We’ve all, at some point in our lives, set goals to be more active, eat better, and get enough sleep. After all, adopting healthy habits has various benefits, such as avoiding long-term health issues, including heart disease and diabetes. As much as we aspire to do better when it comes to taking care of our health, sticking to regular exercise and diet regimes can prove difficult.
The good news, however, is that change is possible through understanding what healthy habits work for you, what might get in your way, and how you can get started on your journey towards a healthier and happier you.
The Importance of Healthy Habits
Long-term wellness starts with healthy habits. Exercising, maintaining a nutritious diet, and sleeping well are some of the most effective ways to ensure good health. According to the CDC, chronic diseases (many of which are preventable through practising healthy habits) are the leading cause of death and disability in the United States.
Small and consistent actions such as daily physical activity, balanced meals, and regular sleep can reduce ill health and improve your quality of life. But good habits aren’t adopted overnight. Just like learning a new skill, developing and sticking to healthy routines takes time, practice, and patience.
Which Healthy Habits Should You Focus on?
Being healthy is not a one-size-fits-all model. Good health means different things to different people. For some, it might be to incorporate more vegetables into their diets, while for others, it might be to get a few more hours of sleep every night. While everyone’s needs are different, here are some key habits that benefit most people:
Eating More Whole Foods
Incorporating more organic fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats into your diet would be a good place to start. These foods fuel your body and help manage weight and blood sugar, reducing the risk of chronic illness. It is also important to increase your daily water intake to ensure that you stay hydrated, as this ultimately supports high metabolism levels and good digestion.
Being Physically Active
Focus on building an exercise routine that will allow you to get the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week. This can include anything from brisk walking, lifting weights at the gym, swimming, or cycling.
Prioritizing Sleep
Aiming for an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night will ensure that you are well-rested and able to function at your best when you’re awake. A lack of sleep can affect your mood, memory, and ability to make healthy decisions, so getting good sleep is essential to living a healthier lifestyle.
Common Roadblocks to Adopting Healthy Habits
There are many reasons that creating new habits can be difficult. These include:
Setting Unrealistic Expectations
Trying to incorporate healthy habits into your current routine can be overwhelming. This is why it is important to start small, like choosing to take the stairs instead of an elevator. These little steps would be much easier to achieve instead of setting big goals like trying to exercise for an hour or two every day, when you’ve never done so before. Setting unrealistic goals will only leave you feeling disappointed and unmotivated, and will most likely cause you to give up on pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Lack of Time
Busy schedules that include work, family commitments, and just day-to-day responsibilities in general make it difficult to set aside time for taking care of your health, especially if you have never prioritized it in the past.
Environment and Social Influences
When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, it is important to be conscious of who and what you surround yourself with. The people around you, your schedule, and even what’s in your pantry can either support or sabotage your progress. The journey towards living a healthy lifestyle is often a mind over matter situation, and your surroundings have a major impact on your mindset. If you don’t have the right support system in place, you will not be motivated to make the necessary changes towards living healthier.
Tips for Building and Maintaining Healthy Habits
A great way of taking on healthy habits is to set specific goals, for example, instead of merely saying you want to eat healthier, practice adding a serving of vegetables to at least one of your meals per day. Measurable goals like these are easier to track and stick with. It would also be useful to tie a new habit to an existing routine, like doing 10 squats after brushing your teeth, or meditating right after making your morning coffee.
Another great way to achieve a healthy lifestyle is to track your progress. When setting and working towards goals, we often forget where we started and how far we’ve come. You can track progress through a habit tracker or app, as well as through more conventional methods like journaling. Tracking will allow you to celebrate small wins, and acknowledging your progress will build your momentum and motivate you to keep going.
Apart from the above tips, it is also important to make sure you’re doing things you enjoy in your journey towards achieving a healthier lifestyle, as you’ll be more likely to stick with these. Choose activities and foods that make you feel good. In the same breath, it is crucial to accept that setbacks are possible along the way. Life happens, so be kind to yourself if something comes up and you have to miss a workout or sacrifice some sleep occasionally. This shouldn’t derail your progress. The key is getting back on track without guilt.
When to Seek Support
From your local GP to students of the best online post master’s FNP program, any healthcare professional can tell you that the habits you build play a crucial role in your overall health.
If you’re unsure of where to start with living a healthy lifestyle, it might be worth consulting a doctor, dietitian, or certified health coach.
Changing your habits is all about persistence. Each healthy choice you make adds up, bringing you closer to the life you want. Whether you’re starting fresh or getting back on track, remember that even small steps are progress. You’ve got this.
