How to live a healthy life

10 Healthy Lifestyle Tips for Adults

1. Eat a variety of foods

For good health, we need more than 40 different nutrients, and no single food can supply them all. It is not about a single meal, it is about a balanced food choice over time that will make a difference!

2. Base your diet on plenty of foods rich in carbohydrates

About half the calories in our diet should come from foods rich in carbohydrates, such as cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread. It is a good idea to include at least one of these at every meal. Wholegrain foods, like wholegrain bread, pasta, and cereals, will increase our fibre intake.

3. Replace saturated with unsaturated fat

Fats are important for good health and proper functioning of the body. However, too much of it can negatively affect our weight and cardiovascular health. Different kinds of fats have different health effects, and some of these tips could help us keep the balance right:

4. Enjoy plenty of fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are among the most important foods for giving us enough vitamins, minerals and fibre. We should try to eat at least 5 servings a day. For example, a glass of fresh fruit juice at breakfast, perhaps an apple and a piece of watermelon as snacks, and a good portion of different vegetables at each meal.

5. Reduce salt and sugar intake

A high salt intake can result in high blood pressure, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are different ways to reduce salt in the diet:

Sugar provides sweetness and an attractive taste, but sugary foods and drinks are rich in energy, and are best enjoyed in moderation, as an occasional treat. We could use fruits instead, even to sweeten our foods and drinks.

6. Eat regularly, control the portion size

Eating a variety of foods, regularly, and in the right amounts is the best formula for a healthy diet.

Skipping meals, especially breakfast, can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in helpless overeating. Snacking between meals can help control hunger, but snacking should not replace proper meals. For snacks, we could choose yoghurt, a handful of fresh or dried fruits or vegetables (like carrot sticks), unsalted nuts, or perhaps some bread with cheese.

Paying attention to portion size will help us not to consume too much calories, and will allow us to eat all the foods we enjoy, without having to eliminate any.

7. Drink plenty of fluids

8. Maintain a healthy body weight

The right weight for each us depends on factors like our gender, height, age, and genes. Being affected by obesity and overweight increases the risks of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer.

9. Get on the move, make it a habit!

Physical activity is important for people of all weight ranges and health conditions. It helps us burn off the extra calories, it is good for the heart and circulatory system, it maintains or increases our muscle mass, it helps us focus, and improves overall health well-being. We don’t have to be top athletes to get on the move! 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity is advised, and it can easily become part of our daily routine. We all could:

10. Start now! And keep changing gradually.

Gradual changes in our lifestyle are easier to maintain than major changes introduced all at once. For three days, we could write down the foods and drinks we consume throughout the day, and make a note of the amount of movement we made. It won’t be difficult to spot where we could improve:

You may also like…

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Europe

Why do we opt for the light version?

What Are Superfoods and Are They Really Super?

Most recent

Explore Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables in Europe

Food waste in Europe: statistics and facts about the problem

Healthy pregnancy: what foods to eat when pregnant

Microalgae: producing new food products that consumers accept

EUFIC is a non-profit organisation that provides engaging science-based information to inspire and empower healthier and more sustainable food and lifestyle choices. We believe in a world where people live a healthier life because they know how to.

Categories

About EUFIC

Using this website

This site complies with the Health on the Net Foundation Code for trustworthy health information: Verify here.

Co-funded by the European Union (under grant agreement No 101082821). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the agency can be held responsible for them.

Your Ultimate Guide on How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

We all aspire to live a healthy lifestyle. We scroll through our Instagrams and sigh dreamily at all the yogis posing effortlessly or our favorite foodie’s smoothie bowls. Health is something we all want, and it’s something from which we can all benefit. But, when we get right down to it, do any of us really know how to live a healthy lifestyle? Or do we just assume we know based on what we see?

The simple truth is that the healthy lifestyles we see or read about on social media are often mere snapshots of reality. They’re designed to look picture perfect, rather than accurately showcase the real lives of ordinary people.

Learn to build the 9 ultimate pillars of wellness by downloading the Fabulous app.

A healthy lifestyle is so much more than running marathons and drinking detox teas. In today’s post, we’ll try to break it all down into one definitive guide on how to live a healthy lifestyle. We’ll talk about what health is, the many facets of wellness (yes, there are many!), and how to stay healthy throughout your life.

Let’s get started!

What is Health?

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being. Specifically, health is more than the absence of disease or injury. Health isn’t just about surviving; it’s about thriving.

