Be Healthy and Be Your Best!
By Toby Graham
As women, we are often taking care of others and we don’t always take the time to care for ourselves. Children, spouses, and jobs take most of our time, and when we do take time for ourselves, it is often a source of stress and even guilt. Unfortunately, our physical health becomes a secondary concern for us.
Yet I believe that when we feel our best, we can give our best in all areas of our lives and better endure life’s daily challenges. Let me encourage you with 10 healthy habits to keep you at your best!
1. Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight can lead to the development of serious risk factors for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Find out what your healthy weight and body fat percentages are, and strive to meet them. 2. Know the basics of nutrition. When it comes to nutrition, keep it simple. Eat plenty of good carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products. Choose lean protein such as chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs, and legumes. Include some healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and olive oil. Eliminate foods that are of little nutritional value and high in fat. 3. Water, water, water! Water regulates appetite, flushes the body of toxins, and keeps tissues, muscles, and joints supple. Aim to drink half of your body weight in ounces each day. 4. Eating out: Know before you go. Having trouble making healthy choices when eating out? Look up the restaurant’s menu online for nutritional information before heading out. Decide what you will order before you go, and keep yourself accountable by not looking at the menu once you arrive. 5. Fill in the gaps with a supplement. The reality is that none of us has the perfect diet. Therefore, we probably don’t get all the vitamins and minerals we need in a day to fully nourish our bodies. A multivitamin fills in the gaps in nutrition. 6. Sideline sugar. Sugar, including artificial sweeteners, contain no nutritional value and add a lot of additional empty calories to your diet. Sugar can also cause high blood pressure, suppress immune function, and increase risk of coronary heart disease. 7. Move as a way of life. Conveniences in modern-day life have minimized the reason to move. As a result, our bodies are inundated with muscle imbalances, inhibited range of motion, and poor circulation, all of which lead to chronic back, neck, and hip pain. Reintroduce movement in everyday life by taking breaks from your computer to stand and stretch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or taking a walk in your neighborhood. 8. Decrease stress and increase sleep. Stress increases your blood pressure, putting your heart under an intense workload. A lack of sleep causes interruption in the body’s routine maintenance and repair functions. Take time to de-stress by going for a walk, spending time in prayer, or taking a hot bath. And commit to getting seven hours of sleep each night. 9. Take time to plan. Studies show that those who take time to plan, and even record, their meals have a higher success rate in eating healthy and in turn lose more weight (and keep it off). Taking time to plan meals is a great way to save money at the grocery store and stay on track with good eating habits. 10. Get to know your body through preventive care. Wellness is not the opposite of being ill. Wellness is a way of life and a proactive approach to caring for the body you’ve been blessed with. Take the time each year to get to know your body by getting regular wellness checkups including cholesterol, blood pressure, and body fat.
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