Now that January is over, life has calmed down slightly, it’s time to focus on you and healthy lifestyle choices.
A lifestyle choice is a personal and conscious decision to perform a behaviour that may increase or decrease the risk of injury or disease.
Healthy lifestyle choices in our everyday lives can benefit us both physically and mentally. Choosing healthier habits will lead to a longer, happier life along. Plus it will lower the risk of chronic illness. But making healthier choices isn’t easy. There are many temptations and distractions that can steer you away from positive and healthy daily habits. This is where we can help. Our MyClinic team can give you the tools to help you succeed.
We have a range of professionals available to help you achieve your goals, you don’t have to struggle alone.
At MyClinic our Drs, Nurses, Staff and Allied Health professionals are here to help and care for you holistically.
Our aim isn’t to give you strict instructions to cut out everything you enjoy, count calories and run a marathon every day. At MyClinic, we are here to support and guide you in the right direction. We can assist you with the following things:
- Setting Achievable Goals
- Putting Goals into motion
- Measurements
- Education on healthy lifestyle choices
- Reflect and let go of past habits, behaviours and challenges, such as smoking cessation
- and lots more
Some ideas of healthy lifestyle choices to implement:
1. Exercise Regularly. If you don’t workout regularly, chances are this has been a goal of yours for awhile. But sticking with a workout routine is easier said than done. However, once you’ve integrated it into your routine it becomes an easy enough habit to stick to. As you may be aware, exercising brings many physical and mental benefits that affect our daily lives. To get the benefits, you should plan to do strength training three times per week and do cardio two times per week. You should also actively rest two days a week!
2. Maintain a Healthy Body Weight. Weight is also an important measure that can determine the development of future disease and illness and also affect existing health concerns.
3. Stand More and Avoid Sitting and/or Being Stationary. Sitting in a chair for too long can be the source of many illnesses. Simply standing up for a few minutes can reduce the risks. So for those of you that work at a desk all day, if you can take a couple minutes to walk and stretch. Better yet, if you can stand and work at your desk, it’s a healthy alternative to sitting. Adding simple stretching while you stand up can further improve blood circulation and metabolism.
4. Avoid Sugar. Like many experts say, sugar is not beneficial and is bad for your health. Processed sugar can lead to weight gain, which could be the source of certain illness. Sugar has no essential nutrients and is bad for your teeth. Fructose in sugar can lead to liver damage and can cause insulin resistance, which can cause type 2 diabetes. So really take a close look at your diet and consider the amount of sugar you consume on a daily and/or weekly basis. Recognising how much sugar you eat helps you determine how much sugar you need to cut out of your diet.
5. Choose Healthier Fats. Not all fats are created equal. You should avoid the “unhealthy” fats and choose “healthy” fats as they will affect your physical abilities. Healthy fats can help lower bad cholesterol and help lose excessive weight. You can find the healthy fats in avocados, coconut oil, butter, extra virgin oil, and omega-3s.
6. Eat more Vegetables and Fruits. Like many nutritionists and health experts say, eating a lot of vegetables and fruits is beneficial to you and your health. Vegetables and fruits contain vitamin, fibre, and other vital nutrient and essential nutrients can be sufficed by consuming certain vegetables and fruits.
7. Drink More Water. Hydrating yourself is important to many physical and biological activities and benefits. Some benefits of staying hydrated include weight loss, skin elasticity, mood balance, temperature control, and much more! A good amount of intake per day for men is roughly about 13 cups (3 liters) and for women is about 9 cups (2.2 liters).
8. Get a Good Night’s Sleep. You should get enough sleep because it can reduce your stress and give you the energy for the next day. Once you turn 18, you need 7 to 9 hours a sleep a day. Although 6 to 11 hours may still be appropriate, 7 to 9 hours sleep is recommended for the health benefits.
9. Stay Away from Your Phone. Too much time on the phone can reduce your vision, leading to bad posture and can limit your social activities outside of the phone. People call reducing spending time on the phone a “phone diet,” which recommends staying away as much as possible because it allows many benefits to come into your life.
10. Quit Smoking. Smoking is a habit that causes many fatal diseases. Damages caused by smoking include respiratory disease, lung cancer, reduce blood flows, and much more that could possibly lead to death. Avoiding or not starting to smoke in the beginning can help prevent unwanted outcomes. So no more excuses, it’s time to quit!
11. Don’t Drink Too Much Alcohol. Similar to tobacco, too much consumption of alcohol brings unwanted health and daily consequences. Some damages include high blood pressure, liver disease, digestive problems, mental health problems, learning and memory issues, and possible consequences leading to death. Although a certain amount of alcohol can be beneficial, controlled drinking is crucial in all situations.
12. Love Yourself. Appreciating and loving yourself directly increase your level of confidence and quality of life. A decent amount of loving yourself can help you focus on daily activities and help you commit yourself to these activities.
13. Meet New People. Socialising and meeting new people can increase your daily expectation and give you the chance to meet those who will connect with you, ultimately leading to life-satisfaction. Increased life satisfaction can help you have a healthier life!
14. Find Activities You Enjoy. Activities you enjoy would make your every day enjoyable, will help you commit more to the activity, and make you feel like a part of a group. You can try out running, drawing, yoga, biking, hiking, playing an instrument, listening to music, reading a book, or anything else you enjoy!
15. Get Regular Health Checkups. You should be always aware of the conditions of your body so that you can increase the chance of preventing illness. Regular annual checkups can help this. You can do the regular health checks and add other testings depending on your health conditions.
16. Be Aware of Your Family’s Health History. Understanding your family’s health history can make you cautious of possible illness and lead to early prevention. You should ask around family members and research in advance to be aware of your genetics.
17. Say No When Needed. Doing things that you don’t like can cause stress. Simply saying “no” is a crucial social skill that can prevent such stress and conflict. You should practice saying “no” to people and situations that you feel uncomfortable or do not want to be part of.
18. Reduce Stress. Stress can reduce the satisfaction of your everyday life. Reducing stressful situations and stress itself can lead to happier every day. Some ways to reduce stress include meditation, working out, doing what you enjoy, playing sports, listening to music, reading books, and much more!
19. Invest Time and Money In Yourself. Develop yourself is one of the most important aspects of your life. Spending time and money on what you like and appreciate can raising the quality of your daily lives and yourself.
20. Do Something Different. You will get tired and exhausted if you do the same thing every day. Trying something new refreshes your routinised life and encourages you to live more energetically.
Give your local MyClinic a call now and book an appointment with the Practice Nurse to have a chat about getting started.