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Top Habits For A Healthy And Successful Life

Top Habits For A Healthy And Successful Life


You've got plenty of advice in other answers about that.

I won't give you some specific instructions because taking care of one's body is a highly individual issue. What if I shoot you with the advice to eat more animal protein when you are a vegan or have religious beliefs that limit such food to a minimum? Or tell you to do pushups and you are quadriplegic? Let's stop at the general level.

There are four elements of taking care of your body:
-diet
-hydration
-sleep
-exercise

You have to eat, drink, sleep, and move every day of your life. How you do it determines your level of health and energy.

There is only one general advice regarding diet that the majority of research and diet specialists agree upon eating non-processed foods. Hint: if the food wasn't alive a few days ago, it probably was processed (I mean, apples grow on trees, pizzas don't).

Hydration is also an individual issue. No matter how much fitness fanatics try to push slogans like "drink at least 16 oz of water per day" it doesn't make them a reality. A hulky guy needs more water than acute like a button gal. A few things to consider about your water intake:

-make sure that the level of minerals in your water is appropriate.

If you drink too much water with low content of minerals, it will leach minerals from your body. Beware: most bottled water is no better than tap water in that regard, don't overpay.

-beverages (coffee, tea) tend to leach minerals too. It's better to drink pure water than them.

Sleep.

Quantity.

Average adult needs from 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Be careful with "I don't need so much sleep" bravado. Only 5% of the population possess bodies that need less than 7 hours of sleep. People who notoriously undersleep (6 hours a night or less) suffer from degraded focus and performance and they don't even realize that they function below their optimal levels. They think they act normally when in reality they are slower and less bright.

Quality.

Have you ever slept too long and woke up tired or with a headache? The same can happen of course if you sleep too short. Have you ever slept in a new place and felt uncomfortable in not your bed? It's not enough to sleep the optimal period of time, you need to sleep well too.

For both sleeping well and long you need three factors:

-silence
-darkness
-peace of mind

Your sense of hearing is the last to turn off and the first to turn on when you sleep. You can train yourself (or be so tired) to fall asleep in a noisy environment, that's how people who live near railroads are not disturbed in their sleep by passing trains. But it's so much easier to simply have silence in your bedroom. Invest in the good door and windows. Sometimes a simple thing like rubber can make a difference.

Your eyes, and to a much lesser degree your skin have photoreceptors that sense the light and control hormones level in your body. Exposed to the light they wake you up, in the darkness, they are inactive and/or send signals to put your body to sleep. Thick and dark curtains in your bedroom are the best solution to assure darkness.

Peace of mind is a bit harder to achieve, however after some initial training, it may be more under your control than noise or lights are. A few tools that help to increase your peace of mind are meditation, prayer, dreaming, and evening ritual.

Top Habits For A Healthy And Successful Life


As a part of your evening ritual, you should avoid electronic devices, which screens disturb your sleep/ wake patterns. In the last half, an hour to an hour of your day do the things that soothe your mind. I pray with my kids, write my gratitude journals, make sure all the tasks for this day are finished, and pray laying in the bed.

Exercise

You don't need to go to the gym, weight lift, run an hour a day, or practice any other extreme physical activities. They are desirable, but not indispensable.

You move all the time, you just need to introduce more physical activities into your day.

Play some sport, play with your kids, take stairs instead of the elevator, use a bike instead of a car to commute to work (if you can of course), walk as much as possible, etc. Whatever you do, do it regularly, habitually. It's not enough to work out one week and spend another sitting on your a... hem, back. Your body needs constant stimulation.

If your body is up to the challenge, try to do a Heavy Intensive Interval Training workout every morning. It will increase both your strength and endurance, wake you up, and release fat-burning hormones all at the same time.

II. TAKING A PROPER CARE OF YOUR MIND.

You can't be your best if don't know yourself.

Self-analysis habits:

-journaling (including a gratitude journal)

-meditation

-prayer

You need to start with the end in mind. You need a vision for yourself and your mission. First, detect it then cultivate it.

Vision habits:

-look at your vision board

-read, listen to or repeat your personal mission statement as often as possible

-carry index cards with your goals on them and look at them several times a day

-pray, affirm, visualize

Positive, happy people perform better in all areas. The only reliable predictor of an individual's happiness is his/ her relationships. It's difficult to find either a rich hermit or a happy one.

Relationships habits:

-practice small things that take you closer to people; I habitually make eye contact and smile at everyone.

-cultivate gratitude

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