Healthy lifestyle: basic principles and recommendations from doctors

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Each of us wants to be slim, healthy and lead an active lifestyle. Right? What are we doing for this?

Well, we all know that a healthy person does not smoke, maintains his weight at a normal level, exercises and eats healthy foods. It sounds very simple, but those who have tried to change their habits for the sake of a healthy lifestyle know how difficult it really is. Some people try to radically change their lives in one day, but when they encounter difficulties, a lack of motivation comes to light.

The secret to a healthy lifestyle: small, almost imperceptible changes: a glass of water in the morning, more physical activity, an optimistic outlook on life - these are the secrets you need. Small steps lead to big results!

Getting rid of bad habits

Is it worth reminding us how much our beauty and health suffer from addictions? Smoking causes problems with the skin, teeth, throat, blood vessels, lungs, stomach... Frequent consumption of alcohol destroys the nervous system and increases appetite, forcing a person to “snack” beyond measure, gaining excess weight. Over time, computer games become highly addictive, dull, and lead to poor vision and poor posture. So is it worth risking the most valuable thing - your health - for the sake of dubious pleasure?

Fundamentals and methods of creating a healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle has 7 main “pillars”: physical activity, a balanced diet, the absence of bad habits, hygienic care, adequate sleep and rest, wellness treatments and an emotional state.
If you take care of all these aspects, your quality of life and well-being will improve significantly. Maintaining proper nutrition
The health of internal organs, appearance, well-being and immunity directly depend on what we eat. A healthy lifestyle involves eliminating, or at least reducing, flavorings, flavor enhancers, fatty foods, dyes and preservatives.

Here are the basic rules:

• You should neither starve nor overeat - both have a negative impact on your well-being. You should not feel hungry and, conversely, overeat. Try to ensure that your daily calorie intake is 1700-1900 kcal (the norm for women leading a sedentary lifestyle; for men the daily calorie intake is approximately 300-400 kcal higher).
• Drink clean water. It is advisable to drink 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day (not tea, coffee, juice, etc.)
• Reduce the amount of sweets in your diet. If you want something sweet, give preference to fresh vegetables and dried fruits. You can also consume dark chocolate in moderation.
• Eat small meals at least 4-5 times a day. At the end of the meal, you should still feel slightly hungry.
• The daily menu should contain meat or fish, vegetables and fruits, cereals, and dairy products. Eat a varied diet.
• It is advisable to have dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime. It is not advisable to eat immediately before bed.
• Eliminate fast food, fatty and smoked foods from your diet.
• Give preference to boiling, stewing or baking foods.

If you haven't watched your diet before, it may be difficult for you to suddenly change your diet.
Try to start small - remove fatty sauces and foods that contain them from your diet, avoid flavor enhancers and chemical additives in food, give up fast food products, convenience foods, confectionery, increase the share of fruits and vegetables in the menu. Completing each of these points will be a step towards a healthy diet. Physical activity
Lack of physical activity leads to a decrease in metabolic rate, the development of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular and neurological pathologies.

If your job does not involve movement, try to increase your activity yourself. It is considered normal to spend at least 1 hour a day in motion (this is about 8000-10000 steps). Scientists have proven that every minute of activity affects the body's condition in the long term - this means that even climbing the stairs, rather than taking the elevator, already brings you closer to health.

You can increase your daily activity by making it a habit to start and end your day with a light workout.
If you go to work by public transport, get off 1-2 stops earlier and walk this way. It is very useful to take breaks if you have a sedentary job. On weekends, do some fitness, go for a walk or go to the pool. These measures are quite enough to maintain health and well-being. Hygienic care
Personal hygiene is one of the components of a healthy lifestyle. First of all, this concerns the oral cavity. You need to brush your teeth at least twice a day, and pay attention to the entire oral cavity. In addition to the standard set consisting of a toothbrush and toothpaste, get a irrigator, dental floss and mouth rinse. Failure to comply with these rules is fraught not only with the development of caries, but also with the threat of periodontitis and gastrointestinal diseases.

It is also important to keep the house in order: regularly carry out wet cleaning, prevent dust accumulation, and ventilate the rooms daily.
Maintaining a daily routine
Scientists have concluded that sleep duration and regularity are important for health and well-being.
Every person should sleep at least 7 hours a day. At the same time, it is advisable to fall asleep and wake up at the same time. Of course, sometimes exceptions can be made, for example on weekends. Emotional mood
Nervous tension, constant breakdowns, stress - all this negatively affects mood, well-being and health in general. Experts recommend adhering to the following tips:

• Don't worry about what you can't change. If you cannot cope with anxiety, seek help from a psychologist.
• Think positively, find positive aspects in any situation.
• Don’t hold a grudge, let go of all grudges, don’t envy and don’t do harm to people.
• Try to avoid stressful situations.

