10 Simple Lifestyle Changes for Staying Fit and Healthy

The current lifestyle we are living is full of habits that lead to poor physical and mental health. And poor health is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases, morbidity, and mortality. So, this year, if you have made a resolution to change your lifestyle by 180 degrees but it does not seem to be working out, let us know why.

You must have made unrealistic goals like hours of workouts or an extreme diet making it difficult to stick to your resolutions. However, simple but consistent changes in lifestyle and everyday habits are what you need to stay fit and healthy for a long time.

Now you must be looking forward to knowing what changes you need to make in your lifestyle and how are they going to make you energetic and fresh. So, here we assembled a list of some easy-to-maintain habits to help you achieve your forgotten new year goals.

Simple Lifestyle Changes for Staying Fit and Healthy

1. Stay Hydrated

Do you know 60% of the human body is water and most chemical reactions require water for their critical steps? Additionally, all enzymes work in an aqueous environment and it also cleans the body. So, can you gather the importance of water in life now?

An adult requires about 2 liters or 8 glasses of water every day. You can use fluids in any form, either plain water, juices, or smoothies. But try to avoid sugary drinks and too much coffee as it is unhealthy and does not replace water. Moreover, the water requirement of your body increases if it is summer and you sweat a lot or go to the gym regularly.

So, you must consciously remind yourself to drink water. Furthermore, develop a reflex of drinking one glass of water every time you pass by the kitchen.

2. Take a Healthy Diet

After water, the most important thing is what you eat. If you are someone living on fast food, bakery items, high-fat meals, or simple carbohydrates, stop! Such foods are making your health worse and making you susceptible to obesity and associated lifestyle diseases without you knowing.

A healthy diet includes 60% of carbohydrates, 25% of proteins, 10% of fats, and 5% of fiber. You can try the plate method to balance your macronutrient intake. Here, 2/4 portion of the plate includes grains, rice, or other carbs, 1/4 portion is based on proteins like meat, fish, or chicken, and the remaining 1/4 should be high in fiber like vegetables and fruits.

Moreover, your body gets more of the vitamins and minerals it needs when you follow a balanced meal plan. Also, do not forget to take breakfast every day. Lastly, restrict your salt intake and reduce your portion size in every meal.

3. Sleep Well

A good night’s sleep is the absolute requirement for good health. It is recommended to sleep soundly for 7-9 hours every night. While you sleep, your body relaxes, your heart rate decreases, fatigued brain functions are restored, immunity improves, and your mind relaxes. Consequently, your body becomes energized and recharged when you wake up.

Moreover, an adequate amount of sleep also increases the efficiency of your work and personal life. So, if you scroll through your phone till late at night, tell your cellphone and its blue light goodbye at least one hour before going to bed as blue light prevents sleep and causes insomnia.

Additionally, if it does not work out, try scented candles or essential oils to induce sleep. Also, track your everyday sleep schedule to know about your progress. Because a simple lifestyle change like getting good sleep can reduce many mental and physical diseases.

4. Maintain Your BMI

BMI or basal metabolic index is the ratio of your height and weight. It determines the quality of your physical health and the risk of diseases. Its normal value is 18-25. Above it comes the overweight and obese people. And obesity is the major risk factor for diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and other syndromes.

So, it is important to keep your weight in check and maintain a normal BMI. But do not worry if you are overweight, as you can always reduce it as long as you are consistent with your diet and workout.

One of the simplest methods to keep a check on your weight is to track it every morning empty stomach and then compare the weekly results. It can help you understand what makes you gain or lose weight. So, you end up following the habits that keep your weight at an average limit.

5. Say No to Smoking and Excess Alcohol

If you think smoking and alcohol do not harm your body, wait for a decade or two and see how it destroys basically every system of a healthy human body. Smoking contains several harmful chemicals like tar, nicotine, and more that adversely affect the respiratory system as they are inhaled.

Moreover, it is also harmful to your family putting them at risk of passive smoking. In addition to lung damage, cancer, and infections, smoking also results in compromised blood flow, atherosclerosis, and heart disease.

Regarding alcohol, while a limited amount of wine is good for heart health, an excess makes you vulnerable to hypertension, indigestion, liver failure, and physical dependence.

So, it is recommended to quit smoking altogether and limit alcohol intake as much as possible.

6. Exercise Regularly

Exercise is your best friend if you are on the journey of achieving a healthy body and mind. About 30 minutes of exercise per day for 5 days a week is recommended to become fit and maintain that fitness. Joining the gym is your best bet. But do not let the lack of time for gym dishearten you. As at-home exercises are also effective.

You can get a treadmill at home or simply start jogging in the morning in a nearby park. Moreover, simple maneuvers like choosing stairs over lifts, planning an outdoor sports game with your family or friends, and stretching often can do the job.

Regular exercise has multiple benefits like helping you lose fat, maintain weight, build muscles, prevent cardiovascular diseases, and boost stamina.

7. Avoid a Sedentary Lifestyle

A sedentary lifestyle and prolonged sitting lead to obesity, heart disease, and disturbance of the normal functioning of the body. What do you think when you hear the word “prolonged sitting”? Sitting for many hours or weeks?

Well, contrary to your comprehension, prolonged sitting is only sitting for two hours. Now imagine how many hours you sit without moving around or stretching every day. This can lead to reduced blood flow in the body, hypertension, musculoskeletal diseases, dyslipidemia, and even cancer.

So, it is best to avoid a sedentary lifestyle and make efforts to let your limbs move often. You can even set an alarm to remind yourself to stretch or take a small walk if you stay at home all day or work at a desk.

8. Take Multivitamin Supplements

Regardless of your focus on diet or effort to maintain it, you might still end up with some nutritional deficiency as our fruits and vegetable are not always organic or full of nutrition. Additionally, not everyone can eat them every day. As a result, the body becomes devoid of essential micronutrients like minerals and vitamins.

There is also limited exposure to the sun resulting in vitamin D deficiency. So, it is a good idea to incorporate multivitamins into your daily life. You can take vitamin C, vitamin B complex, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, zinc, iron, selenium, and magnesium supplements.

9. Take Care of Your Mental Health

We can not stop stressing about how important mental health is for a fit and healthy body. When your mind is not well, you won’t be able to focus on any of the other lifestyle changes. Thus, you must make effort to keep your mind relaxed and enable it to combat negative emotions like sadness, anxiety, fear, or depression.

To cope with such situations, you can start meditation, yoga, writing a diary, talking it all out to a friend, or even going for therapy. Additionally, if you manage you maintain your physical health, it will also help in the improvement of your mental health.

10. Be Consistent

Lastly, you must be clear that these lifestyle changes are not going to be transient. If you want to live healthy all your life, you must follow a healthy lifestyle for all your life as well. Additionally, these habits won’t show immediate results. So, patience and consistency is the key to health and fitness.

It takes about 2 months in forming a habit. Thus, you can take one step at one time and slowly work towards maintaining the lifestyle and fitness status you really want.

Conclusion

We support your decision of turning your messed-up manner of living into a healthy lifestyle. And to show this support, we came to help you with the list of the simplest habits that you can adopt to stay happy, healthy, fit, and strong.

Most of these habits are based on your diet, fluid intake, physical movement, and sleep. Additionally, avoiding smoking, alcohol, blue light, and a sedentary lifestyle is also essential. So, we wish you luck and hope that you won’t lose your determination and will stay consistent.