Health and fitness are topics that are often discussed yet that many people struggle to understand or incorporate consistently into their lives.
The thing is, thanks in part to social media and a wealth of outdated information or even misinformation in recent years, there are many conflicting messages about what you need to do to be fit and healthy and what it actually means to be healthy.
Multiple factors can help you improve your health and well-being; these small aspects can build up to form a happier, healthier you.
So, let’s break it down and look at exactly what you need to do to get fit and healthy.
A Balanced Diet
Your diet and what you eat is a massive source of misinformation, but for the majority of people, you simply need to eat more whole, nutritious foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, protein sources, fiber, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Lessen your intake of convenience foods. Ignore anyone who tells you to cut out certain food groups (this isn’t applicable for most people) and simply balance what you eat. While you shouldn’t cut out those foods you love as this will just make you crave them and binge on them more, you can simply make healthier food swaps and incorporate them into your diet in smaller quantities and less frequently.
Drink More Water
Hydration is a crucial pillar of good health. You should aim to drink at least 8 cups of water per day. Low-calorie or sugar-free alternatives can also keep you hydrated if plain water isn’t your thing. Remember, when you’re not properly hydrated, your body can’t function at its best, and you won’t feel your best, either. Proper hydration can improve your skin health, aid digestion, regulate body temperature, and maintain blood pressure. Your body is made up of 60% water, so it’s crucial to replenish fluids lost through everyday activities like breathing, sweating, and urinating.
Add Exercise
Again, like strength training (which involves using resistance to build muscle strength and endurance), there are many misconceptions about the best type of exercise. But in a simplistic term, anything that boosts your heart rate leaves you slightly out of breath and is something you enjoy is all you need when it comes to exercise.
Sure, you can build in other aspects; increasing cardio and strength training are great options to include in your fitness program, but if you’re going from being inactive like 75% of the population (as per a 2022 CDC report), keeping it fun and simple is best until you build healthy consistent exercise habits. So whether you work from home using free workout videos, join the gym, start swimming, or take up a new sport or dance class, it’s entirely up to you. Just commit to moving and adding more exercise to your day.
Sleep
Sleep is the cornerstone of good health. A good sleep routine can work wonders for you, your health, your energy, and your mood. Poor sleep will do the exact opposite. While it’s not as easy to tell someone to get more sleep, working on improving your sleep habits can enable you to unlock the cheat code for good health. Start by removing any distractions from the bedroom, setting the same slope and wake-up times, doing calming activities before bed, removing electronics, etc, and see how you go. But even if you do everything in this post, if you’re not improving your sleep, you won’t be able to make as much of an impact as you want.
Mental Health
Again, if you’re struggling with mental health, doing all of the above isn’t going to help you. Sure, exercise can be massively beneficial for your mental health, but it can only do so much. If you’re not focusing on supporting good mental health, chances are whatever changes you make or try to make potentially won’t have their intended impact. So, instead of focusing only on your physical health, take your physical and mental health as a whole and address what you need to help you improve all aspects of your health.
So there we have it. Five things you can do to strip health and wellness back to basics and start building on these foundations to improve how you feel and how you care for your body. You need to eat a more nutritious, healthier diet, drink more water, get active, improve your sleep, and support your mental health. Once you have the basics in place, anything else can come afterward, but chances are once you do hit these essential goals, you won’t need much else.
