Healthy habits are not just for the gym. They can be as simple as drinking more water, eating a little more fruit and veggies, and taking the stairs instead of an elevator. They can be incorporated into your daily routine, which is why they are so powerful. Below we outline the top five habits to incorporate into your daily routine to help you achieve your health goals.
These steps will help make all the difference in your life
Drink more water
Drinking water is essential to good health. It helps you feel full, which reduces overeating; it flushes out toxins that accumulate in your body as a result of poor nutrition; and it helps you lose weight by preventing the formation of harmful compounds called ketones that can lead to kidney damage. In addition to these benefits, drinking water also has other effects on the body:
- Drinking enough water can help improve your skin tone and brighten your complexion.
- It improves circulation by helping dilate blood vessels in the skin (a process known as vasodilation). This helps reduce puffiness under the eyes or around the nose and mouth.
Eat one fresh fruit or vegetable each day
Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Fresh produce is full of lots of important vitamins and minerals that you need to stay healthy, but it can be hard to fit them into your daily routine. You can make it easier by making sure you eat one fresh fruit or vegetable each day!
- Pick up some lemons at the market; they’re delicious on salads or as garnishes for other foods.
- Buy a bag full of carrots at the grocery store—they’ll last longer than a week in the fridge!
- Get creative with your fruits: try experimenting with pie fillings like applesauce or bananas Foster (bananas Foster is basically bananas cooked in caramel sauce until they’re soft), ice cream toppings like strawberries and blueberries, puddings made from yogurt blended with berries… there are so many possibilities here!
Meditate for at least two minutes every day
Meditation can help you relax, focus and think more clearly. It can also reduce stress, improve your health and make you sleep better. Meditation is a great way to start incorporating healthy habits into your daily routine if you don’t already.
If this sounds like something that might be right up your alley, there are many different types of meditations that can be used depending on what works best for you:
- There are guided meditation CDs available online (iTunes has several options). Just search for “guided meditation” on iTunes or Spotify to find them easily!
- You could try practicing mindfulness through yoga poses such as downward dog or child’s pose if they appeal more than sitting still for two minutes straight. It might seem intimidating at first glance; just keep practicing until it feels natural without getting frustrated when things don’t go as planned 🙂
Stretch at your desk every hour
Stretching is a great way to relax and lower your stress level. It can also help you focus better. If you’re feeling tense or anxious, stretching will help you unwind and relax.
Stretching is good for your joints, muscles, ligaments, and cardiovascular system as well. You’ll feel healthier overall since regular stretches keep them flexible enough to avoid injury when they’re needed most (like during sports).
Take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- If you need to go up or down a flight, opt for the stairs instead of taking an elevator. You’ll get a great workout and make your heart healthier at the same time!
Drink a cup of green tea a day
Green tea is a natural source of antioxidants, which help your body fight free radicals. Free radicals damage cells and can lead to diseases like cancer and heart disease.
A cup of green tea will give you about two mg of catechins per serving; according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), regular consumption may reduce your risk of developing cancer by as much as 20%. An NCI study found that people who drank three cups per day had a 26% lower risk than those who drank just one cup daily.
Another study published in Clinical Nutrition found that drinking four cups per day could reduce blood pressure by more than 10 mm Hg systolic blood pressure after six months!
Take deep breaths to refocus yourself when you feel overwhelmed
The next time you feel overwhelmed and want to give up, take deep breaths. This will help you relax and refocus on yourself. It also recharges your batteries so that when the next challenge comes along, it won’t be as big an issue for you.
Take a walk with coworkers during lunch
If you work in an office, the best way to incorporate some healthy habits into your daily routine is by taking a walk with your coworkers.
While it might seem like an unimportant or even inconvenient activity, walking is actually proven to improve your mood and energy level—as well as build stronger bonds between coworkers. It can also be a great way to get out of the office for a bit so that you aren’t stuck there all day!
These easy steps can make all the difference in your life
- Start small. This is one of the most important things to remember when it comes to incorporating healthy habits into your daily routine. You don’t need to overhaul your current lifestyle overnight, but rather build on what you already know and try out some new ideas that are sustainable over time.
- Find a routine that works for you: Once the idea of incorporating more healthy habits into your life has been planted in your head, focus on finding a routine that will help make those changes stick. A great way to do this is by setting goals—for example, “I want my weight loss goal” or “I want my exercise goal.” Then think about what steps could support these goals while also achieving them (like eating lunch less often).
- Build routines one at a time: The most effective way I’ve found for implementing new habits is by breaking down each step into smaller pieces so they’re easier for me mentally and physically during implementation days when it’s easier not to stress over everything else going on around me.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be a fitness expert to incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine. These five simple steps are easy enough for anyone to do and will make all the difference in your life. Try them out today.
