With so many different obstacles in our way today, it’s essential to do the necessary things to keep our bodies in top condition. Between diseases and pollution in our air and water, we must stay tuned into the needs of our bodies in order to ensure a long and healthy life. Making the right choices in these areas will allow us to remain happy and productive many years past retirement.
- Get plenty of sleep
- Exercise regularly
- Eat healthy foods
- Maintain a normal weight
- Make sure you have an adequate supply of essential nutrients
Being well rested is one of the most important elements in maintaining a healthy body. Sleep deprivation, whether purposely or the result of insomnia, can cause your body to become tired, fatigued and run down. This lends its way to an invasion of many infections because of a compromised immune system. Sleep is the body’s best defense so you need to make sure you obtain what your body needs. Each person requires on average between six and eight hours of sleep nightly, although some may function with as little as five hours while others need up to ten hours.
Besides having the ability to boost the metabolism, exercise also helps the body sleep most restfully. Whether you do a complete workout or just take a walk several times during the day, you will feel much better by participating in some kind of exercise. This doesn’t mean you have to do something boring — you can swim, bicycle, play tennis, ski, water ski, or do any other type of enjoyable activity. The important thing is to make sure you do it regularly.
In order to maintain a healthy, active body throughout your lifetime, you need to learn how to eat foods that are good for you. Certainly the high fat, high calorie burger from the local fast food place tastes good, but it is not good for you.
You need to develop the habit of eating lean protein, steamed or raw vegetables, fresh fruits, and carbohydrates containing a low glycemic index such as whole grain cereals, brown rice, and wheat bread and pasta. This doesn’t mean you have to give up sweet desserts and snacks for good, but you need to learn to eat them in moderation.
Having excess weight puts a strain on both the heart and the back. In order to ensure that you can stay active and do the things you enjoy, you need to make sure your weight is within normal range. If you are overweight but think you are still healthy, you need to review the things you are able to do compared to some of the things you used to be able to do. Certainly you are older, which causes some difference, but your weight definitely has a detrimental effect on the level of activities in which you are able to participate.
No matter how many healthy foods we eat, it is likely we are not getting all of the nutrients we need. This is especially true of the Omega-3 Fatty Acids that help us maintain the health of our hearts. Although this nutrient is found in fish, few of us can eat enough fish to compensate, so we need to supplement this deficiency with fish oil supplements. The same holds true of many other nutrients such as Calcium, Iron, Folic Acid, and the B vitamins just to name a few.
A healthy lifestyle will help us keep our bodies healthy into our golden years, and following these tips will certainly help you in this process. You don’t need to give up your favorite foods to be healthy, but you do need to make sure you eat the unhealthy foods in moderation. You also want to make sure to get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and supplement your diet with important vitamins and minerals.
Marie Watson writes weight loss, diet plan, health, beauty and general wellbeing articles for the Slim Eazy Web site at www.slimeazy.com