Here are 10 ways to stay healthy! These are simple daily habits that will lead to better health. Add these 10 things into your life and you'll feel great!
As the world continues to spin with everything that's going on right now, I wanted to put some of my best tips down on “paper”. I mean we're not technically on paper here on the blog, but you get the meaning.
I want you to be able to come to SQ and not only be inspired in your kitchen but come away with actionable tips that you can use to be healthy. So that's what we're talking about today. I'm giving you 10 super simple ways to stay healthy! These tips are actionable, they're easy to implement and my goal for you is that they become a habit.
10 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy
Whether you're trying to fight off a cold, you're surrounded by people who are sick, or you're just generally trying to take better care of yourself, my hope is that these 10 easy ways to stay healthy are something you can add to your routine. I want them to become a habit. These are things we should each be doing every single day to ensure we're staying healthy.
And guess what? They're pretty darn simple to follow!
1. Wash your hands
Growing up your mom always tells you to wash your hands. And it's super important! You should be washing your hands every time you come inside. Whether that's using soap and hot water (the best) or hand sanitizer, keep those hands clean. And when you're out and about, avoid touching your face. We touch a million different surfaces a day and those germs and bacteria get onto our hands and ultimately into our system. So try to fight it off by keeping your hands as clean as possible.
2. Avoid people who are sick
This is another no brainer, but try and avoid people who are sick. If you see someone coughing or sneezing, move away from them. Cover your mouth and nose. If people in your office are sick, try to meet virtually. If there's something going around the school, potentially think about keeping your kiddo at home. Just do your best to avoid others who are sick.
3. Eat whole foods
Diet has a huge part to play in our health, we all know that. And this is something we should be doing all the time. Eat whole foods. Fill your diet with fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Skip the processed food. One of the absolute best ways to stay healthy is to ensure you're flooding your body with nutritious food. Whole foods are packed with immune-supporting, cancer-fighting, gut-loving vitamins and minerals that will do wonders for your health.
4. Cut back on sugar & alcohol
Number four on our list of ways to stay healthy isn't something you necessarily have to do all the time, but you should definitely do when you're feeling sick/fighting something off. Sugar and alcohol both have a negative impact on our gut as well as our immune system. They can also affect our sleep which has a direct impact on our health as well. I'd say just try to limit your intake and cut back when you can!
5. Exercise regularly
Moving your body daily not only helps you sweat out toxins, but it can also potentially help flush out bacteria from your lungs and keep your lungs healthy. Exercise also helps your circulatory system and promotes good circulation which allows your cells and immune system substances to flow properly through your system so they can do their jobs more effectively. What's great about exercise is it can really be anything – yoga, pilates, power walking, running, weight lifting, spinning, etc. There is no end to possibilities. It's important to get your blood pumping and your blood circulating every single day.
6. Stay hydrated
Drinking enough water and staying hydrated is again one of the best ways to stay healthy. It's key in flushing out toxins and waste materials from the body so that your immune system is more effectively able to fight infections. When your system is clogged up with toxins, your immune system can't do its job. Water also carries oxygen into our cells which allows our entire body to function properly. Without adequate hydration, we risk a host of issues. I recommend that you aim to drink at least half of your body weight (lbs) in ouches of water per day. So if you weighed 150lbs, you'd be drinking 75 ounces of water minimum.
7. Take vitamin C
We didn't really talk about specific vitamins in this post, but I want to at least bring up one: vitamin C. Vitamin C has been shown thousands of times to support your immune system and overall health. When you're feeling compromised I would suggest taking a vitamin C supplement, but if you're just living your everyday life, I think getting vitamin C from whole foods is perfect. Things like oranges, grapefruits, lemon, and even pineapple are packed with vitamin C!
8. Take care of your gut
Our gut contains about 70% of our immune system. So when our gut isn't happy, our immune system is compromised. It's important that we support our gut by eating foods that nourish it. Add probiotic-rich foods into your meals like kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt. You could consider taking a probiotic as well. Cutting back on sugar and alcohol is another way that we can support our gut health. Those two feed bacteria and can potentially cause too much of the bad bacteria to thrive.
9. Get enough sleep
Sleep helps with stress management, but it also helps us stay motivated to move, gives us more energy, helps our metabolism stay regulated and ultimately can also help with weight loss. On the immune system side, studies have shown that people who don't get adequate sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to an illness. That's because when we are sleeping, our immune system is releasing proteins that help fight infection and inflammation. Plus, when you're sleep-deprived, the cells and antibodies in your body that fight infections are lowered. On average you should aim to get 7 – 8 hours of sleep per night as an adult, more for teenagers and children.
10. Manage your stress
You might have heard before that stress is the silent killer. And what people mean by that is that stress has a profound negative impact on our health and well being. In fact, I actually shared a post that talks about the 5 ways that stress affects your body. Give that a read for more detail. But at a high level, in order to stay healthy, we need to manage our stress. We need to use stress-relieving tactics like meditation, reading, cooking, dancing, laughing, playing, exercising. We need to try our best to manage stress so that it doesn't take over our lives and cause huge ramifications for our health. Here are 10 ways to destress if you need some ideas!
How are you staying healthy?
I'd love to know if you have other ways to stay healthy that you use in your daily life! If there are things I missed here or anything you'd like to add to the list, definitely drop them down in the comments below!
