Healthy lifestyles: The importance of our health – I want to have a healthy Lifestyle”. A phrase often heard today. But really, what is a healthy lifestyle? Why is it important to lead a healthy lifestyle? “is the word health. When talking about leading a healthy lifestyle, it refers to having healthy habits that are assumed as one’s own. These healthy habits positively affect physical, mental and social well-being. Within these healthy habits can be found: diet, rest, the practice of regular physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption and the ability to manage stress correctly (1). All of this is to improve the individual’s quality of life and avoid long-term diseases (3).
What is health?
The World Health Group (WHO) defines well-being as: “a state of total physical, mental and social well-being”. This definition has debated several times to make it a clear and complete explanation. The consideration of fundamental and universal rights was added, related to age, culture and personal responsibility. In addition, there are many definitions of health worldwide since it is a state one aspires to reach. Among these, one, in particular, is complete: health is the social, emotional and spiritual well-being of the entire community and individual well-being (2).
In the WHO report in 2004 on “global strategy on a diet, physical activity and health”, there is talk of an environment that allows sustainable actions worldwide and that at the same time promotes and protects health, reduces diseases and mortality rates related to unhealthy diets and physical inactivity, promoting healthy lifestyles worldwide since 2004 (2).
What is the importance of foremost a healthy lifestyle?
Health results from the care the individual gives himself and those around him. A healthy lifestyle is important because you will have a better quality of life. Healthy lifestyles considered determining factors of a person health status (4). The risk factors for chronic non-communicable disease (CNCD) are inadequate nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, tobacco, alcohol, high blood pressure, high glucose and high cholesterol. Leading a healthy lifestyle considerably decreases the possibility of developing a CNCD (4).
All of these risk factors can measured implementing a healthy lifestyle. Now that the term healthy lifestyle is clear, we will discuss strategies to achieve a healthy lifestyle without failing. The key to following the five steps will mention later. In addition, it is essential to seek help from nutrition, psychology or medical professional who can significantly support the change by giving valuable advice, guiding the individual to make intelligent decisions and proposing small changes that will dramatically impact health.
Five steps to a long-term sustainable healthy life
- The first step is establish a clear objective: What do you want to achieve? How is it going to complete? And in how much time do you want to achieve? Without this precise objective, it will be impossible to start.
- Propose weekly goals for the changes you want to make to improve your health and quality of life. Setting new goals every week and analysing the previous plans is advisable.
- Start the change progressively, and make small changes impacting your health. Start including fruits at breakfast and snacks, vegetables at lunch and dinner, start with a 30-minute walk three times a week, reduce weekly alcohol intake, and reduce junk food consumption once a week.
- Once these small changes are part of the lifestyle, start incorporating new habits. In addition to walking, incorporate two days a week of weights and increase the time of the walk, establish a bedtime routine, incorporate fresh, nutritious foods (quinoa, unsweetened almond milk, oatmeal pancakes, zucchini lasagna), be creative and find new recipes.
- To continue polishing a healthy lifestyle, keep a diary where you can write down the changes you have seen over time. For example, less reflux, less back pain, better mood, better rest, more energy, etc. This will be a great inspiration to continue with a healthy life. It is essential to know that there is always the possibility of not being able to comply with the established lifestyle for some reason, such as trips, parties or events. The key is to return to everything acquired over time and not forget the healthy life achieved. When resuming, the ideal is to do it progressively as it began with the change.
There is a great motivation to aspire and seek to lead a healthy lifestyle. The term healthy lifestyle often mistaken and often sought to lead to losing weight, improving the physical appearance or toning up. Each case is personal, but it could be: long-term health, avoiding diseases throughout life, being emotionally and psychologically, achieving optimal rest, performing well on a day-to-day basis, having a social life, a stable job, etc. If you find a deeper motivation, it will be easier to achieve it. As a nutritionist, I always tell my patient role “Let’s look for that real motivation that leads us to achieve what we want in a simpler way and everything else is a side effect of what we are doing.”
“That healthy eating becomes a lifestyle and not just another diet.”
