6 Things You Can Do Today to Create a Healthier You
Everyday you hear the people taking about living a healthy lifestyle, but what does that mean? Healthy living is simple: It means committing to a lifestyle that promotes health, both mental and physical. Here are 6 things you can do TODAY to being a healthier, happier YOU.
1) Get enough sleep.
As a nation, we are overworked, over stressed, and sleep deprived. With an arsenal of caffeine-filled beverages available at our finger tips and a Starbuck’s on every corner, we can get a cup of joe, choose to be a “Rockstar”, or get “wings and fly” on a can of Redbull. Often times, we compromise sleep for other things such as catching up on work, spending time with friends and family, or just getting some alone time after the kids have gone to bed. “I’ll just catch up on sleep this weekend”, you say to yourself. What we don’t realize is sleep is more that just getting rest. It is the time when our body repairs its self, from the inside out. Everything from your skin, to mental clarity depends is effected by getting enough sleep. Even our metabolism is compromised when you don’t get enough sleep. Instead of consuming calories at the optimal rate, the body hoards on to it, and “saves” it, since the body believes it is in survival mode. That is why no matter how hard you work out and how healthy you eat, you will NOT LOSE ANY WEIGHT if you don’t get enough sleep. How much is enough? Most experts agree between 7-10 hours is optimal. To see what your optimal sleep time is, try this: Go to sleep and do not set your alarm. Make sure you turn off your cell phone, and do not have any thing that would interrupt your sleep. When you wake up the next day, see how many hours you have slept for. This would be your optimal sleep hours.
2) Don’t stress the small things
The human body is designed to deal with stress. Back in the cave man days, stress was helpful, pumping our muscles full of blood so we can run or fight when we are attacked. In modern days, our body responses to stress of emails, bosses, and the deadlines the same way as it does when we were running away from a lion. Over time, ongoing stress causes your body to be vulnerable to some serious health problems. Stress can impair memory and learning, and up your odds for depression. It also triggers the liver to produce more blood sugar, which is great if you are running from a bear. But the problem with elevated sugar (glucose) levels may increase your risk for type 2 diabetes. Long-term stress can lead to narrowing of the arteries and elevate cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. For women, stress can change your menstrual cycle, stopping it altogether, or make your periods more painful. Ongoing stress, also leaves you more susceptible to infection, and makes your skin worse (hello acne!). It can also effect your digestion, causing dry mouth, indigestion, nausea, and gas, or worse causing diarrhea or constipation. How to you reduce stress? Try closing your eyes and focusing on taking deep breathes. Often times, a change of scenery will help you relax. Go for a walk, call a friend, or try meditation. Reducing the amount of stress in your life will make you happier and healthier. Read more