30 Tips to Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Use the tips to help adopt these easy daily habits to live a healthy lifestyle
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may feel like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. Making one small change at a time can help lead you towards a healthier and more fulfilling life.
This 30 step guide of healthy lifestyle tips can help you improve your health and overall lifestyle in 30 days. Try implementing one small task each day. Consistently following these steps over time can lead to big results.
1. Drink Water First Thing in the morning
Drink a glass of water in the morning, even before your morning cup of joe. According to Life Source, drinking water first thing in the morning has five key benefits. It can increase your energy levels, boost your metabolism, help ease aches and pains, helps clear your complexion, and fights toxins in your body. Of course, you will want to continue to drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated.
2. Take a Multi-Vitamin Daily
It can be difficult to get all of the vitamins we need each day strictly through the foods we eat. Filling our bodies with the essential vitamins is crucial for a healthy life and to keep you from getting sick. According to Tespo, taking daily vitamins can help reduce cancer risks, help with aging, boost immunity, promotes a healthy heart, supports eye health, promotes healthy skin and nails, and just makes you feel better all around.
3. Plan your Meal in Advance
Planning your weekly meals in advance does not only help you save money, but it helps you eat healthier as well. Having a schedule for what you’re going to eat and when prevents impulse eating, and keeps you from just grabbing something quick while you’re out.
My husband and I plan our meals and snacks each week before we head to the grocery store. Since there are only two of us, I cook dinner for 4, and we reheat what we had for dinner the previous night for lunch. This healthy lifestyle hack has not only helped us become healthier, but it has helped us save money as well.
4. Eat the Rainbow
Focus on eating colorful fruits and vegetables each day. This will help you get you reach your daily servings of fruits and vegetables and keep you fuller longer. I like to snack on raw carrots and sugar snap peas during the day!
5. Stretch Each Day
Stretching daily can not only improve your flexibility, but it has many other health benefits as well. Some of these benefits include stress relief and calming your mind. Check out other benefits of stretching here. Try incorporating stretching into your morning or evening routine.
6. Focus on Eating Healthy Fats
When people think of eating healthy, usually they think of reducing fat intake. However, eating fats is an important part of our diet. According to hearth.org, fats are an essential part of our diet to help us absorb nutrients and produce important hormones. Fats give our body energy and help support cell growth.
Some healthy fats to consider:
- Avocados
- Nuts
- Salmons & other fish
- Olive Oil
- Eggs
- Beans
7. Cook your own meals
Cooking your own meal takes more time, but you will know exactly what goes into them. This also helps with portion control. Restaurants often give you more than a single portion of food. When cooking your own food, make only what you need so your not tempted to over eat.
8. Always Take the Stair
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is an easy way to burn a few extra calories, and tone your legs and core. This was one of the easiest healthy lifestyle tips for me to implement and stick with. When I take the stair, I sometimes even skip a step to get a little extra leg exercise.
9. Have a Morning Routine
Start the day with fulfilling activities that will set the mood for the rest of the day. Give yourself time to relax, be productive, or simply reflect in the morning, this will set the tone for your day.
10. Cultivate a Positive Mindset
“A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset.” You have the power to set how your day is going to go, just by focusing on your mindset. Focus on the good things, and don’t dwell on the bad things. Don’t spend time worrying about things you can’t control. Having a positive mindset is key to living a healthy lifestyle.
11. Have an Accountability Partner
Tell your spouse, significant other, mother, or best friend your health goal. Telling someone close to your will help keep you accountable and keep you on track for achieving your goals.
12. Drink Enough Water Throughout the Day
Your body loses water throughout the day, so it is important that you continue to drink water throughout the day to replenish what is lost. According to Mayo Clinic, men should drink 3.7 liters of water per day, and women should drink 2.7 liters per day.
I carry around a water bottle with me that holds 1.5 liters of water. I try to drink one whole water bottle before 1 pm, then I refill and finish the second one before I go to bed.
13. Get Enough Sleep
Most adults need 7-9 hours of quality sleep. To help improve your sleep quality, try the following tips:
- Avoid harsh blue lights after dark
- Keep your room cool
- Don’t consume caffeine late in the day
- Go to bed and wake up at consistent times
- Exercise regularly but not before bed.
- Read more about tips to increase your sleep quality here.
14. Fill your House with Plants
Not only do plants enhance the look of your home, but studies have also shown that plants can boost your mood, increase creativity, eliminate air pollutants, and decrease stress. Check out this list of the best plants to keep in your home and their benefits.
