While it’s not always easy to change unhealthy habits, it’s best to set goals and put yourself first to ensure a happy and healthy life. Let’s look at approaches to healthy habits that are easy to implement into your lifestyle.
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Get rid of vices
While the occasional glass of vino or beer is perfectly okay, excessive drinking can do a lot of harm to your body, especially to your liver and heart. If you find yourself imbibing, try to cut back and drink a healthier beverage like water or fresh juices. You can even make your own “mocktails,” your favorite cocktails without the alcohol.
Quitting smoking can be extremely difficult. However, there are a few ways you can slowly wean off cigarettes and protect your health.
You can first try transitioning to e-cigarettes. While there are numerous myths surrounding e-cigarettes, they can help you become less addicted to nicotine and contain fewer harmful chemicals. You can then transition to vape pens with CBD oil, which contains no nicotine at all. They can even help relieve symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression without harmful side effects.
Create a healthy habits routine
To create a new routine, start by setting goals. Do you want to eat healthier? Train for a virtual 5k? Get into cycling? Once you have your goal, grab a blank calendar and start penciling in time slots for you to achieve your goals.
Maybe you’re an early bird and prefer getting things done before work. Now’s a perfect time to log a few miles around the neighborhood, experiment with new recipes, or take a virtual fitness class.
[Elly: Read my review about FIIT, the top-rated home workout app, and learn more about virtual wellness].
If you prefer slow and relaxing mornings, it’s okay to push things off to the end of the day when you have the most energy. When creating sustainable health behaviors, it’s important to remember we’re all different. Do what works for you, and if possible, find someone to hold you accountable and help you reach your goals!
Elly: Grab your free habit tracker template to take the next step towards creating a routine.
Healthy habits for nutrition: Restock your pantry
If you have limited cooking experience, knowing what to cook and how to cook healthy foods can be a challenge. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a 5-star chef at a Michelin-star restaurant to cook a delicious meal and reap the health benefits.
Before heading to the grocery store, consider what types of food you like. Italian? Asian? Mediterranean? Caribbean? Cultures across the globe inspire dozens of different genres of food. Once you figure out what your taste buds prefer, you can start your grocery list.
While TV dinners and frozen meals might appeal for their minimal prep time and convenience, they’re not all healthy. Processed foods can contain high levels of fat, sodium, and other ingredients that aren’t great for your body. It’s best to stick to whole foods from Mother Nature, such as legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and so on.
Snacks like cookies, candy, chips, and crackers are perfectly acceptable for movie nights and treats between meals. But, just like vices, it’s best to consume them in moderation. There are also premium, high-quality snacking options that are healthy and delicious.
With YouTube and Google, you can research healthy and easy recipes you can make right at home, so with some planning, you can be on your way to cooking nutritious meals.
Elly: Check out the video below for a nourishing vegetarian dinner idea, or try these 12 delicious golden berries recipes.
Start an at-home exercise regimen
There are plenty of at-home exercise routines you can do, such as:
- Going on a run through your neighborhood and staying motivated with fitness apps like Strava and MapMyRun
- Signing up for virtual fitness classes that require no weights
- Going on a hike with your family or housemates and exploring new trails with AllTrails
You can start numerous exercise regimens right from the comfort of your own home. As long as you’re creative, you can find ways to keep your heart rate up without having to step foot in a gym.
Elly: Grab your free bodyweight workout download here. It’s perfect for at-home or “anywhere” exercise. Each exercise has three progression levels, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
Alternatively, grab a free trial on the FIIT home workout app. Get 10% off any membership on Fiit using code ELLY10
Other areas to consider for a healthier life
You can look at many other lifestyle areas when you want to build healthier habits. Instead of focusing on healthy eating habits, you might focus on other factors that have made it more challenging for you to choose healthy foods.
For example, poor sleep habits can make it more difficult to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise routine. If this rings true, focusing on developing healthy sleep patterns may make more sense. When you’re getting sufficient quality hours of sleep, it becomes easier for other positive health habits to fall into place.
When making decisions about health behaviors, you might determine that your mental and emotional health needs priority. There are close links between emotional, mental, and physical health. So, if you focus on your mental and emotional health, you may find that better physical health starts to come more easily.
Do you need to focus on healthy relationships first to improve your emotional health? Or could it be simpler, such as reducing media and screen time to feel better mentally?
For serious mental health issues, seek medical advice from a healthcare professional.
Consult the professionals when needed
Oral health can impact other areas of physical health. You may decide it is time to work on a simple health behavior, such as flossing your teeth to improve your dental hygiene. Or, perhaps it is time to book a professional check-up and cleaning with your dentist.
Or schedule a comprehensive health check-up with your general practitioner. They can carry out simple tests such as blood pressure screening and risk assessment for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Blood tests can identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies to help guide your decisions around healthier eating.
Simple Tips for Healthy Habits | In Conclusion
From getting rid of vices to creating a routine and healthier eating to exercising at home, these are just some healthy habits you can start working on now.
Begin with something small so that it is easy to build habitual health behaviors that become lifelong health behaviors. For example, you might start with something as simple as drinking a glass of water each morning when you wake up. Or, you may decide to begin switching your diet soda to carbonated water to cut back on artificial sweeteners.
You can take many paths toward breaking bad habits, making healthy choices, and building positive health behaviors. Whatever you choose should feel right and bring you closer to the healthier lifestyle you desire and deserve.
Elly: If you want to know what’s in, out, and exploding in popularity in the fitness world right now, check out the current top fitness trends.
Sometimes, you need health tips specific to the type of work you do. If you’re a night shift worker, check out these eight ways night workers can stay healthy.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these recommended service provider links, like an insurance broker, or a travel agent, I may earn a commission – at no extra cost to you. [For my full disclosure, please see my DISCLAIMER page].
Thanks to Samantha from 365businesstips.com for this article. Please join the conversation and leave any questions or comments below!
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