Health and wellness have multiple, often overlapping parts. We call these the Nine Pillars of Wellness. We may naturally maintain good health in some aspects of our lives, but no one pillar is more important than the others. For true health, we need to focus on all nine.

The Nine Pillars of Health and Wellness

Physical

Physical wellness is what we tend to think of when we’re thinking about wellness in general. It’s the state of not having any illnesses or injuries, but also about feeling physically well day by day. Physical wellness can be the difference between waking up energized in the morning or wanting to hit the snooze button and fall back asleep. It can be taking multiple flights of stairs without getting tired. Physical wellness is glowing skin, bright eyes, and a sensible appetite.

We improve our physical wellness by eating well, exercising, and making sure we get enough rest. Fabulous can help you build an exercise routine that sticks, cut excess sugar from your diet, or help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Try downloading the app today to get started for free.

Emotional

In recent years, our emotional health has been entering the spotlight, which we love! Emotional wellness is defined by our ability to identify, understand, regulate and express our emotions.

If you find yourself struggling with your emotional health, try injecting some self-care into your daily life. Journaling can help you sort out your feelings by getting them out of your head and onto paper. Even something as simple as expressing gratitude each morning can help you better regulate your emotions.

Intellectual

Intellectual wellness involves being able to use the resources available to you to expand your knowledge. Humans crave intellectual stimulation. We’re programmed to learn new things and experiment. When we can’t do that, we stagnate, grow restless, and become agitated or depressed.

Spiritual

Many of us might conflate spiritual wellness with religion, which isn’t the case. Religion can help us improve our spiritual wellness, but spiritual wellness is really about finding meaning in our lives. When we believe we have a purpose and can start each day with positive intentions, we have good spiritual wellness. When our bodies and minds feel connected and we feel present in our lives, we have good spiritual wellness. Having spiritual wellness is all about having a positive sense of who we are in the world.

Improving spiritual wellness isn’t as cut and dry as some other pillars of wellness because it’s a highly individual process. Nobody, not even us here at Fabulous, can tell you what your purpose is (though we can help you figure it out for yourself with the Purpose Driven Life journey). But working toward figuring it out is a great place to start.

Creative

Humans love to create things. We make everything from music to furniture, and when we don’t have the means to create, it can take a serious toll on our wellbeing. We also benefit from looking at what has already been created. When we have good creative wellness, we can appreciate the beauty in everything we experience. Not just in man-made things like art, but in nature, too. Creativity is a fantastic stress reliever and can help us express our emotions when words alone fail.

There are many ways to work on your creative wellness. The simplest is to create! Or, if you’re looking for inspiration, you needn’t look any further than your own backyard. Take a walk through nature and witness its beauty. Listen to birdsong and the running water of a creek or river. Smell the fresh scent of trees and wildflowers. Take in beauty with all your senses, then unleash it wherever you deem fit.

Financial

Whether we like it or not, we live in a world that requires money to thrive. Granted, our world puts more emphasis on building wealth than your wellness, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore our finances altogether. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), nearly three-quarters of Americans are stressed about money, and it’s affecting their physical and emotional wellness.

Environmental

We are more affected by our environment than we realize. Everything from the amount of clutter in a room to the color of everything around us leaves an impression on our psyche. Our sensory organs are constantly receiving input from everything around us. This can affect us in a positive way; for example, a tidy, minimal space can help us focus on work and avoid distraction. However, our environment can also have negative consequences, like when air or noise pollution makes us sick.

So it’s vital that you are able to create or shape your spaces so they are optimal for work, relaxation, sleep, or whatever you need. It can transform how you feel. You can test this tonight before you go to bed. If you have trouble sleeping, try the Fabulous meditation session, A Space for Sleep, to learn how to configure your space for a good night sleep.

Social

Humans are a social species. We evolved to this point by cooperating and freely exchanging ideas. It should come as no surprise that the internet, one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments, is a tool that helps us communicate and share information!

Going out into the world in search of positive social experiences can sound terrifying if you’re shy or awkward, but fear not. There are opportunities abound if you know where to look. Find a local sports team or organization that’s relevant to your interests. You’ll be surrounded by like-minded people and have something to talk about during those awkward first impressions.

Or, Fabulous can help you strengthen the social bonds you already have! The next time you try a challenge or journey, invite a friend to join you. You’ll be able to share your experiences and keep each other motivated. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone, either.

