10 Best Health and Wellness Tips for a Happy and Healthy Life

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wellness tips

Let’s be frank, life can be difficult at times. Quite often, we spend so much time worrying about external factors that we forget to take care of ourselves. Then, when crisis strikes, and its time to start considering some healthy lifestyle changes, we have no idea where to start.

With so many sources of healthy living tips out there, it can be difficult to gather all of the available chunks of advice together.

But don’t panic! Here are 10 easy to follow wellness tips, all in one place, to help you achieve a happier and healthier you.

Cut Down Your Sugar Intake

Let’s get this one out of the way first. No matter what anyone might have ever told you about sugar, the bottom line is that your body doesn’t need it. Energy comes from glucose, which you get when your body breaks down carbohydrates.

There are plenty of natural sugars in a lot of the food we eat such as dairy products and fruits, so there really is no need to be consuming added sugar. Excess sugar intake can lead to insulin resistance, obesity, and tooth decay. It also increases stress and has a negative impact on your immune system.

Truth be told, there’s no list of benefits to offer you. Eating sugar causes the brain to produce huge amounts of dopamine, much like it would if you ingested cocaine. It might feel great, but it’s not doing you any good.

An easy way to immediately cut your sugar intake is to stop drinking sugary drinks.

Exercise

Having some form of regular exercise that you enjoy is a great first step towards a happier and healthier you. Much like sugar releases dopamine, so does exercise. However, unlike sugar, regular exercise can do the following:

  • Help control your weight
  • Improve your mental health and mood
  • Help maintain and improve cognition
  • Strengthen your bones and muscles
  • Improve your sleep
  • Improve your sexual health
  • Reduce your risk of heart disease
  • Help to relieve stress
  • Boost confidence

The list goes on. Not everyone is cut out for the gym or ten-mile runs, but we’re pretty sure that there is a form of exercise out there for you.

Sleep

Getting the right amount of sleep is a crucial factor when it comes to your wellbeing. Poor sleep has been linked to insulin resistance, weight gain, and poor physical and mental performance.

There is no exact amount of sleep to prescribe to every individual, but the sweet spot of 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night seems to work for most.

If you have trouble falling asleep then create a ‘winding down’ routing for the end of the day. Do something relaxing, avoid looking at your phone or tablet, and be sure to avoid caffeine, alcohol, or cigarettes too close to bedtime.

Eat More Protein

Getting enough protein is vital for optimum health. Your body uses protein to repair itself, so having a sufficient intake is essential for staying up and running.

Protein helps to boost your metabolism and keep you feeling full for longer, and it also helps to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

If you need help calculating how much protein you should be eating daily, try out this free protein calculator.

Take Care of Your Gut

Your gut is responsible for so much more than just dealing with your food. The relationship between the gut and the brain means that the health of your gut can have a huge impact on your mood, energy levels, and immune system.

There are a number of ways to help improve your gut health. First of all, eat more fruits and vegetables. Secondly, eat less junk food. You can also improve your gut health by taking probiotic supplements.

Hydrate

Water makes up about 60% of you, and having enough of it is necessary for every single function of the human body. Dehydration can cause headaches, constipation, and impaired cognitive function, and it can significantly impair your energy levels.

The amount of water you should drink will differ depending on your energy expenditure, your environment, and your overall health. Drinking water whenever you feel thirsty is a good first step.

Eat Real Food

Junk food is engineered to stimulate your pleasure centers, making the world of pre-packaged food an addictive one. However, it’s usually high in salt and sugar and low in anything that the body actually needs.

Consume whole foods, and when you can, cook from fresh ingredients. If you’re looking for healthy snack alternatives to biscuits and chips, then try dried fruits and nuts instead.

Interact With Nature

Getting out into nature does wonders for your state of mind. Simply making yourself aware of the natural world around you is a great way to ease off stress and instill a little calm.

Take a walk in the woods, listen to the birds sing, smell flowers, and watch it rain. It might sound like very little, but spending more time in nature has been found to have a positive effect on wellbeing and overall health.

Challenge Yourself

Most popular health & wellness websites are filled with informative content, but what they forget to tell you is that stepping outside of your comfort zone is a great way to show yourself who’s boss. Whether it’s adding a mile to your run or trying something you’ve always wanted to try, voluntarily walking into a state of discomfort can do wonders for your wellbeing.

Regularly challenging yourself mentally and physically will help grow confidence as well as fight off anxiety and depression symptoms.

Stop Making Excuses

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today.” Somewhere along the course of history, human beings got pretty good at making excuses. And excuses make getting things done incredibly difficult.

Perhaps you’re trying to lose weight, quit smoking, or start a regular exercise regimen, but when it comes to the crunch, you’re always too tired, or tomorrow looks like it will bring better circumstances.

When you do this, you actually create a negative feedback loop. One that tells you that you don’t actually have any control over what you do. If you’ve set a goal, then just take a deep breath, ignore the internal monologue, and jump straight into it.

Follow These Wellness Tips for a Better You

These 10 wellness tips are a sure-fire way to get you climbing up the ladder of wellness. It’s important not to take too much on at once. There’s no point in pursuing health and wellbeing if you constantly feel stressed! Choose a few and stick with them until they become second nature. Then you can start adding to them.

Feeling good is pretty addictive, so once you start, it won’t be long before you’re looking in the mirror at a healthier and happier you.

For more on health and happiness, be sure to take a look at the rest of our site.

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