5 Lifestyle Changes For Achieving Better Health and Wellness

First, let me clear right upfront. This is not about switching to a full-time vegan diet. Lifestyle dieting like the Mediterranean diet has been proven through numerous research that it’s healthy.

Now, does not mean you have to compile the list of foods in the Mediterranean and only eat those foods. That would be a tedious job because if you don’t have some of the foods available locally that means you have to import it.

No, don’t do it. Instead, understand the concept of the diet. The Mediterranean lifestyle way of eating consists mainly of plant-based foods plus fresh fruits, whole grains, seeds, and beans. It also uses olive oil heavily, which is one of the healthy fats available.

Now if you don’t have olive oil, you can use coconut oil instead, which is a healthy option. In other words, pick foods that grow in nature and stop eating highly processed foods that contain harmful and toxic chemicals that put health at risk.

Healthy and clean eating combine with regular exercise is winning combination to stay healthy and physically fit. Now, for some people, it is difficult to keep up with exercise specially for people who are mainly doing it for weight loss. But what about achieving your weight loss goal, should you stop doing the exercise?

The key to keeping up with exercise on regular basis is to re-frame how you look at exercise. Instead of exercising to lose weight, look at exercise as part of your healthy lifestyle strategy. Exercise boost energy, concentration, and among many other benefits aside from weight loss.

Additionally, don’t do the same exercises over and over for life. Do a wide variety, a minimum of three styles of workouts like stretching or Yoga, walking/running on treadmill or outdoor, HIIT(high-intensity interval training), weight training depending on your preference whether you use weights or simply make the most of your body-weight. Then switch them up. For instance;

• Monday = Stretching/Yoga with Resistance/Weight Training
• Tuesday = Rest
• Wednesday = High-Intensity Interval Training
• Thursday = Rest
• Friday = Weight/Resistance Training
• Saturday = Running/Walking either on treadmill or outdoors
• Sunday = Rest

This is just an example and hopefully, you get the idea. The key is to be consistent with your physical activity along with healthy eating routine. If you have a hard time figuring out what’s right exercise routine or program for you, consult a personal trainer at the gym near you.

Years before recent research findings published, many medical professionals are against the consumption of coffee as it was believed to cause heart disease and acid reflux.

However, news studies reveal the numerous health benefits of drinking coffee which came from its chlorogenic acid and antioxidant contents. When you drink coffee, you just don’t get a dose of caffeine alone, but along with numerous other beneficial nutrients.

In fact, according to research consistent consumption of coffee have shown to reduce inflammation.

We can expect more of these studies coming out in the future unveiling more and more health benefits of drinking coffee. Some studies also found it may help in disease prevention like heart disease and MS(Multiple sclerosis).

On the other hand, lots of people are concern about the acidic content of coffee, but do you know you can reduce the amount of acid in the coffee through a simple tweak in its preparation?

Yes, there is a way to reduce acidity content in coffee by using the preparation method called “cold brew“. I drink it every morning and even during my intermittent fasting days.

When you buy packaged foods from supermarkets, make sure you read the nutritional contents like added sugar. The word “sugar” hides in many names, and it’s vital to start as early as possible to minimize sugar consumption. If you have no idea, read these tips on how to minimize sugar in your daily diet. The same is true with artificial sweeteners.

Although manufacturers claimed they’re safe, processing it before it becomes packaged is far from a natural form of sugar.

Of course, eating sweet fruits is fine as you get the sugar naturally along with the natural vitamins and minerals presence in fruits. Studies found that extra sweet taste through refined sugar can lead to more sugar cravings eventually affecting the insulin and sugar level in the blood.

Don’t underestimate stress as it’s a deadly, a killer. Both Dr. Sinatra and Dr. Mercola explained how stress can kill a peson if not addressed properly.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways to manage stress and keep it minimal. Here’s a fact, stress does not just affect one or a certain part of the body, but engages the entire body both mental and physical.

Stress can originate from simple things like you forget your car keys at the office, or forget something to purchase at the supermarket to not being able to pay the mortgage for your house or car.

Stress can be defined as the reaction of the body to a particular situation or event perceived as potentially life-threatening. Addressing stress at an early stage is vital as over time it can turn into depression, which is more severe than just a normal day-to-day stress.

To further explain how stress is a health risk, watch this documentary;

Make It Happen!

Take care of your health. It’s not that difficult to make these healthy lifestyle changes. If you can, do all at once, but if you have a hard time organizing all these in your thoughts, do them one at a time.

The great thing about doing things one at a time is it makes you more motivated once you achieve small things. Yes, don’t ignore small achievements as these can add up towards achieving bigger goals.

As simple as aiming for self-discipline to achieve the recommended number of hours to sleep nightly is just one example. And, yes, although it has not been mentioned sleeping earlier, it does provide a refreshing and vitalizing feeling to the body and good stress relief, too.

If you have difficulty achieving good quality sleep, read achieving good sleep secrets. If you still have a problem, your best next move is to consult an expert in sleep.