Healthy lifestyles: how to get the best version of yourself

Cultivating healthy lifestyles is essential to enjoy complete well-being, both physical and mental. Although this is something we all want, often when it comes to taking action we look for excuses and end up eating inconveniently and leading a sedentary life. This is a shame, since to achieve the best version of ourselves, it is enough to incorporate certain habits into our routine. Like everything, it costs a little at first, however the reward is very rewarding, because what is better than taking care of ourselves and those we love most?

What do we understand by “health”?

Normally we associate health with the absence of pathologies, however, it is much more than that. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “ health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

As you see, health goes beyond the body, as it also has to do with our mind and our social relationships. Therefore, to achieve a healthy lifestyle it is essential to work on these three aspects.

In general, the ones we tend to neglect the most are the first two, that is, our body and our mind. Therefore, in the following sections we give you the keys to take care of them in the best possible way by incorporating some habits.

Healthy lifestyles: The 4 pillars of physical well-being

That the mind and body are closely related is something we have known for a long time. The Greeks already coined the expression “ Mens sana in corpore sano”. It would be for a reason!

And the basis of good mental health is physical well-being. But what exactly does it mean to take care of our body? Again, the approach is global: it is not enough to exercise, but it is also necessary to eat an adequate diet, sleep well, avoid tobacco and other toxins, and even carry out periodic medical check-ups.

Below, we give you some guidelines to cultivate the four pillars on which physical well-being is based: food, physical activity, rest and the absence of habits that are harmful to the body.

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• Prioritize unprocessed foods

Today’s frenetic pace of life means that we often turn to ultra-processed foods: they are convenient, tasty and already cooked. It’s a big mistake! These types of foods are the most harmful due to their high content of sugar, salt, fat, preservatives, colorings and additives. Therefore, whenever you can, say no to ultra-processed foods!

Lack of time is not an excuse, since replacing them with healthy options is perfectly compatible with a lifestyle in which there is no excess time. For example, instead of having a muffin with your mid-morning coffee, you can eat a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit.

The key is that you always prioritize natural foods. The less processed what you eat, the better.

• Read labels: avoid harmful additives, added sugar and trans fats

Get used to reading labels, as they contain essential information to know what we really eat. Many ingredients, such as additives, have nomenclatures that make it difficult to deduce whether they are harmful or not. To help us in the task of identifying them, today we have such practical tools that tells us whether an additive is “not harmful”, “suspicious” or “dangerous”, as well as its origin, which It can be “animal”, “vegetable” or “synthetic”. To do this, you just have to enter the ingredient code. In this case we will see that we are dealing with a preservative, specifically, sodium sorbate, of chemical or synthetic origin and not harmful.

As a rule always choose those foods that have fewer “harmful” additives or, better yet, those in which all of them are “non-hharmful”.

• Cultivating healthy lifestylesis essential to enjoy complete well-being, both physical and mental. Although this is something we all want, often when it comes to taking action we look for excuses and end up eating inconveniently and leading a sedentary life. This is a shame, since to achieve the best version of ourselves, it is enough to incorporate certain habits into our routine. Like everything, it costs a little at first, however the reward is very rewarding, because what is better than taking care of ourselves and those we love most?

• Avoid pesticides and artificial substances

Nowadays, in order to improve productivity, the use of pesticides in agriculture has increased. Although this is regulated, many of the fruits and vegetables that reach our table still contain traces of chemicals. Therefore, it is better to peel the fruit before eating it. When you see an apple in the fruit store that shines a lot, if you buy it, try to peel it before eating it because they have probably added “waxes” to achieve that shine that is so unusual in a fruit. Therefore, peel the fruit, wash the vegetables very well, or opt for organic products, free of pesticides.

• Don’t forget to include at least five daily servings of fruit and vegetables in your diet.

They are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants that will help you fight infections, and alleviate the effects of oxidative stress in the body, one of the causes of aging and cellular damage. These foods also promote intestinal transit and detoxification of the body, all advantages!

• Moderate red meat consumption

It is not about eliminating it from your diet, but about limiting its consumption, since there is evidence that associates the habitual consumption of this type of meat with the risk of colorectal cancer. You can replace it with white meat such as chicken, turkey or fish.

• Switch to whole foods

Whole grain is not synonymous with bland or tasteless. Quite the opposite! Whole grains or flours are very tasty and, best of all, they contain more vitamins and minerals, promote intestinal transit and do not cause rapid increases in blood sugar levels, as occurs in the case of refined flours.

• Don’t abuse alcohol

As in the case of red meat, it is not about eliminating it from your diet, but rather consuming it in moderation, since abusing alcohol has proven harmful effects on health.

• Drink water

Keep your body hydrated by drinking 2 liters of water a day. This habit will help you purify your body by eliminating waste through urine, perspiration and intestinal transit.

Your life habits

• do exercise

Exercise is another way to join healthy lifestyles. Get at least 2.5 hours of exercise a week, since anything below that is considered inactive. Choose an activity that you like and practice it, choose to walk instead of taking public transport or the car, or look for an application to exercise at home, any option is fine! The important thing is to stay active, since the benefits are multiple. For example, did you know that physical activity releases endorphins that make us feel good and activates our immune system?

In addition, regular exercise has an impact on your quality of life, as it gives you more resistance to physical fatigue and less willingness to fall and break bones. For this reason, it is very important to continue practicing it at older ages.

• Do not smoke

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals, of which at least 70 are carcinogenic… there is not much more to say.

• Sleep the hours your body needs

If you are one of those who sacrifice hours of sleep to gain extra time per day, you are endangering your health. Lack of sleep has detrimental consequences both in the short, medium and long term. When we sleep our body recovers from daily activity and our brain rests and organizes itself. Most adults need to rest between 7 and 9 hours to feel good. Getting proper rest improves memory, protects the heart, and even reduces depression.

Mental well-being, key to a healthy life

There is little point in worrying about our physical health if we neglect mental well-being. That’s why:

• Save your daily time for yourself

Give yourself a moment every day to do what you like or relax you, without thinking about anything else: whether it’s reading a good book, practicing yoga or boxing or crocheting. Pampering yourself is the first step to reducing stress and being comfortable with yourself and the people around you.

• Share quality time with your partner or friends

Human beings are “social animals”. By nature we need to interact with our peers and have true and close relationships. Loneliness has negative effects on both a mental and physical level, so do not neglect your emotional ties and cultivate them as much as you can. In this case, without moderation!

As you can see, the habits that we propose to lead a healthy lifestyle are simple and available to anyone. Incorporating them into our routine may be a bit difficult at first, but they come with so many benefits that they make it worth getting down to work and changing bad habits for better ones.

The habits we implement at home also help our families improve. In the case of the little ones, this can be of great help, since they are developing their habits and tastes, and therefore guiding them towards the most beneficial ones will be something that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Taking care of ourselves and avoiding the appearance of many conditions depends largely on our decisions and behavior. Do you know that according to the AECC (Spanish Association Against Cancer) approximately 50% of cancers could be avoided with healthy lifestyle habits? This does not mean that by adopting this type of habits we will be sure not to develop this disease, but we will surely get fewer ballots, so it is worth trying, right?

If you have not done so already, it is time to choose healthy lifestyles and take care of your health and that of your family in a proactive way. Helping you do this is precisely the objective we have at Fashion friends.