Living Healthy is a Lifestyle

Living Healthy is a Lifestyle

New health routines come and go. A lot of them. It seems there’s always a new workout, a new superfood, supplement, or diet plan to follow. But if you compare all of the diets and exercise programs side by side, you’ll find that most of them have two things in common. Diet and exercise. Look closely at the instructions in your new diet kit or exercise equipment and you’ll find that many of them advise you to eat wisely and exercise regularly to have a healthy lifestyle.

Living a healthy lifestyle is not just about weight loss and it’s not just about exercise. It’s about your overall health and outlook. It’s about feeling good as well as looking good. It’s about being mentally strong as well as physically strong. With all that said, here are some suggestions you can incorporate into your routine for a healthier lifestyle.

Strength, Cardio, and Flexibility

The best thing you can do to promote a healthier you is to maintain a healthy body. We need to get and remain in good shape so our bodies can fight off illnesses and recover from injuries. A combination of cardio, flexibility, and strength training is ideal.

You don’t have to work out for hours every day to achieve these health goals, either. If you would rather incorporate extra steps into your daily routine instead of walking on a treadmill, get a pedometer and do it. As host of his own TV show, Dr. Mehmet Oz offers his own, seven-minute routine for an example.

Vitamin D

Be sure to get the recommended daily dose of vitamin D, which a new study suggests may be helpful in losing weight. It is thought to help control appetite and boost the metabolism. The vitamin also aids the body in absorbing calcium, an essential mineral that works to boost immunity and reduce inflammation.

High amounts of vitamin D are found in tuna and salmon, while small amounts are offered in foods such as cheese, egg yolk, and beef liver. For an easy dose, turn your face to the sun; the UV rays actually produce the vitamin in our bodies. Getting your daily dose of sunlight can also help fight depression.

Focus on Quality, Not Quantity

Counting calories is important when you’re dieting, but you will stress less, feel less deprived, and still continue to lose weight by eating better-quality foods. New studies validate what doctors and fitness experts have been suggesting for years: Eat foods that are nutrient-rich and high-fiber such as vegetables, lean meats, and grains.

When we eat potato chips, sodas, and candy, our brains prompt us to keep eating because we haven’t absorbed enough of the nutrients that our bodies need. That’s why we binge on the bad stuff. Swap the candy for a carrot and your body get fuller, faster.

Breaking Your Fast

You’ve already heard it, but do you know why breakfast is the day’s most important meal? If you skip it, your body thinks no food will come later, either, so it braces for famine and puts the brakes on your metabolism. When you eat later in the day, your “starving” body is really hungry and it wants as much as it can get so you end up bingeing.

If you just aren’t hungry in the morning, try making breakfast a routine. Eat the same thing each morning or eat one of three different breakfasts each morning and eat at the same time too. The idea is to build as much of the meal as you can into a routine and kind of “trick” your body into going on autopilot to get you through the meal. It doesn’t have to be a big meal. A breakfast bar and a piece of fruit will work, or yogurt and fruit, or cereal and fruit. You get the idea.

Focus on Your Goals

For many people trying to lose weight and get in shape, it helps to keep a goal in mind. Do you have an anniversary or a special event coming for which you want to look amazing? Perhaps you have a certain dress already picked out on the tobi website that you want to wear? Or maybe it’s the coming change of seasons and you want to rock the beach in a bikini?

Whatever your short-term goal, be sure to keep the long-term goal in mind too. A healthy lifestyle is about more than just weight loss or exercise, after all. It’s about you and how you feel.