Steps To A Healthy Lifestyle | Tips & Tools For Success

(Last Updated On: May 4, 2020)

Here are some tips and tools to help you lead a healthy lifestyle. People who live a healthy lifestyle are at a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Positive lifestyle choices contribute to healthy living.

Steps To A Healthy Lifestyle | Tips & Tools For Success

Your age and genetic makeup are uncontrollable factors that affect your health. You nonetheless have power over many aspects of your health and well-being. Here are some tips and tools to help you lead a healthy lifestyle.

Dietary Consideration for Healthy Living

Healthy living should begin with a nutritious breakfast that may include fruit, a smoothie, low-fat yogurt, or a healthy muffin. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) says breakfast provides much-needed fuel to get your day off to a good, energetic start. I know you have heard the saying, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

A nutritious diet includes at least two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day. Looking for ways to sneak in vegetables to your diet, here are some easy ways to add in veggies to your day. Aim for at least three ounces of whole-grain foods like brown rice, whole-wheat bread, or whole-wheat pasta daily. A well-rounded diet also includes low-fat protein sources, skinless chicken, turkey, lean red meat, and fish. The Institute of Medicine suggests that adults consume approximately eight grams of protein for every 20 pounds of body weight. You also want to make sure you are getting in the recommended amount of calcium, the easiest way to do this is by drinking milk.

The AAFP recommends eating slowly and deliberately to help avoid overeating. Remember to eat because you are genuinely hungry and not because you are bored or stressed out.

Weight Control for Healthy Living

Shedding excess pounds through diet and exercise is vital to healthy living. An estimated 65% of people in the U.S. are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who are overweight are more susceptible to diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and arthritis reports the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Be sure to consult a doctor before starting on type of new diet.

Healthy Living Requires Regular Exercise

A healthy lifestyle means getting 30 minutes to one hour of physical activity most days of the week, notes the AAFP. Good cardio exercise choices include brisk walking, jogging, tennis, and swimming. You can also get plenty of less structured exercise throughout the course of your day. Household chores like mopping the floor and vacuuming or yard work such as lawn mowing and gardening also help get your body moving. Yoga is also an excellent form of exercise and has many benefits.

Regular physical activity can help guard against cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression. Exercising can help you lose weight or prevent extra pounds from creeping up on you.

Healthy Living Means Not Skimping on Sleep

People who are sleep deprived may be more prone to high blood pressure, reports the Mayo Clinic. Sleep seems to keep your nervous system healthy and help your blood regulate stress hormones. Chronic lack of sleep may eventually disrupt these effects and cause high blood pressure. Getting between seven to eight hours of sleep each night may help prevent and treat high blood pressure.

Health Screenings are Key to Healthy Living

Certain health screenings can catch diseases in their earliest stages and promote healthy living and longevity. Starting at age 21, women should have a pap test to screen for cervical cancer at least once every three years, suggests the AAFP. Women age 40 and over should have a mammogram or breast cancer screening every two years. Women with a family history of breast cancer may benefit from starting screenings at a younger age. Both women and men over age 50 should be screened for colorectal cancer.

A few years ago I participated in a  Juice Plus+ Google+ video chat with Ariana Kukors, seven-time Olympic medalist for women’s swimming, Rebecca Soni, six-time Olympic medalist for women’s swimming, and Dr. Paul Stricker, the first pediatrician to be selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee, to learn more information on how to easily maintain a healthy lifestyle, and those tips are still relevant today, so I wanted to share them with you all.

*The questions were asked to all three panelists and the answers are my version from my notes, they are not direct quotes, but as close as I could get 🙂  Be sure to check out the full Youtube video via the link below.

What are some of your Healthy Lifestyle Resolution suggestions?

• Take one simple step and MAINTAIN it – don’t have your goals be too hard
• Little changes make a difference
• Make sure you are drinking enough water
• De-stress
• Consider standing up at your desk
• Keep a jump rope near by, when you have 30 – 60 seconds…jump rope!
• Have a workout buddy – sometimes it’s easier to commit to something when you know that someone else is depending on you too

What suggestions do you have for those that are just starting a healthier lifestyle?

• Don’t be too quick to judge!  Try that green smoothie or that dance class with an open mind 🙂
• Think back to way you decided to start on a healthier lifestyle in the first place
• Show self love – be proud of yourself!
• Be consistent

What recommendations do you have for starting to eat healthier?  Especially with fruits and vegetables?

• Your body craves what you give it.  If you give it candy – it will want candy.  If you give it fruits and veggies, that is what your body will start to crave.
• If your kids see you eating fruits and veggies, they will start as well.  You have to set an example.  Make it a part of your life.
• Did you know that eating fruits and vegetables actually improve your life expectancy?
• Juice Plus+ is a great solution to introducing more nutrients in your diet.  And kids can have it!

What is Juice Plus+?

Juice Plus+ is whole food based nutrition, including juice powder concentrates from 30 different fruits, vegetables and grains. Juice Plus+ helps bridge the gap between what you should eat and what you do eat every day. Not a multivitamin, medicine, treatment or cure for any disease, Juice Plus+ is made from quality ingredients carefully monitored from farm to capsule to provide natural nutrients your body needs to be at its best.  Find out more here.

If you eat right do you have to exercise too?

Activity and diet go hand-in-hand.  It’s like they are married, don’t view them as separate.

Do you recommend a certain diet?

View your eating habits and exercise as a Nutrition Plan, NOT a diet plan.  It is a way of life.   “Apples are sexy” 🙂

How do you find the exercise routine that’s right for you?

Keep trying new things.  Look at those Groupon Deals for a discounted 5 classes somewhere new.  Make it FUN.  See if you can get a buddy to come with you too 🙂

Final suggestions?

Stick to your goals.  And remember to keep those goals simple.

Want more?

Check out the full Juice Plus+ Google+ Hangout Video on Youtube

What is one of your tips for leading a healthy lifestyle?

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