15. Be Social
We are social creatures. Humans need human interaction to be happy whether it’s a night out with friends, a phone call with your family, or a conversation with a coworker, making time to socialize is key to a healthy lifestyle.
16. Find Time for Things you Enjoy
Unfortunately, many of us overlook this crucial part of our lives. We get caught up in our busy lifestyles, that we forget to make time for the things we enjoy. Block out at least 30 minutes each day to do something you enjoy. This could be baking, cooking, watching TV, exercising, or reading a book.
17. Fill Half Your Plate with Fruits & Veggies Each Meal
This healthy eating hack can help with portion control and help ensure you are getting all of your essential vitamins and nutrients. Eating fiber-rich foods can help you stay fuller longer and aid with digestion.
I try to fill half of my breakfast with fruits, whether it is a smoothie or a banana and focus on filling my plates at lunch and dinner with veggies. This also aids in fulfilling the goal of eating the rainbow.
18. Get 30 minutes of Physical Activity Each Day
Whether you are working out at the gym, walking around the neighborhood, or taking a yoga class, make sure you are moving at least 30 minutes a day. Not only will this help improve your mood, but it will set you up for a healthier future.
19. Spend a little time Outside Each Day.
We get a very crucial vitamin from the sun, vitamin D. Spending at least 30 minutes outside a day can help us get more vitamin D. Don’t live somewhere warm? Consider taking a vitamin D supplement.
20. Don’t Drink Your Calories
Anytime you feel like grabbing a sugary beverage, drink a glass of water first. This will reduce your urge to drink the sugary drink and will put you on track to reaching your daily water intake goal.
21. Always Start Your Day with a Healthy Breakfast
If you want to set yourself up for eating healthy the entire day, start with a healthy breakfast. Eat something filling and nutritious. See some healthy breakfast ideas below:
- Avocado Toast with an egg
- Fruit Smoothie
- Yogurt and Granola
- Oatmeal with fruit on top
22. Stand Up or Move Every 30 Minutes at Work
Work a desk job? Make it a point to get up and move or stand every thirty minutes. Go grab a glass of water or a fresh cup of coffee, or offer to grab the mail. I have a Sit-Stand Desk at work which helps me stay a little more active at work.
23. Enjoy Plain Coffee or Tea
Coffee and Tea are good for you, they contain loads of antioxidants. However, they start becoming less good for you when you start adding cream and sugar to them. Start by lessening the amount of additives to your beverages. With a little time, you will soon you will love the taste of plain coffee and tea.
24. Track your Steps
If you have a fitness tracker try to get at least 10,000 steps a day throughout the entire day. Walking 10,000 steps a day could increase your heart health, help stabilize blood sugar, and improve brain function and performance according to weighwatcher.com.
25. Ditch the Negative Self Talk
Constantly putting yourself down, or telling yourself why you can’t do something is never going to get you to where you want to go. Switch your mindset to more positive and inspiring messages. When you change your mindset and get rid of the negativity, you have the power to change your life. You can truly accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.
26. Eat More Plant-based Foods
No, I do not mean you should become a vegan or vegetarian, but focus on adding some plant-based foods to your diet. Plant-based foods have been shown to relieve depression, anxiety, and even promote mental clarity. Check out some of these plant-based meals.
27. Practice Gratitude
Take time each day to think about what you are grateful for. This activity could be added to your morning or evening routine.
28. Embrace Strength Training
Strength training or weight lifting does not mean gaining large amounts of muscle. Adding muscle to your body can increase your metabolism and help you lose weight and tone faster.
29. Say Good-bye to the Scale
Don’t focus on the number on the scale. Instead, focus on how your feel. The number on the scale can be deceiving especially if you are weight training. Remember muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are working on toning, you may gain weight instead of losing it.
30. Replace Carbs for a Protein or a Vegetable.
Thinking of making some teriyaki chicken and rice for dinner this evening? Try swapping out the rice for cauliflower rice. Making subtle changes like this in your diet will help you increase your vegetable intake and reduce your calorie intake.
When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, doing something is better than doing nothing at all. Try incorporating some of these healthy lifestyle tips into your daily routine. You don’t have to do everything at once. Pick a few healthy lifestyle tips that you like, and start there.
Checkout some of my other lifestyle and fitness posts by clicking here.