Tips On A Healthy Life Style

Good nutrition habits and participating in regular exercise are essential for good health and are important components of a healthy lifestyle. Making healthy lifestyle changes can help you avoid chronic diseases and conditions, help you stay at a healthy weight and help you feel happy. There are many simple things you can start to do to improve or maintain your healthy lifestyle.

Nutrition

Good nutrition habits can help your body get the energy, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs to grow and develop properly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends focusing on including more fruits, vegetables and whole-grain foods into your diet. Including lean meats, nuts, legumes and some low-fat dairy products is also recommended. Using the MyPyramid program from the United States Department of Agriculture can help you estimate your daily calorie needs to help you stay at, or reach, a healthy weight.

Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is another important part of living a healthy lifestyle. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, running, cycling or swimming on four or more days each week. Muscle-strengthening exercises are also recommended at least two times each week. You can add more physical activity to your lifestyle by regularly taking stairs, parking farther away from your destination and walking or completing your errands by walking instead of driving.

Benefits

Living a healthy lifestyle that includes better nutrition and physical activity habits can help you reduce your risk for developing heart disease, some types of cancer and type 2 diabetes. Eating a well-balanced diet that stays within your calorie needs and burning calories through exercise can also help you stay at a healthy weight, which also reduces your risk of developing conditions associated with excess weight.

Considerations

If you are unsure of how or where to start making healthy lifestyle changes, visiting with your doctor, a registered dietitian or an exercise specialist may be a good place to start. Improving your lifestyle does not mean you have to change everything all at once. Instead, you can start by making one small change to your eating habits and one change to your physical activity habits. You can gradually incorporate more changes as you begin to develop healthier habits.