How to lead a healthy lifestyle

10 Tips To Help You Lead A Healthy Lifestyle

Author: Cinergy Health & Life
In today's world, it seems we are all so busy, and it can sometimes be hard to find the time and energy to keep on track with a healthy lifestyle. However, healthy living doesn't need to be a chore.
Follow these 10 simple tips and you will be on your way to feeling great inside and out.

1. Learn some quick cooks: Ready meals and processed foods can be amongst the most harmful things to our health. Many people who eat them say they do so only for the sake of time and convenience, but cooking a healthy meal needn't mean slaving over a hot stove all day. You will find many meals which will take less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook in a "quick dinners" cookery book. Alternatively, you could look online.

2. Step out: Studies suggest that just 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week should be sufficient to keep you healthy. If you're not one for sports or the gym, why not simply walk to work, the shops or to pick up the kids from school, rather than taking the car?
3. An apple a day: A recent European study by EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) found that by eating just one additional portion or fruit or vegetables per day you could reduce your risk of dying prematurely from any disease by 20 percent.

4. Get away from the big smoke: Everybody knows how bad smoking is for your health, being a leading cause of lung cancer and heart disease just for starters. Many people, however, carry on regardless. If you are a smoker, the best way you can improve your health is to quit smoking. This is definitely easier said than done, so if you need help you should speak to a doctor or pharmacist.
5. Shake salt from your diet: By following tip number one and cooking your own food, you will get a much better handle on how much salt you're getting in your diet. However, it is unlikely that you are going to be making all of your food from scratch and even staples such as bread and cereals are going to contain salt. High levels of salt have been linked to high blood pressure, which can go on to lead to heart disease and strokes, so we should be eating no more than 6g of salt per day.

6. Don't sweat the small stuff: Too much stress has been shown to cause stomach ulcers, weight gain, high blood pressure and even ailments as serious as heart disease. If you find that you often get stressed, you might try combating it with exercise (yoga being one of the most popular stress relieving exercises), meditation or even massages and spa treatments.
7. Cut back on caffeine: Commonly found in tea and coffee, but also in some soft drinks and even in chocolate, caffeine can lead to anxiety, headaches and insomnia. If you find it hard to leave the tea and coffee alone, decaffeinated versions are readily available these days. If you still can't live without your caffeine boost, try restricting it to the mornings to avoid losing sleep!
8. Drink more water: The average person should be drinking around 2 litres of water a day. This may seem like a large amount but it will help to remove any toxins from your system and it may also reduce bloating as your body will retain water to store for use later if it is not getting enough.
9. Drink less alcohol: There has been extensive research on the effects of alcohol on the human body which have proven its damaging properties, especially to the liver. In addition to the health risks it causes aging of the skin and is nobody's friend the morning after a night out! It has been recommended that women drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol per day and men drink no more than 3-4 units. 1 unit equates to around half a pint of 4% beer or 1 measure of a 40% spirit. A large (175ml) glass of wine is around 2 units.
10. Everything in moderation: Pay heed to the above advice, but don't let it cause you to worry or to lead a joyless life. Sometimes it is good for your mental wellbeing to veg out on the sofa watching a film with friends or loved ones rather than going for a walk. Reaching for that piece of cake once in a while is not going to kill you. Just keep a healthy balance and remember to live your life!
With just a little effort, you can start you own healthy living regime today!

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