Career

Since we spend about a third of our time at work, it makes sense that job satisfaction would affect our general wellness. Career wellness is all about having a satisfying job that you enjoy, and that grants you the work-life balance that suits you. For some people, this may mean working a demanding job for 50 hours a week. For others, this may be a simple part-time job that makes just enough money to cover the bills while freeing up time for other pursuits.

How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

This is a lot to take in. Who knew that wellness was so complex! It’s hard to believe it, but consider how complex we are as individuals. We’re can be logical in some ways while completely irrational in others. We may have basic needs for survival but a long, happy life requires so much more than food, water, and shelter.

To better understand your wellness strengths and weaknesses, try this exercise: Get a notebook and write out each of the nine pillars of wellness, then rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being your weakest pillar, and 10 being your strongest. You may have multiple pillars you feel particularly weak or strong on. That’s okay! But be honest with yourself.

Once you have your strengths and weaknesses on paper, it’ll be easier for you to work on improving those weaknesses, maintaining your strengths, and achieving total wellness. Start by embarking on an unexpected journey and find the energy you need to be your healthiest self.

What are the ways to live a healthy lifestyle?

Home » Tony’s Advice » How do I start living a healthy lifestyle?

What you will get from this article:

With all of the diets and health trends out there it can be hard to figure out what the best strategy is for living a healthy lifestyle. But discovering how to live a healthy lifestyle is not something that can be achieved by shortcuts or hacks, because those only provide short-term results.

How to live a healthy lifestyle

Trendy diets and workouts aren’t the answer, because those things are not sustainable.

If you want to create real, lasting results – if you want to transform and regenerate your body, create more energy and power and ignite a greater sense of vitality than ever before – it comes down to following The 3 Mandates of Extraordinary Health. This will enable you to not only make incredible physical changes, but to experience better emotional stability and mental clarity as well.

Ready to learn more about living a healthy lifestyle?

Ready to begin your new, healthy lifestyle?

Mandate One: Stop the Poisoning

Click here for a downloadable pdf

Mandate Two: Cleanse and Detoxify

Imagine trying to drive a Ferrari and its oil has been mixed with sand. It doesn’t matter how much new oil you add to your car – if you don’t clean out the adulterated oil, the engine is not going to run. This is why learning how to live a healthy life starts with cleansing and detoxifying.

Mandate Three: Revitalize and Regenerate

The third key to living a healthy lifestyle is to give the body what it needs.

Second, strive for structural integrity and aerobic power. This means creating structural balance and maximizing natural nerve flow. Physical activity, particularly activities stemming from aerobic exercise, will increase circulation, and proper posture will help your musculoskeletal structure.

Third, emotional juice. Nurturing your emotional well-being is one of the most powerful ways to be healthy. What practices do you follow that make you your best? How do you ward off negative beliefs and encourage yourself to feel joyful? Start by introducing incantations into your daily routine. Find those magic moments throughout the day that you can use to find gratitude. Focus on thinking about the positive aspects of life and directing your energy to what’s good. What’s wrong is always available, but so is what’s right.

So many of us are making demands that our bodies can’t meet, making living a healthy lifestyle impossible. But if you adhere to these three mandates, you will not only achieve a healthier physical body, you will find your way to a healthier way of living.

Keys to living a healthy lifestyle

Learning how to live a healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s not an impossible mountain to climb. By building healthy habits into your daily and weekly routine, living a healthy lifestyle becomes second nature.

1. Recover your drive

2. Make healthy habits portable

Learning how to live a healthy life means replacing old, unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. Make those new habits “portable” so you can take them anywhere, and reward yourself for good behavior.

3. Challenge your mind

Keeping your mind active and challenged is one of the most critical ways to be healthy. Engaging the mind prevents age-related cognitive decline and enhances virtually every aspect of life. As you seek out activities and books that are thought-provoking, living a healthy lifestyle becomes a source of joy and inspiration.

4. Nurture your social network

Your tribe is your strongest ally in discovering how to live a healthy lifestyle. Build extraordinary relationships with people who support, encourage and inspire you.

5. Nurture a realistic, positive attitude

6. Focus on gratitude

Embracing gratitude involves speaking and reminding yourself about everything you’re grateful for – whether it’s people, places or things. Recalling all you are grateful for puts life in perspective and re-centers you after a stressful moment. Staying present throughout the day is one of the many powerful ways to live a healthy lifestyle.

