Developing a simple but effective daily routine is key to promoting optimal health. Your daily routine impacts your eating patterns, sleeping habits, stress levels, and overall health. From the first thing you do in the morning to the last thing you do at night, everything plays a key role in the quality of your overall health. To help you kickstart your journey towards a healthier lifestyle, here are nine healthy habits common in the life of a healthy person.
1. Drink Two Glasses of Water
A day in the life of a healthy person starts with drinking two glasses of water. Doing this will act as a wake-up charge, give you an energy boost, and help you get up and move faster. This minimizes fatigue and eliminates the need for a strong stimulant like coffee. Since your brain is roughly 75% water, staying hydrated improves focus and mental clarity. Drinking two glasses of water when you wake up also helps with detoxification, which strengthens your immune system.
This habit also boosts metabolism, helps with weight loss, promotes regular bowel movements, and prevents constipation. After going for several hours without water while you sleep, drinking two glasses of water when you wake up hydrates your body. If you aren’t used to drinking water in the morning, start with one 8-ounce glass and work your way up to two over time. Drinking your two glasses of water within the first 15 minutes after waking up is recommended. Avoid drinking untreated tap water. Instead, drink alkaline water, reverse osmosis water, spring water, etc. Just to be safe, always use a water filter.
2. Eat a Large Healthy Breakfast
A day in the life of a healthy person also involves eating a large healthy breakfast. Skipping breakfast is a go-to diet strategy used by people who are trying to reduce weight. But by doing so, you sabotage your body in several different ways. Skipping breakfast can result in several issues with your weight, health, and ability to concentrate throughout the day. In addition to negatively impacting your mood, skipping a nutritious breakfast can cause you to perform poorly at work and in other areas of your life.
Breakfast gets your metabolism working, which aids in burning calories throughout the day. It also gives your body the energy it needs to complete tasks and helps maintain concentration at work or school. According to research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, having a big breakfast helps one burn double the calories compared to those who prefer eating a large dinner. They also have fewer cravings throughout the day, especially for stuff such as sweets. They also have healthier insulin and blood sugar (glucose) levels. Remember to include variations in your diet to avoid developing food allergies.
3. Get Yourself Outdoors
A day in the life of a healthy person involves spending some time outdoors. 90% of Americans spend about 22 hours a day indoors. Spending time outside can enhance your overall health and well-being. Whether it is exercising, walking, hiking, or doing gardening chores such as tree pruning or flower care, the outdoors offers several options for physical activity. Spending time outside may also help with stress management and mental wellness.
By wearing sun protection, you can lower your risk of developing skin cancer from excessive UV exposure while taking advantage of the benefits of being outside. Additionally, physical activity and exercise release endorphins, which lower stress levels and anxiety and improve your mood. When you’re outside, the clean air also boosts the oxygen levels in your brain, raising serotonin levels. This neurotransmitter is responsible for altering your mood. Getting yourself outdoors is a great and effective way of lifting your spirits.
Additionally, studies reveal that spending time in nature improves the ability to focus or control impulses for both adults and kids. The natural environment gives our brains a mental vacation from the stresses of everyday life and can even help with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms.
Your sleeping pattern can also benefit from spending time outdoors. Your body operates on a circadian rhythm or internal clock. Exposure to sunshine throughout the daytime balances this internal clock, allowing you to enjoy longer sleeping hours.
4. Look After Yourself and Your Pets
A day in the life of a healthy person also involves taking care of yourself and your pets. In addition to looking after yourself, you should also take care of your pets. Responsible pet ownership begins with regular veterinarian visits. Due to their short lifespans, your dog or cat needs to be examined at least once or twice a year. When your pet is young, they’ll typically have more frequent veterinarian visits, but establishing and sustaining optimal pet health necessitates continuing these appointments as they age.
Visits to the veterinarian can be difficult. Luckily, there are strategies you can use to lessen stress for both of you. Cats, in particular, may be reluctant to leave the comfort of their home. It’s a good idea to get your feline used to her carrier when she’s still a kitten. Dogs generally enjoy going for car rides. Bring your pup along on joy rides so he or she won’t associate car rides with veterinarian visits. If you pick a vet that relates well with your little companion, you’ll find that they don’t mind veterinarian visits.
5. Try New Things Every Day
A day in the life of a healthy person also involves trying out new things. This is especially beneficial for your mental health. For example, if you associate your current residence with bad memories, such as losing a loved one, a breakup, or a fallout with friends, a move can benefit your mental health. Moving offers an opportunity for a fresh start. The idea of leaving behind your job, old friends, and home and adjusting to life in a new area can be daunting at first. While it’ll take some time to become used to your new routine, moving offers an opportunity to start over and let go of people, habits, and routines that no longer serve you. With obstacles like local rumors and preconceived notions out of the way, you can start your new life with a blank slate.
