Spending time in the gym or following a strict diet are great, but they still take place within the confines of our daily life. Improving our health is not difficult, or for that matter even challenging, but it does require making small adjustments to our daily lives.
All the little things we do throughout the day may seem insignificant, but they add up to big changes. Here are twenty-one ways that you can start improving your health today and create a healthier, more pain-free you for tomorrow.
- Walk frequently. If your job has you sitting down all day, get up and walk around as often as you can without being fired. If you spend most of your day at a desk or driving in your car, form a morning, evening, or lunchtime routine of walking for at least twenty minutes.
- Take the stairs. Do you work on the second floor of a building? What about the eighth floor? Take the stairs, every single day. When I started my last job, taking the stairs to the eighth floor the first time had me gasping for air. Fast-forward one year and I was running those stairs and beating my elevator-riding co-workers to the office! Stairs are an excellent way to seamlessly add exercise to your day without even going near a gym.
- Drink water. You've heard it before, but this doesn't get old. Water is magical. To stay healthy you need to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Try replacing unhealthy drinks with a glass of water when you're feeling thirsty. Carry a bottle of water with you wherever you go so you never have an excuse to skip it!
- Eat breakfast. Yes, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Even if you're not hungry, you should be trying to eat something. Don't have any healthy food in the house? Eat anything! Breakfast is the one meal of the day where it's better to eat unhealthy than not at all. However, a nice bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, raisins, and bananas would be ideal. Grab an apple or orange on the way to work for a mid-morning snack.
- Get some sun. The sun has all kinds of healing properties. Yes, it can cause skin cancer, but I'm not telling you to go outside naked and bake in the sun for eight hours. Just go outside and grab a few extra rays during your lunch break. Spend the weekend in the yard or hiking a forest trail.
- Stretch every day. Your muscles are like elastic bands. The less they're stretched, the tighter and more ridged they become. Stretching causing your blood to flow and carry nutrients to various areas of your body. Think of the positions your body is normally in and stretch in the opposite direction. If you sit down a lot, stand up and stretch your hands overhead. When you get out of bed, spend at least two minutes stretching before you head to the shower. You don't need a yoga routine. Just do whatever stretch feels good.
- Eat whole foods. This seems to go without saying, but it's absolutely vital to our health. Whole foods are healthy. When we eat them, they make our body healthy. It's really that simple. Whole foods are basically anything that hasn't been processed or manufactured by a machine: Fruits, nuts, vegetables, grains. Try forming a habit of eating one apple every day. Keep a bag of nuts in the car and snack on those during the drive home.
- Be conscious of your posture. Everyone has a different posture, but there is a such thing as "proper posture". Take a moment to evaluate your posture. Are you slouching over? Are you walking with your head down? Imagine someone tying a string to the top of your head and then pulling on it (no, you're not being hanged). Do that with your posture: pull your shoulders back, push your chest out, stretch your neck up, and breathe. Try to be aware of your posture throughout the day and correct it once you recognize that it's out of balance.
- Modify your eating habits. We all need to eat. By the time you're an adult, eating has become a habit -- it's second nature. However, small adjustments to our daily eating habits can have huge long-term affects on our health. Do you normally eat a poptart for breakfast? Try cereal with fresh blueberries and bananas instead. Do you normally have coffee with two creams and four sugars? Try coffee with one cream and two sugars. Slowly move your eating habits in a direction that is healthier and before you know it, you'll be eating and feeling a lot more healthy.
- Meditate. This doesn't mean you need to become a monk and dedicate the rest of your life to a spiritual calling. Collect your thoughts. Spend a few minutes quieting your mind and bringing it back home. Take deep breaths and relax your entire body. You can try it in the morning (before stretching) or just before bed. Even during your lunch break is a good time. At my last job, there was a small quiet area with a patch of grass underneath a tree. I would spend a good ten to fifteen minutes there after lunch collecting my thoughts and meditating.
- Avoid feeling "stuffed". The goal of eating shouldn't be to feel stuffed. It's an uncomfortable feeling and it's detrimental to our health. If you normally feel stuffed after your meals, try eating slightly smaller portions. It's OK to feel slightly hungry after a meal. You're not going to die. Worst case, you'll feel a little hungry between that meal and your next meal! Science has shown that there are many benefits to eating fewer calories, so try not to stuff yourself -- you're not about to experience a famine!
- Treat physical inconveniences as mini-workouts. If you have to move a heavy box to another room, pretend it's a mini workout session. If you couldn't find a close parking spot and have to walk further than usual, treat it as a mini cardio session. Many physical inconveniences can be treated as opportunities to improve our health. Instead of complaining, think about how it's making you stronger and healthier!