7. Turn off your technology

Keeping a smartphone or laptop by your side seems necessary. Make concrete choices about how you use technology and where it fits in living a healthy lifestyle, especially if there are other things you could do. Give your eyes a rest by choosing a real book over a digital copy or going outside for a walk in nature instead of watching a movie.

8. Find new activities to enjoy

Expand your interests outside of work by pursuing a passion that you love, or one that’s been on hold for a while. Curious about how to start living a healthy lifestyle? Sign up for an educational class on something that could turn into a sustainable activity if you dedicate time to it.

9. Get some rest

One of the keys to living a healthy lifestyle is taking time to rest and relax. Don’t be afraid to step away from work and your other responsibilities and head out on a vacation, or at the very least take a day off to recharge.

Resting your body helps you recover quickly while exercising and improves your productivity and daily energy levels. Aim for at least eight hours of sleep per night if possible, but remember the quality of your sleep and rest is more important than the quantity. Invest in blackout drapes or a sleep mask to give your eyes a dark environment to rest in.

If you have trouble sleeping, a white noise generator or intermittent use of melatonin supplements will help relax your body as you lay down to rest.

10. Take a walk

Getting up and moving around is a powerful way to improve your health and get your energy up. If you live close enough to your work to walk, do that instead of taking your car or train for a couple days a week. Going for a walk during your workday – even if it’s just around your office – will boost your energy and prime your mind for the rest of the afternoon.

Living a healthy lifestyle is the baseline for life transformation

Ready to begin your new, healthy lifestyle?

12 Steps To Healthy Lifestyle Habits That Will Change Your Life

One of the best decisions you can make is resolving to have healthy lifestyle habits. Since health is wealth, keeping your body healthy should be your number one priority. By maintaining good health, you can have a good body shape, enjoy a better mental health, and have more energy.

You will also look better, live longer, avoid diseases and feel more confident. However, with today’s lifestyle, it’s quite challenging to have healthy lifestyle habits. This is why people are not only dying young but also suffering from health issues that can be prevented. Here are the top 10 healthy lifestyle habits to help you live long

1. Regular exercise

Physical activity and exercise are not only good for your body but also a fun way to engage yourself. They are a chance to be outdoors, unwind, be social or participate in something that makes you happy. From improving your mood, to preventing cardiovascular diseases, there are a lot of benefits that you can get from exercise.

2. Healthy Breakfast

To be at your physical best and give your body enough fuel, you need to eat a healthy breakfast daily. Eating a healthy breakfast helps improve your metabolism rate, gives you more energy and improves your memory and concentration.

On the contrary, skipping breakfast means nutritional deficiencies and less focus. Regardless of how your schedule is, you can always prepare a nice breakfast that has carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins, and minerals. Some of the best foods include whole wheat toast, nuts, fruits, fruit smoothie milk, and omelet.

3. Avoid sugar

The first step is to eliminate all sugars from your diet. Once you remove the taste of sugar from your taste buds and mind, you will get used and stop craving. Make every effort to avoid sugar.

4. Get enough rest

Due to busy schedules and hectic lifestyles many people normally sacrifice their rest. Since the lack of enough rest can cause problems, you need to avoid this. Research has shown that sleep is among the most important things that your body needs.

You need to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily for your body to function well. Proper rest will also help you reduce stress, reduce inflammation, improve your memory, keep your heart healthy and even make you smarter. You need to avoid drinking caffeine and other foods late in the night. Above all, always create a good resting environment.

5. Stay connected

As humans, we are social animals and one of the best things we can do is to stay connected. If you want to avoid depression and premature death you need to have regular contacts with loved ones. Some researchers even think that the most important thing that old people should get is regular social interactions that come with walking, exercising and going out.

Having a proper connection with a family member or a friend can also give you an added advantage of having someone watch over you. They will tell you if they think you are not fine and might even urge you to see a doctor if you have not realized it yourself.

6. Breathe deeply

Typically breathing is an activity that inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. When you consciously control this and breathe deeply, it will have a huge effect on your overall health. It not only maximizes your oxygen intake but it also relaxes your mind and body so that you can manage stress and anxiety well.

Make sure that you engage in deep breathing for 20 minutes daily as the first step towards a healthy life. To make it workable, practice it in an open area very early in the morning when the atmosphere is not yet polluted. By doing this, you will inhale fresh air and your system will also get vitamin D from the sun.

