We live in busy times. The fast-paced way of living in the 21st century means that many of us do not prioritize our health until our internals feel weird. Even then, many still go on with their everyday routines till the infection or disease overwhelms them. With work-life balance for most people tilted in favor of work, it is easy to understand why we tend to relegate our health to the backburner.
When most people realize they’ve not been paying attention to their health as necessary, probably after an illness or a health scare, they set big health goals which they find challenging to keep. In no distant time, the demands of life make them lose control and return to their former ways.
Being in control of your health does not have to be strenuous, and you don’t need to obsess over fad diets or trending workout routines to be in the loop at all times. With a measured but intentional approach, you can achieve your health goals without neglecting other aspects of your life, regardless of your busy schedule.
To make this goal achievable, we’ve sourced out the top five things you must know to be in control of your health:
Know Why You Want to Control Your Health
It may sound easy, but knowing why you want to take complete charge of your health is vital. The chances of meeting your health goals if you cannot state the reason behind them in the first place are minimal. You may have to make sacrifices for your health, which can be challenging to follow through.
Here are some reasons to be intentional about controlling your health:
Longevity
A healthy lifestyle helps you get the best from your body. You are more productive and likely to avoid diseases that reduce your lifespan.
Spend Less on Health
Controlling your health is cost-effective in the long run. When you’re fit, you spend little on medical bills and pay lower premiums on your health insurance.
Improved Confidence
Being healthy makes you feel great and confident about yourself, especially as you grow older. With this improved self-esteem, you can enhance your productivity and relationship with others.
Prevent Addictions
There are so many addictions deeply rooted in the world today. By keeping your health in check at all times, your chances of falling into harmful addictive behavior are almost non-existent.
Protect Your Eyes
The eye is the window to the soul, and these delicate organs help us navigate and understand the world at large. As we age, it’s essential to keep our eyes healthy. To make this achievable, staying in control of your health is a prerequisite.
You Become a Role Model
Healthy living can positively inspire people close to you. You can influence those around you to take charge of their health by taking control of yours first.
See a Doctor When the Need Arises
It is often tempting to delay a doctor’s appointment until your health becomes an emergency. Many people also try to play doctor by “Googling” their symptoms and attempting self-care. Putting off seeing a specialist till your case becomes severe can have devastating repercussions.
Doctors undergo training to find and handle subtle signs of ill-health. They will prescribe the medications you need and give you pointers on the required dosage.
For example, if you have an eye condition, you may not understand what optical issue you have by just checking the Internet or reading random information on health forums.
A visit to an eye specialist will see them look at your eyes and determine the problem and what you require, like a contact lens prescription or a new set of glasses. By visiting your doctor routinely, you can quickly detect changes in your body function and take charge of your health.
Understanding and knowing how to read the prescriptions you receive from your doctor is another important skill that helps you take control of your health.
Eat Healthily
One of the most natural ways to stay in control of your health is by watching what you eat. With obesity rates skyrocketing, it is easy to lose control of your overall health if you cannot keep your weight in check. Poor eating habits also contribute to severe diseases like diabetes, heart disease, dyslipidemia, and stroke. You may also have to deal with weight-related conditions when you’re aged, like arthritis, if you are overweight.
Eating healthy means consuming foods that provide the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, formulate energy, and promote overall well-being. A healthy diet usually contains carbohydrates like fiber, starches, protein, and healthy fats. Your meal should also consist of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and dairy. That said, incorporating proteinous foods like eggs, fish, nuts, and legumes is vital in curating a healthy diet.
On the flip side, there are foods to avoid in their entirety. Notable mentions include refined grains, added sugar or salt, processed meat, trans fats, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco products.
Get Regular Exercise
While health practitioners emphasize the importance of exercise, only a few people make working out an integral part of their routine. Regular exercising can prevent heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, and colon cancer. Exercising regularly also promotes your mental health.
After an intense workout session, the release of endorphins (the feel-good chemicals based in the brain) improves your self-esteem and leaves you with an overall good feeling.
An exercise regimen of 30 to 60 minutes five times weekly will suffice for most people. However, if you’d like to tow the effective path, it’s pertinent to understand that intensity is trumps duration. Here, focusing on the quality of your workouts more than the length of time you spend working out is a must.
Getting Enough Quality Sleep
Getting quality sleep is necessary for optimum health. Restorative shuteye is becoming “hard to get” in a world of gadgets and endless notifications. We often have to meet deadlines and work targets that make us sleep-deprived. So, to stay in control of your health, you must be intentional about how much sleep you get.
Getting refreshing sleep improves your productivity, boosts concentration, enhances physical & mental performance, and strengthens your immune system against diseases.
To improve your sleep quality, follow these tips:
- Go to bed around the same time each night
- Don’t sleep when you’ve had enough sleep
- Be active and spend enough time outdoors during the day
- Switch off all lights and gadgets in your bedroom before sleeping
Conclusion
We cannot overstate the importance of staying healthy. The only reason you are busy and productive is good health. If you lose control of your health, your work or busy schedule will not seem so important, and you’ll be hellbent on feeling better.
Thus, it would help if you were deliberate about staying healthy. An excellent way to start? Following the tips we’ve discussed above.