Life in the modern time is synonymous with hustle and bustle
and therefore, it is so easy to be caught up in a rut, leaving health on the
back burner. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle in times like this, holds prime
importance since the constant hustle leaves our body deprived, leaving us
feeling low on energy. It is almost as if people are perpetually on the
treadmill, only increasing or decreasing the speed, but never getting off.
Also, this has become the new normal; the lifestyle that comprises constantly
working, being caffeine dependent and sleep deprived, working late into the
nights and waking up early. It has become the IT lifestyle. This workaholic,
over productive lifestyle may seem cool enough but is actually becoming a
storehouse of diseases.
Research suggests that, eating right, engaging in physical
activity and getting enough sleep can help achieve significantly better health.
It is often seen that an unhealthy lifestyle makes a person feel fatigued,
lower rate of motivation and having a general bad mood, usually without reason.
Now the question arises, how to stay healthy? Being healthy and staying fit
does not require one to do herculean tasks. It only requires taking multiple
small steps along the way. It may sound overwhelming and overbearing at first,
but it is definitely achievable and most definitely doable, with some amount of
self-discipline and the right dose of motivation. Here are some tips to help
you begin with this journey:
1. Beauty Sleep: As easy and as basic as it sounds, getting
the right quantity and quality of sleep is highly important. It is said, well
begun is half done. This couldn’t be more true in the case of healthy
lifestyle. Sleep is the basic requirement of living beings and keeping in view
the stress levels in today’s modern world, the importance of sleep cannot be
stressed enough. An average adult should aim to secure 7 to 8 hours of quality
sleep. Stress has caused the evasion of sleep, leading people to spend
sleepless nights, engaging in mindless social media scrolling, listening to
sleep inducing music and so on and so forth. It is therefore key that one
should not take stress to bed, so as to experience quality sleep.
2. Move your body: A healthy mind resides in a healthy body.
Keeping the body moving, in order to stay fit and relaxed is extremely
important. It is a fact known to all that staying physically active keeps
stress at bay and release good hormones like endorphins, also known as the
feel-good neurotransmitter. Exercise does not only mean rigorous training,
gaining muscle mass and spending hours on the treadmill. You can start by
something as small as a 15-minute walk and gradually incorporate more things
like yoga, running etc. But keeping your body active will spontaneously help
you feel energized and refreshed, both in mind and body. You can click here to read more about health
and wellness.
3. Hydration is the Key: Our body is on an average made
of 60% water. Drinking enough water helps regulate the body temperature, flush
out toxins and maintain the balance of bodily fluids. It also prevents
dehydration, which can cause headaches, fatigue and disrupt the normal functioning
of body. It is therefore advised that an adult should drink at least 6 to 8
glasses of water each day.
If the taste of plain water is an issue, one can also infuse
it with slices of cucumber, lemon or oranges and it will instantly taste
better. It will additionally be infused with vitamins, so that’s just cherry on
the cake.
4. Proper diet: Our body is like a sanctum and like we are
careful and watchful of our behavior while we are at a sanctum, we should
similarly be watchful of what we are putting inside our body. Including good
and nutritious food in the diet, that is rich in protein, good fats, seasonal
fruits and vegetables is a must. A balanced diet is a diet that has a variety
of food, all in the right quantity. An important component that is often
overlooked in diet is fiber.
Apart from balanced diet, it is also important to monitor the
consumption of sugar and caffeine, since they can directly disrupt the energy
levels in the body.
5. Meditation as medication: Yoga and meditation are ancient
practices that are universally known to reduce stress levels, making one feel
more energized. Meditation helps improve focus and relaxing the mind. Yoga also
helps achieve great results, be it reducing stress or enhancing the overall
well-being. Yoga helps in supplying oxygen to the lungs in copious amount, thus
making the body and mind feel refreshed and rejuvenated.
6. Cultivating new hobbies: In order to lead a healthy and
relaxed life, it is important that one develops hobbies. Hobbies help us engage
in activities that fill us with sheer joy and excitement and spending time
doing what one loves, gives a sense of fulfilment, satisfaction and inner
peace. Hobbies are a great way to relax, unwind and keeping the mind stress
free. So choose a hobby that piques your interest and keep at it.
7. Time off social media: Social media has people in the
palm of its hand these days. It has undue influence over the mind and lives of
people these days. It is important to understand that things are not always
what they seem like on the screen, behind those filters.
8. Manage screen time: Mobile phones have become the masters
that everyone is answering to these days. To lead a healthy life, it is
important to manage the screen time and try to reduce it. One should have some
designated hours where mobile is out of reach and so are you.
9. Time for Self-care: In the quest to keep everyone else
happy and satisfied, we forget to designate time to ourselves. However, taking
time out for oneself, doing things that make you happy and truly bring you joy,
pampering yourself with something as small as your favorite chocolate, can all
be counted as acts of self-love and self-care that go a long way in helping to
elevate mood and the overall well-being of a person.
10. Gratitude and being thankful: In order to stay relaxed,
it is important that one is content in life. The modern life today has made our
heads into pressure cookers, where everyday something or the other is bubbling
inside, ready to burst at any moment. A great way to stay relaxed and happy, is
to count one’s blessings and being thankful for them. It helps make a huge
difference when you see how much you have and little you lack.
Change is hard, but what is harder is staying in a rut and
doing nothing about it. But by inculcating these habits, even one at a time can
help attain a relaxed, balanced and much happier lifestyle. Changing old habits
and developing new ones take time, but patience and self-discipline is the key
on any new journey. You need to push your body and mind in order to be at ease.