7. Have a routine

If you want to have a healthy lifestyle, you need to live by routines. You can start by eating the same kinds of food and engaging in the same activities. Sleeping and waking up at the same time is also one of the best habits that can help keep your body in equilibrium. Remember, as you grow older your psychology becomes weaker and it can be harder to start training your body to do the things that you really want to do.

8. Stay hydrated

While you can survive without food for a few days, it’s hard to survive without water for long. Every organ, tissue, and cell in the body need water to work properly. Staying hydrated will, therefore, help increase your alertness, improve your activity and control your appetite.

Moreover, it will prevent headaches, fatigue, and dry skin. To ensure that your body functions to the maximum drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. However, this often varies from one individual to another. Instead of reaching for unhealthy beverages, remember always to carry a bottle of water that you can drink when feeling thirsty.

9. Practice dental hygiene, personal hygiene and go for regular screening

According to studies, periodontal diseases contribute to diabetes, heart diseases, and even premature births. It’s, therefore, important to practice good dental hygiene and to floss at least twice a day.

Apart from this, it’s very important to maintain good personal hygiene. You should take care of your skin, hair, ears, nails, toes among others and wash your hands several times a day to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria.

It’s also important to get regular screenings and tests to help you detect any health issue before it becomes a big problem. Some of the most important checkups include regular blood pressure checkup, dental checkups, skin cancer screening, and mammogram, among others.

10. Stretch in the morning and the evening

Staying healthy and physically fit depends on your physical flexibility. Since most of us sit behind the desk the whole day, you need to stretch every morning and evening to ensure that your body works like a well-oiled machine. Alternatively, you can engage in some light activity so as to test and see whether your body is working well.

11. Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight is a serious health problem for many people, as it increases the risk of developing serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure.

On the other hand, being underweight has a direct relationship with heart problems, low resistance to infections, chronic fatigue, anemia, depression, and very low defenses.

These conditions are preventable if a balanced diet is followed and the weight is controlled.It is best to change habits including food and physical activity. In this way, it is possible to maintain a healthy weight for life.

12. Meditate

A Thai study found that individuals practicing Buddhist meditation had lower levels of cortisol and blood pressure. Those who meditated daily for four months also decreased their cortisol levels by 20%, according to a study by Maharishi University.

Meditation can help us treat disorders at the level of body and mind, significantly improving our quality of life and allowing the connection to our inner source of happiness and peace.

Final words

Well, those are some of the best healthy lifestyle habits. If you practice these well you will not only boost your self-esteem and confidence but you will also enjoy a long healthy life. Just treat yourself well, be good to others and create a habit of being fit, healthy and disciplined.

How To Lead a Well-Balanced Life

A healthy, happy mind can contribute to good health. Balanced living means having a positive outlook, focusing on good habits, and lowering stress.

Everyone longs to be healthy and happy. After all, what’s the point in working hard toward a long and healthy life if you can’t enjoy it? While focusing on a healthy lifestyle by exercising and eating right is great for your body, balanced living means protecting your mental and emotional health, too. And stress reduction needs to be at the top of your to-do list.

Balanced Living: Making the Commitment

Balanced living means considering all aspects of your life: relationships, work, fitness and health, and emotional well-being.

We all get bogged down with work and family responsibilities from time to time, but making time for yourself is necessary so that you can keep up with all your responsibilities. All batteries get run down, even yours. So recharge your body physically and mentally and make the commitment to enjoy some “you time” every day.

Balanced Living: Boosting Happiness and Creativity

Being happy gives you a better outlook on life, so you’re more prepared to tackle your tasks. Stress, on the other hand, can keep you from enjoying life and can have a negative impact on your health. Research also has shown that stress can stifle creativity.

Make time to take care of yourself and indulge in creative outlets you enjoy to help with stress reduction:

Balanced Living: Enjoying Exercise for Good Health

Exercise isn’t something you should force yourself to do, or you won’t be likely to stick with. Do something that you like and look forward to doing, instead of another chore that you’ll be tempted to skip. Remember that exercise plays a huge role in stress reduction, so make time and motivate yourself for exercise by:

Balanced Living: Making Time to Eat Right

The right diet will keep your body healthy, give you energy, and boost your spirits. Healthy food can be delicious, and it’s fun learning new recipes and healthy combinations. Also, healthy cooking doesn’t have to be time-consuming:

Everything in moderation is a phrase you hear often, and with good reason. Everything in moderation means that there’s a healthy balance to your life, so laugh, love, live, and be healthy.