When we were kids we could eat what we want, sleep when we wanted, and run around for hours. Basically, little indestructible Energizer bunnies. Into our twilight 20s and careers, however, we continue to eat what we want but forget to exercise and sleep. Our health does NOT maintain itself – especially as we get older. It is in constant flux depending on a variety of choices we make on a daily basis. These “lifestyle choices” can improve or hurt our health depending on the frequency and consistency in which they are made. Unfortunately, easier choices – or habits – we tend toward aren’t the healthiest for us.
Post-college and onwards, we have to take control of our lifestyle. As our metabolism slows, we need to change how we eat; as our bodies need more rest, we need to change how we sleep; as our bodies age, we need to change how we diagnose our health.
The good news? Most of the lifestyle changes we need to make aren’t exclusive to one aspect of our health. While physical exercise is primarily beneficial to muscle, blood, and heart health, it also improves our mental health. Why? Because our blood pressure and heart health have an effect on our mental health. Ergo, when we practice multiple healthy lifestyle choices, they’ll complement one another and further improve our health.
The following are some easy-to-implement lifestyle changes that you can start today:
1. Eat Healthy Consistently
Vending machines are convenient, but almost always filled with junk food like chips, candy, and sugary beverages. These things are not the devil! But when a Coca-Cola and bag of chips has been your first choice of daily snack during a workday where you primarily sit, they can devastate your health.
For example, 26 percent of Alabama residents do not consume vegetables every day. To change this, Alabama’s public health department created the Healthy Vending Machine program which puts healthy options in workplace vending machines. Now a healthier option is available for people who work hard but still need to eat healthily. Food is fuel and maintaining a healthy diet will affect every aspect of your health.
2. Go to the Doctor Consistently
This one is a particularly important lifestyle practice that needs to become a habit early on. Visiting the doctor annually is a preventative measure that should start once adolescence begins. Health nurse practitioners can provide screenings for breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, human papillomavirus infection (HPV), early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and hypertension.
Our bodies are constantly changing, and a clean bill of health one year can change the next year. Preventative, consistent care is the best care.
Use both in moderation.
3. Stay Hydrated Consistently
To put it simply, men need to drink roughly 3.7 liters of fluid a day, and women need around 2.7 liters of fluid a day. Our bodies are 60% water, so you don’t need to know much to understand that hydration is a major aspect of your health. While we have been taught to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, which isn’t a bad goal, we should be drinking more. Pro-tip: Drink water when you feel thirsty. It’s your bodies job to let you know when you need something (hunger, sleep, etc.), so listen when it says, “I’m thirsty.”
It’s important to include exercise when meting out your daily water intake. The more active you are, the more you need to consume water. Staying consistently hydrated keeps your organs clean, helps digestion, and maintains an overall health equilibrium.
4. Maintain a Consistent Healthy Weight
Extra weight stresses the body, and consistently maintaining a healthy weight puts less stress on the body. Weight is a strong indicator of a healthy lifestyle and more a byproduct than a “change”. However, if you notice you’re gaining weight outside of muscle built from exercising, then you’ll know you need to refocus your lifestyle. Keeping a healthy weight reduces the risk of heart disease, lowers blood pressure, and avoids diseases like diabetes. If you are unsure about your weight and think you might be overweight, make an appointment with a nutritionist or doctor. To lose weight, chart a dietary and exercise plan for more than a summer body. Chart one for your life.
5. Think about your heart consistently
Your heart is the capital of your body, pumping blood throughout your body non-stop for your entire life. Not to sound dramatic, but that is a lot of work for one muscle. If it is under more stress than necessary, overworked, or under exercised, it puts all your health components at risk. Yes, you need to do some cardio exercise – there is no getting around that. BUT, if you want to keep your heart healthy without getting “too into” cardio, try eating less salt and limiting alcohol intake. Both directly affect your heart health and can be legitimately lethal over time.
As you’re reading about these changes, you’ll notice that consistency is a key factor. Lifestyle changes aren’t temporary – they become habits. Aging is natural, but at a certain point your body isn’t growing. It’s dying. That’s why healthy habits need to be consistent if you want to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Not to mention the habits will continue to change. Lifestyle and aging are almost inversely-related. When we are young we don’t have to be as mindful, but as we get older we have to exercise more, eat appropriately, maintain our weight, and stay hydrated.