- Get enough sleep. Our bodies need sleep to recharge and regenerate. If you're skipping out on sleep, your body will naturally be more stressed than it needs to be. Stress causes aging and releases chemicals into your body that are harmful. Everyone has different sleep requirements, but you will know if you're getting enough sleep. Go to bed a little earlier than usual if you need to. Try not drink caffeine at least five or six hours before bed. Also, eating a big meal or watching TV can prevent you from falling asleep. Regular exercise will also ensure that you fall asleep early!
- Walk barefoot. Your feet contain many nerves with pressure points linked to various parts of your body. Walking barefoot stimulates these and increases the blood flow throughout your body. If you normally spend all day in shoes, try walking barefoot. If possible, walk around at work with only your socks on (make sure you feet aren't smelly). The next time you bring the trash outside, try going barefoot. Take your time though and be careful. Your feet may be extra sensitive from living a life of comfort in those shoes!
- Try something you've never done before. Our bodies and brains require stimulation to remain healthy. If you repeat the same routine every day, or do the same set of activities on the weekend, you're severely limiting your growth. Join a martial arts class. Take a yoga class. Try trail running. Rent a mountain bike and discover the forest trails from a new perspective. Listen to a new genre of music. Read a different type of book. Explore that street you pass every day but have no idea where it leads.
- Move frequently. Objects in motion remain in motion. If you want to be healthy, you need to be in motion, whether that means physical motion or mental motion. Try to be as active as possible (again, mentally or physically). Try not to sit in one spot for more than thirty minutes to an hour. Get up, walk around, stretch, squat, jump, whatever. Think of activity as life and inactivity as death in progress (once again, physically or mentally).
- Do something relaxing. Set aside time to relax as frequently as possible. This could mean anything: spending quality time with family, reading a book by the ocean, going for a weekend camping trip, or just siting outside enjoying the moment. You should make time to relax every day, but even an entire week's worth of stress can be released in a few hours on the weekend by doing something that you find very relaxing.
- Breathe deeply. A deep breath provides ample oxygen to your body, calms your muscles, and releases stress. This is something you can do anywhere and at anytime. As you go throughout your day, try taking a deep breath whenever you feel even the slightest indication of stress. Battle the stress with air!
- Laugh often. Like deep breathing, laughter is an excellent stress-buster. Science has even shown that laughter has the potential to physically heal our bodies. It's the purest expression of joy and happiness. Even if you have no one to laugh with, try laughing to yourself. It feels great!
- Watch children play. Spending time watching children play reminds us what it's like to live without worry and stress; to live carefree and content with the moment. We all have an inner child who never dies and watching other children play makes our inner child come out from hiding. This helps us rediscover the joy and beauty of the moment.
- Think long-term. The reason we want to be healthy is so that we can enjoy life without discomfort and pain. If we think short-term, we won't see the value in improving our health today. Ask yourself what the you of tomorrow, or next year, will think about the you of today. Will that person look back with pride and admiration for the effort you spent improving your health? The future starts with today.
There are lots of ways to improve our daily health, but just reading about them isn't going to do much good. Choose any number of these steps, whether it's just one or all twenty-one of them, and try to integrate them into your daily life.
Do you have any other tips for improving our daily health? Share them in the comments below!
Yeah, this was just what I needed to read this morning, thanks. It’s tough to take time to touch base with yourself and to learn how to know what you need. We’ve separated our conscious so far from it’s animalistic in tuned state that we have difficultly responding naturally to what our bodies are asking of us. These steps are nice way to start pinpointing that process back to self-awareness. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Andi!
As you said, our bodies are already telling us what we need, we just need to listen and respond appropriately. It’s so easy to forget that common, everyday steps can be tuned to improve our overall health!
hmm…. another post directed at me. 😛
I’ll read all of it when I have more time, but thanks for the info; sleep…. yeah…. I need sleep. Your post follows some of the programs on the radio I’ve been listening to. Thanks!
Hey David,
YOU said it was directed towards you, not me. 😛
Great post. You try and do all of these things, but sometimes other things just take over. External circumstances like travel, budget and drinking all dont help to healthy eating. That being said, where there is a will there is a way. And even a move in the right direction is better than no action. Thanks for the inspiring words.
Hey Vinay, thanks for the comment!
I think we just need to make a constant, diligent effort to maintain our health. Sometimes it’s a matter of sacrifice and priorities. Drinking frequently definitely won’t help things!
that’s a nice post Ram, we all need to focus more on taking care of our health, thank u:)
Thank you, Farouk! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Health should always be one of our highest priorities.
