Many of us think that being healthy is about eating bland food and doing rigorous exercise. In our minds, keeping ourselves healthy is a burdensome task. We are advised not to eat certain foods and drinks. We could not just laze around in bed or on the couch for days. Most things that are delicious, pleasurable, and comfortable are labeled unhealthy.
Our perception of keeping healthy could still be remedied. If we view our health as a crucial resource in everything we do, if we think of it as we think of time and money, we would take care of it more actively. To start with, here are a few things that we could all do easily. These only require minimum effort and commitment.
Regular medical check-up.
Because of over-the-counter drugs, we tend to self-medicate when we feel symptoms of an illness. However, if we keep on just addressing symptoms, underlying diseases might not be detected and treated immediately. Some diseases have symptoms similar to others. For example, thyroid problems could cause tiredness and muscle aches. These symptoms are also common for flu. Lack of iron and diabetes could also cause tiredness. So it is best if at least once a year, we could get checked by medical experts to properly diagnose health problems.
Understand your food intake.
Consult with a nutritionist especially if you already have a sickness that prohibits you from eating some types of food. It’s easy to simply look up nutritional data online, but you might find several conflicting information. For example, businesses engaging in specific grains might not reveal all the effects of some crops on health problems. They might just advertise positive nutritional benefits.
At least know the foods that are beneficial for you. You could look up blogs on how healthy food could be prepared deliciously and creatively. These just have not been that popular in the past because nutrition was not a problem. But the diet of most people today has been influenced by fast-food chains. Because they’re prepared quick, and perceived delicious, instead of having nutritious meals that take a long time to prepare, people just go through drive-ins or order delivery.
Drink a lot of water.
Water is essential. Even as humans could go for more than a month without food, we could only survive around three days without water. It flushes out toxins in the body and helps our organs function properly among other things. Instead of having a smoothie or a coffee constantly by your side, you could have plain water with you. Put it in a sports bottle so it is convenient to bring around.
Get some fresh air every morning before you start your preparations for work.
It’s not just about getting fresh air, but being exposed to the sun. The sun provides much of the vitamin D we need. Medical experts recommend for us to do outdoor activities more often, but due to our lifestyles, we are often confined to activities indoors. A short stroll around your block or do gardening in the morning would be easy to incorporate into your daily routine.
Walk from work once or twice a week.
If your work area is far, get down two or three bus or train stations away so you could walk part of the way home. However, don’t schedule this when you’re coming home late as it might be dangerous to walk the streets late at night.
Get enough sleep.
Truth be told, this is possibly the most difficult on this list with so many things we think we have to accomplish in a day. But take things slowly. Your projects wouldn’t mean anything if your health deteriorates fast.
Use your vacations to go nature-tripping.
Other than your need for sleep, take your mind off work periodically. And when you’re on vacation, don’t bring your work with you. Make a strict rule about it.
We all read about using vacations as our means to get inspiration for work. Don’t make it your end goal. If you do get inspired, then that’s great. But use your vacation to re-energize and the best way to do it is to be with nature, cut off from all of your gadgets.
These are doable activities in maintaining our health. We might not be consciously protecting our health because we are assured that we could enjoy the best medical care if we fall ill. But we never know when complications could arise. Not only would we end up spending more to address health problems, but our lives would also be affected. It is best to practice preventive measures than take medication when we are already beset with some illness.
