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3 Key Tips for When You’re Choosing to Be Healthy

Are you ready to join a healthy minority?

Less than three percent of Americans are leading healthy lifestyles. Rather than choosing to be healthy, many Americans find themselves mindlessly going along with old habits.

Habits like sitting more than walking, or smoking to relieve stress, are things that become a part of our daily lives. Many Americans already know they need to make a lifestyle change, but for one reason or another, they just can’t seem to break free of their destructive patterns.

Luckily, all it takes is deciding you want to change, for your life to begin transforming. Fitness is a choice, and when you choose it, everything else will start to fall into place. Read on to learn the top three ways to live a healthy and vibrant life.

1. Get Enough Sleep

Choosing to be healthy, means acknowledging the areas of your life that don’t align with your fitness mission. A great place to start righting fitness wrongs is by making sure you’re getting enough sleep.

Did you know that you’re supposed to sleep for at least one-third of your life? If you want your body to be working at peak condition, you have to make sure you’re getting enough sleep at night.

One of the problems many Americans face is being able to turn off their minds when it’s bedtime. Stimulants like energy drinks, or coffee, may still be coursing through your veins at night. Caffeine is especially disruptive if you continue to drink coffee in the afternoon.

Along with caffeine, alarm clocks and the light from electronic screens can also interfere with your circadian rhythm. Take a moment to look at your sleeping environment to determine what distractions you can get rid of.

Find Your Sleep Number

Researchers used to believe that all you needed to know was a person’s age, to determine how much sleep they need. While you can use your age as a guide, it doesn’t mean it’s a cure-all solution for meeting your sleep needs.

Factors like health issues, weight, and caffeine use, all play a part in how much sleep you need to get. Since the amount of sleep you need is personal, you’ll have to figure out for yourself what number works for you.

2. Choosing to Be Healthy with Food

Do you have a favorite food that’s completely unhealthy? Whether you love to chow down on greasy foods, or can’t stop nibbling cheese, remember that being healthy doesn’t have to mean losing the foods you love.

Being fit is all about creating balance in your life. Instead of trying to put yourself on a diet that cuts out foods you love, why not just find more foods you love, that are healthy?

There are a ton of different healthy food options, and even more, options when it comes to ways to season and cook these meals. If you don’t think there are any healthy foods that you like, chances are you just haven’t been looking very far. While raw health foods might not appeal to you, cooked veggies with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt could be just what the doctor ordered.

Tips for Vegetable Haters

If you feel like a kid, in an adult’s body, and can’t stand the sight of vegetables, smoothies will be your ticket to good health. Fruit smoothies are a great way to blend a variety of vitamin-packed vegetables, without having to sacrifice taste.

Greek yogurt, spinach, kale, flax seeds, and chia seeds, all make for great smoothie ingredients. If you do choose to go the smoothie route, be sure you’re putting in more vegetables then fruit. Finally, if you can handle it, try making your smoothies with water instead of sugary juices.

3. Motion Is Lotion

What’s your normal day to day activities look like? If you find that most of your day’s spent sitting down, you’re missing out on the power of motion.

Here are some ways you can create motion throughout the day:

When people hear the word motion, they tend to instantly think of exercise. Yet, putting your body into motion doesn’t have to be the same as working out. One of the best parts about choosing to be healthy is it doesn’t have to be a hard or strenuous process.

It’s best if you find small ways, throughout your day, to move around more. Stretching not only helps your body become more flexible, but it’s also a great way to relieve stress.

Move Throughout the Day

Rather than setting aside a time to stretch every day, we suggest you stretch throughout your day. Walking is also a low impact exercise, that’s easy to incorporate into your schedule. Start choosing parking spots that are further away than normal, forcing yourself to walk more.

Breathwork is also a great way to create motion within your body, without having to move around a lot. Places like the Koh Samui Detox Resort, focus on using breathwork to promote an increased sense of vitality. Finally, warm-up exercises, like jumping jacks, will help lubricate your joints, while also giving you a burst of energy.

Enjoy Your Journey

Remember, fitness isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. The goal isn’t to one day become healthy, and then stop trying. Rather, the principals you learn to lead a healthy life, are things you can continue to use year after year.

Choosing to be healthy, is a choice you have to make over and over again, every single day. While some days you might choose the wrong thing, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed.

Instead of focusing on achieving a weight loss goal, put your energy towards enjoying the fitness journey. You can start by filling your fridge with foods that are healthy, yet still tasty. Go ahead and check out our Food and Drink section today!