Being fully immersed in a different culture can also be eye-opening. While your move may not necessarily feature a complete 180 culture change, every neighborhood, city, and state has unique traditions and practices that can add to your experiences and perspective of the world. You can free yourself from firmly held ideologies from your past by becoming fully immersed in the customs and social scene of your new environment. If you decide to move, hiring a professional moving service to help with your move is recommended.
6. Cook Your Own Food More Than You Eat Out
A day in the life of a healthy person typically involves making a home-cooked meal. Cooking your food more than you eat out has been proven to offer several benefits. For example, a home-cooked meal is often healthier. According to several studies, people who cook more often than they order takeout consume a diet that is generally healthier. These studies also demonstrate that, compared to home-cooked meals, restaurant meals often have greater levels of salt, saturated fat, total fat, and calories. You have complete control over what goes into your meals when you prepare them yourself. This significantly improves your overall health.
According to Healthline, nearly all of a woman’s required daily calorie intake (1,600 to 2,400 calories) and nearly two-thirds of a man’s necessary daily intake (2,000 to 3,000) calories are contained in the average fast food order (1,100 to 1,200 calories). And if you think smaller chains and independently owned eateries perform any better, think again. With an average of 1,327 calories in each meal, some restaurants serve out even more calories. To bring a sense of eating out to your at-home cooking, consider installing an outdoor kitchen through professional outdoor kitchen services.
7. Get Rid of Anything That Doesn’t Serve You
A day in the life of a healthy person involves getting rid of stuff that no longer serves them. Decluttering offers several benefits for your mental health. However, not everyone’s goals for decluttering are similar. Consider your ultimate results before you get started. Once you’ve determined your long-term objectives, break them down into more manageable tasks, and depending on how much time and energy you have to devote to decluttering, set realistic expectations for what you can accomplish at once.
While the 80/20 rule primarily applies to clothes, consider applying it to your decluttering project. This rule states that 80% of the time, people only wear 20% of the clothes in their closets. This guideline also holds for other possessions. If you ever feel overwhelmed by the prospect of purging a lot of stuff, remind yourself that you only use 20% of your possessions on average. Consider getting a dumpster rental for convenient disposal.
8. Take a Bath Every Now and Then
A day in the life of a healthy person typically includes taking a bath. Taking a bath offers several benefits. For example, bathing can improve your heart health. While taking a hot bath may cause your heart to work harder than required, especially if you already have a heart disease, a warm bath will give it a healthy workout.
Being submerged up to your chest with your head above water can also benefit your oxygen intake and lung capacity. The water’s temperature and the pressure it exerts on your chest and lungs are the two elements that contribute to this. The warm water combined with your heart beating faster will improve your oxygen intake, and the steam produced can clear your chest and sinuses.
Taking a bath is also good for your neurological system and brain. In addition to calming the neurological system and relieving pain and inflammation, being submerged in water may also improve your mood by lowering your body’s stress and anxiety levels. Multiple sclerosis patients can also benefit from hydrotherapy since the water’s pressure and warmth gradually eases pain in the spine. Equip your home with the best water heater to start enjoying relaxing and rejuvenating baths.
9. Avoid Alcohol Consumption in the Evening
Yes, that last beer or glass of wine before bed can make you feel sleepy. However, it will rob you of a good night’s sleep or, worse, may lead to some serious sleep problems. People who consume alcohol before bed often experience insomnia symptoms and feel overly drowsy the next day. This effect is attributed to the fact that alcohol can inhibit the REM sleep cycles and disrupt your sleep. This can put individuals in a vicious loop where they use alcohol as a sedative to counteract the effects of coffee and other stimulants they consume during the day.
The quality of your sleep can be particularly affected by binge drinking, which is when you consume excessive alcohol in a short time and reach a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or higher. According to the Sleep Foundation, recent research found that binge drinkers were far more likely to experience difficulty falling and staying asleep. These results applied to both men and women. Adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and elderly people all showed comparable patterns.
Alcohol can also interfere with your circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal cycle that regulates your daily sleep and wakefulness pattern. Alcohol hinders your circadian rhythm from responding to natural light, which keeps it functioning properly, causing anomalies and an out-of-synch sleep cycle. If you drive to and from work, hitting the bar in the evening also increases your chances of being involved in a drunk driving accident.
Your journey towards a healthier lifestyle isn’t a race; it’s a marathon. The best approach to establishing a healthy daily routine that will stand the test of time is to concentrate on small habits and practice them consistently, rather than trying to change everything at once.