Hey Raam, cool post. One tip I would add in addition to thinking long-term is thinking about now. Sometimes when we think about the future or past, it can cause anxiety or worry and our attention isn’t on the little, small things that are happening this very moment. Sometimes when I get stressed out, this is what to do and I focus on the sounds of the environment around me.
One of the tips that I could relate to is using the stairs. I used to take classes in Taiwan and because the land there is small, there buildings are built higher. My class was usually on the 9th floor and the elevator area was always crowded! Walking up stairs gave me the exercise I needed to pump me up for class (sometimes boring ;)). Great read, thanks for sharing this!
Hey Helbert! Thank you for commenting!
Thinking about the now is extremely important. It also helps make the whole process of being healthy easier, because we only need to think about the healthiest possible action to take in the current moment. If we base all our decisions on health, we will have less anxiety over making decisions and the decisions will be beneficial to us!
Climbing stairs is a great way to get energized! The only annoyance was being soaked with sweat by the time I got to the top. Of course once I was fit enough to run the stairs, walking was (literally) no sweat. 🙂
Great post.
Being on the road it’s sometimes hard to find the time to get these things into your routine, but I think it’s important to strive to do so.
Hey Yev, thank you for the comment! 🙂
As a permanent nomad, I can definitely relate to the difficulty of staying healthy on the road. However, where there is a will, there is a way! It takes a bit more effort when traveling, but it’s really about having the right mindset and always looking for the most healthy choice. Tacking things onto the routine’s that don’t change also helps: we all need to sleep, so doing things before sleeping and just after waking is a great way to get around the lack of routine.
I think an important part of the above is stressing the idea that being healthy is not something that requires some overwhelming time commitment. People always say “I don’t have the time.” But the above simply require a change in how we spend our time, in how we perform certain activities. No extra time is required at all.
And I can definitely say that laughing, walking barefoot and taking some sun have played major roles whenever I’ve felt my healthiest!
I agree, Earl. Being healthy is a matter of adjusting our lifestyle. We’re either living a healthy lifestyle or we’re not. Good routines and habits are useful, but if our lifestyle is unhealthy, the end result will not be a healthy one!
Great, great tips, all of them. I think I a guilty of skipping out on sleep in order to develop another zen habit, that of early (very early!) rising at 4:30am! But alas, I would not want to age prematurely or get wrinkles (gasp). Sleep is quite the topic – how much sleep? Does it really vary from person to person, from the time of year or from the typical day we have had vs say on vacation etc?
Other things I do: Drink loose-leaf tea, do not sleep in (don’t give in to sloth), do yoga, don’t give in to negative thoughts, eat raw foods, eat green salads for breakfast, and drink your green juices…., just to name a few!
Hey Farnoosh! Thank you so much for the comment. 🙂
Wow, 4:30am?! Now that’s what I call an early riser! I’ve been struggling to develop an early-rising habit myself, but I need to stop trying and just do it!
As for how much sleep, I’ve found that our bodies naturally tell us how much sleep we need (assuming we’re not confusing our body with caffeine or late-night eating!). I’ve heard that younger people need more sleep and older people need less. I’ve also heard the amount of sleep varies between 6 hours per night and 9 hours. (Through experimentation, I’ve discovered my own optimal number is 7 hours.)
Everyone also has different, but specific, sleep cycles that can vary from 40 minutes to 3 hours. If you wake up in the middle of your sleep cycle, you’ll wake up feeling groggy and very tired. But if you wake up at the end of your cycle (even if you haven’t gotten enough sleep for the night), you’ll wake up feeling somewhat refreshed and awake. Like you said, sleep is a whole topic unto itself!
Your other suggestions for healthy living — yoga, loose-leaf tea, not oversleeping, not giving into negative thoughts, and eating raw foods — are an absolute must!
Hey Raam, Great post! I’m just back to Taiwan and happy to say back on the straight and narrow as far as diet and exercise. I don’t know why it’s so much easier for me here.
Hey Bob, thank you for the comment! 🙂
I think old diets are easy to fall back into because old habits are easily rekindled when we’re living in a place we associate with them! We need to change the association to get rid of the habits. 🙂
I can’t wait to visit you in Taiwan. It’s looking like it will happen sometime next year.
Hi Raam,
This beautifully underscores the way that good healthy needs to become a way of being and not just scheduled workouts. Funny, how we’ve lost touch with these simple and basic ways of being healthy. The #8 tip on posture is one I frequently forget!
Hi Sandra!
It really is amazing how easily we forget some of the basic things that affect our health. Good posture and breathing are so important and problems with either indicate we’re doing something that is negatively affecting our health. All the more reason to get outside and move (preferably barefoot!). 🙂