Living your best life doesn’t have to be a distant dream. When you make small, intentional steps forward every day it will slowly start yielding positive changes in your life. In this article, we offer you savvy tips to help you achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle, one step at a time.
Stay Physically Active
Staying physically active is a key component to living a healthy life. Moving our bodies helps keep us energized, focused, and healthy. Here are a few tips for staying physically active:
• Incorporate a few physical activities into your routine: As little as 15 minutes of regular physical activity can improve your physical and mental health. Consider adding activities such as dancing, yoga, running, or team sports to your weekly routine.
• Make exercise a priority: Being physically active doesn’t require much time. Don’t let life’s daily stressors derail your physical fitness goals. Schedule exercise into your day and make it a priority, like you would any other appointment.
• Invite friends to join you: Working out with friends makes physical activity more enjoyable. You’ll have someone to hold you accountable and to help push you to do your best!
Eat Healthy, Well-Balanced Meals
Eating a balanced and nutritious diet can have a direct impact on our physical and mental health. Eating wholesome foods will give us the energy and mental clarity we need to stay energized and focused. Here are a few pointers for improving our eating habits:
• Eat Whole Foods: Whole foods contain the most minerals, vitamins, and other vital micronutrients. Focus on a diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and healthy fats.
• Stay hydrated: Dehydration can affect both our physical and mental well-being. Make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day. Carry a reusable bottle filled with water everywhere you go.
• Monitor your portion sizes: Eating too much causes us to feel tired, uncomfortable, and sluggish. Be mindful of our portion sizes and eats slowly to give ourselves time to feel full.
Prioritize Self-Care
Self-care is an essential part of living a healthy lifestyle. Taking time to renew and restore our bodies and minds helps optimize our overall well-being. Here are a few simple tips to help prioritize our self-care:
• Set aside time for self-reflection: Self-reflection is a valuable time to check-in with ourselves, reflect on our thoughts, feelings and experiences. Taking time to journal, practice meditation, or take a leisurely walk can help us recharge and feel more present in the moment.
• Make sleep a priority: Not getting enough sleep can cause us to be more prone to stress and disease. Aim to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Try to maintain a consistent sleep and wake schedule and limit late-night electronic usage.
• Connect with friends and family: Spending quality time with people we enjoy and care about helps us stay grounded and gives us a sense of fulfillment. Make plans to get together occasionally to replenish and reconnect with your support system.
Get Outside
Spending time outdoors helps reduce stress, boosts our mood and increases our productivity. Here are a few ideas to help get outdoors:
• Take a walk: Going for a walk isn’t just great exercise, but it helps us disconnect from indoor distractions and distracts us from our stresses.
• Add nature to your daily routine: Adding a few plants to our homes to soak up natural sunlight will help bring us closer to nature. If you don’t have much outdoor space, add a few pieces of outdoor furniture or plan some outdoor activities.
• Focus on nature: Whether its taking a stroll around the neighborhood, going to the beach or park, or even spending time in the garden, a few moments of observing nature can help restore our minds and help us focus.
Living your best life doesn’t have to be an unachievable goal. By taking small, intentional steps, you can slowly start adding healthier habits to your daily routine. The tips provided in this article will help you stay physically active, eat healthy, prioritize self-care, and help get outdoors to get connected with nature. Living your best life starts with keeping up with self-care and when followed, it will slowly start yielding positive changes in your life.
