Healthy living is a very common word used and there is no exact definition. However, a person with healthy living habits can stay away from illness and disease and maintain physical, mental and social balance. In order to achieve the overall balance, people commonly adopt healthy living habits like taking healthy diet and exercise. Even people with unhealthy habits can improve their overall health over a period of time by taking positive action. Many of the diseases like cancer, stroke and diabetes are genetically linked and carried by inheritance. By taking healthy living steps we can reduce the risk of serious diseases.
Few factors that influence healthy living includes diet, exercise, living area, job, thinking, relationships.
Healthy Living = Balance of physical + mental + social behavior = Healthy diet + Exercise
Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the most difficult things in the process of healthy living. Changing habitual unhealthy behavior involves some initial effort. As we say “No gain with out pain”, we really need some initial boost to start of with healthy diet. We need to know what happens if we continue with unhealthy diet. Diet is the key factor for maintaining the weight. Many diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, joint pains, sleeping disorders and depression are associated with overweight or obesity. Along with eating habits, avoiding smoking and drinking moderately are also necessary for good health. Our body needs certain amounts of water, vitamins, calcium, fiber, iron every day. A good diet should provide all of them daily in adequate amounts.
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Eat foods moderately from various groups and increase intake of fruits and vegetables
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Include whole grains and sprouts in your food.
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Drink plenty of water
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Control your weight by checking and keeping BMI in a good range
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Eat low fat foods and check cholesterol levels regularly
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Cut down excess calories by limiting sweets
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Avoid smoking
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Drink moderately
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Healthy diet should contain minimumof daily adequate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, minerals and water.
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Exercise
Most of us are not obese with birth. But many become obese because of lifestyle we choose. To maintain a weight within a good BMI limits and to prevent chronic diseases we need regular exercise. Regular exercise also keeps person in good self-esteem and confidence. It motivates and keeps away from depression. Several researchers reported that people with regular exercise regardless of age, live longer than those without exercise.
The key to maintain regular exercise is to find right exercise that a person enjoys most. Atleast half an hour of regular exercise like walking, running, jogging can improve health. Aerobics, swimming, hiking, skiing, and dancing, infact anything that makes person physically active is good for health. However, we need to find right exercise. It is good idea to consult doctor before doing any rigorous exercise.
If you want to lead a healthy living, you need to do minimum of eating healthy food and do regular exercise. The best way to learn about healthy diet and exercise is to know about food pyramid and various foods that we most commonly use and different types of exercise techniques available. Browse through the side links in this website and you will find facts about various foods and exercises. We also provided information about most common diseases.
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