your doctor gave you a prescription with the “dosage” for exercise—just like he does for medication? A few studies have been conducted on this very idea. In Spain, half of a group of 4,000 patients were given general advice to exercise, the other half got prescriptions to do so. Six months later, the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that those with prescriptions were more active. Other studies showed similar reports. It’s interesting that a piece of paper, “a prescription to exercise,” from a doctor is taken more serious than verbal advice. It might be a good idea to ask your doctor for your own prescription to exercise. Our bodies require a certain level of maintenance in order to function correctly. If you don’t have the habit of regular physical activity, begin now. Play with your kids. Play with the dog. Play with the neighbor’s dog! It’s important to just get moving. Take good care of your body. It’s the only one you get! • YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT Meal planning will help keep you on track. Plan in advance what you want to eat for your meals. Write it down. Be sure you have on hand what is needed to prepare the meals. Yes – prepare the meals, as much as possible. The more prepared from scratch meals, the better. That way you control the ingredients so your food is healthier, and you save on your grocery budget! LET'S TALK ABOUT THE "D" WORD. How many of you have tried to lose weight a thousand times in your life? It’s interesting to note that we spend 40 BILLION dollars each year on diet products, yet there is a global obesity epidemic. The World Health Organization talks about "Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health." The findings are alarming.
• USE OF SUPPLEMENTS • GET ENOUGH SLEEP! HOW MUCH SLEEP TO WE NEED? Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hours and 7.5 hours a night live the longest. People who sleep 8 hours or more, or less than 6.5 hours don’t live quite as long. So there is just as much risk associated with sleeping too long as with sleeping too short. • EMOTIONAL HEALTH If you don’t have family relationships, seek for someone you can call “friend.” We all have the deep human need for emotional closeness. Do things to build up your emotional reservoir, such as: » Serve others » Be optimistic (get good at it...) » Be grateful » Think uplifting thoughts » Write in a journal » When appropriate (especially for family members), a hug, a pat on the back, or an arm around the shoulder is necessary for the emotional health of both children and adults. Maybe you suffer from emotional challenges that are too difficult to manage alone. Please seek help. In my darkest hours, I pray. My burdens are lifted. Acknowledgment of a higher power can be a blessing. The deeper our own mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves are, the greater will be our ability to nurture and love others. • Financial Health Physical Fitness
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