Your health is important to you but think about your habits. Many of us have habits that are, shall we say, less than good for us.
We might watch more TV than is good for us. We might eat foods that are overloaded with sugars and other ingredients. And we might drink more alcohol than we should and stay-up way past our bedtimes!
Admit it: You probably have one too many habits in your life that aren’t conducive to good health. We all do, but we need to kick these into touch and concentrate on those good habits.
Such as? Well, here are a few of the healthy habits that I think you should consider adding to your daily routine.
Add These Healthy Habits To Your Daily Routine
#1: Make it a habit to…put your phone down
Picking your phone up too often is a bad habit – it can form even form the basis of addiction – so make it a habit to put your phone down.
Besides being addictive, your phone can prove damaging to your eyesight, as it can cause digital eye strain. In the short term, you will experience headaches and dry eyes if you stare at the screen for too long, and in the long-term, your eyesight might deteriorate.
When you put your phone down, you will protect your eyesight and stave off addiction. You will also have more incentive to do healthier things with your time, such as talking to people face to face and looking up at the beauty of the world around you.
So, get off Facebook, resist the urge to take yet another selfie, and do something more interesting with your time instead.
#2: Make it a habit to…get off the sofa
There’s nothing with sitting down on your sofa, especially after a hard day at work. But there is something wrong with sitting on the sofa if your bum is rooted there for most of your time. You will fall victim to the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle if you rarely move from a seated position, and these risks include heart disease, obesity, and depression.
So, take care of your mental health and physical health, and do something that doesn’t require lots of sofa sitting. You could engage with one of your hobbies, especially one that gets your body moving. Or you could go for a walk or a run, play games with the kids or your dog, or potter around in your garden.
There are loads of things you can do with your time at home, so don’t fall prey to life on the sofa, as you will eventually become one with it when you’re too unwell to live more actively.
#3: Make it a habit to…drink more water
It’s unhealthy to be dehydrated, too, as you can hurt your immune system, and you can experience headaches, fatigue and put yourself at risk of a stroke. Experts suggest around 11 cupfuls for women and about 15 for men, so make sure you get your daily quota.
When you drink enough water, you will be less tempted to reach for those other drinks conducive to good health. We are thinking of those fruit juices and sodas overloaded with sugar, alcohol, caffeinated drinks, and anything from this list of unhealthy beverages.
#4: Make it a habit to… get enough sleep
Experts suggest 7-9 hours of sleep is enough, so be sure to get your shut-eye. This means less time staying up with your Netflix binges, less time living a late-night party lifestyle, and less time doing anything else that keeps you up long past your bedtime of an evening.
Of course, you might want to get to sleep, but there could be issues affecting your sleep pattern. It could be stress and anxiety from the things in your life that worry you, or it could be noise from your neighbors or the traffic outside. You will be able to find solutions to your sleep problems online, and the article we have just linked you to includes a few. You need to make an effort to counter your sleep issues because your health can be affected if you don’t.
The following article lists many of the health risks associated with a lack of sleep, including anxiety, a weakened immune system, and balancing issues. Your tiredness will also make you prone to accidents, so you could be at risk of injury at home, at work, and anywhere in between.
Do what you can to get enough sleep then, as you will then wake up feeling refreshed, energized, and in an improved physical and mental state.
#5: Make it a habit to…eat healthy meals
Sorry to say it, but a quick bag of potato chips for breakfast as you’re rushing out of the door to work just isn’t going to cut it. Neither is a fast food meal when you’re on your lunch break, and a takeaway for your evening meal isn’t great either.
To eat healthier, you need to schedule what you need to do to eat better in the day. This might mean getting up a little earlier, so you have time for a healthier breakfast. With more time on your hands, you will also have time to prepare a healthy packed lunch and put something on the slow cooker for your evening meals.
You might want to stop off at the health store to pick up some healthier snacks too, and you might want to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables from the store. By taking some small steps, you will serve your body well, as you won’t be putting your health at risk because of a poor diet.
#6: Make it a habit to…cultivate gratitude
It can be easy to look at the downside when you’re going through your day. You might feel down about your job, your home, or other aspects of your life. When you start to dwell on negative things, you will become stressed, depressed, and agitated. Needless to say, your physical health and your mental health will suffer in the long-term if you’re constantly experiencing such side-effects.
So, try to stay positive. There are bound to be things that you are grateful for in life, focusing on these things. Set aside time each day to ponder on them, and write them down if you need to or think of them while meditating. As you can read in the linked article, you will start to experience the health benefits of gratitude, and these include reduced stress levels, a happier frame of mind, and lower blood pressure.
Please take a moment to think about it. What can you be grateful for? Be it the fact that you have a job and a home, or something else besides, ponder on them and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of your change of thinking.
#7: Make it a Habit to…Exercise more
We already touched upon this earlier, but there’s no harm in repeating it. You see, we should all exercise more, as by improving our fitness levels, we can do much to care for our bodies and minds.
So, make it a habit to fit more exercise into your day.
You might want to get up earlier in the day. Not only will this give you time to eat a healthier breakfast, but it will give you time to go for a longer walk than usual with the dog or give you more time to exercise at home.
Instead of using your car to get to work, you might want to get into the habit of walking or cycling to your workplace instead. If you use public transport, you might want to get into the habit of getting off a stop early and walking the rest of the way.
When you’re at work, make it a habit to exercise during your break times. Go for a walk, run up and down the stairs, or try some of these desk exercises.
And going right back to the second point on our list, avoid sitting on the sofa when you get home. Remain active, perhaps by engaging in a hobby or spending time playing with the people or animals in your life.
Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts
There are all kinds of healthy things you can add to your daily routine, and we have touched on just a few of them. So, think about other things you could do during the day, and let these replace the bad habits that you know aren’t good for you. You will feel better if you do, and your days will be richer and more productive because of your healthier habits.