Start to harden up

Initially, this principle of a healthy lifestyle was considered exclusively from the point of view of training thermoregulatory processes in the body. Exposure to heat, cold, and sunlight actually strengthens blood vessels and helps us better adapt to changing environmental conditions. However, hardening procedures have another wonderful property - thanks to them, the synthesis of thyroid and adrenal hormones is accelerated, which, in turn, stimulate the formation of new immune cells. Of course, many consider hardening as a routine, because the main principle of such procedures is gradualism and regularity. But even if you don’t have much time, you can still choose a suitable technique. For example, when choosing water hardening, it is not necessary to pour water over the entire body; it is enough to pour water over the feet. At the same time, this should be done after exercise or fitness - this way the procedure will be more effective. And don’t forget about walking barefoot, which is also an excellent hardening procedure. There are reflexogenic points of almost all organs on the feet; by acting on them, you can keep all organ systems in a healthy tone.

Basic rules of personal hygiene

Hygiene and cleanliness of the body are the basics of observing the rules of a healthy lifestyle in the family and society.

There is hardly a person who does not know the rules of personal hygiene, but still it would not be amiss to repeat them again:

1. Daily brushing of teeth in the morning and evening is mandatory.
2. Always keep your hair clean.
3. Hair care items - combs, elastic bands, hairpins - should also be cleaned regularly.
4. If possible, take a shower or bath twice a day.
5. Don’t forget to wash your hands after going outside, using the toilet, playing with animals, and before eating.
6. Shoes and clothes must be clean.

A clean and well-groomed body, head, hands, feet, nails are integral rules for leading a healthy lifestyle. Skin is a human protective shell that prevents harmful microbes from entering the body. However, the accumulation of dirt, sweat, and sebum on it is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, which can lead to irritation, the development of skin diseases, the formation of pustules and other problems.

Prepare a balanced breakfast

There is a proverb: “Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to your enemy.” A proper breakfast is the basis of our health and well-being throughout the day.

Your plate in the morning should contain 40% protein, 30% fat, 20% vegetable carbohydrates and 10% in the form of grains.

Before breakfast, take the oil you prefer on an empty stomach. For example, pumpkin, caraway, flax, hemp. If you are not used to eating it in its pure form, you can season your morning salad with it.

After breakfast, drink 50 ml of freshly squeezed vegetable juice or smoothie to detox your liver.

A balanced breakfast gives us all the necessary set of vitamins, fats and microelements for an active day.

A glass of vitamins. Making healthy smoothies for breakfast Read more

We approach a healthy lifestyle system in 6 steps: 1. Sleep 7-8 hours

Every day I fight the urge to sit longer on an article or a book. But there are also new episodes of “VDud” and TV series, meetings with friends who work in the office from 11 to 20.

Melatonin is a sleep hormone that is produced in complete darkness and is needed by the body for healthy functioning. When there is excess light—gadgets are turned on, lights are on the street—the concentration of the hormone drops.

Lack of deep sleep is the second problem of sleep deprivation. According to research, chronic lack of sleep can lead to premature aging and an increase in the concentration of beta-amyloid protein, one of the triggers of Alzheimer's disease.

The Smart Alarm application has 6 options for monitoring sleep phases

I used to sleep from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. and thought I was keeping an 8-hour schedule, until I found out: if you don’t go to bed from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. for a long time, the lack of melatonin will develop into depression.

Sleep analysis motivates you to wake up early

What helped me?

Drink more water

Many people underestimate the importance and do not understand why you need to drink a lot of water. Let’s give an illustrative example and answer the question of what will happen if there is insufficient fluid intake. Many unpleasant symptoms will appear, which in the future (if the situation is not changed) can even lead to a dangerous disease. First of all, with insufficient drinking, the digestive and excretory systems suffer. The stomach and intestines will not perform their “functionality”. It is water that promotes normal digestion of food and also carries out the process of absorption of nutrients from the intestines. Lack of water will soon lead to disorders such as constipation, a feeling of heaviness in the abdomen and other painful sensations. Kidney function is also affected. With insufficient drinking, filtration capacity deteriorates significantly. As a result, various kidney diseases occur. Having diagnosed such deterioration in the body, doctors prescribe plenty of daily drinking of water. The minimum volume of water that a person should consume for normal kidney function is more than 1.5 liters of water.

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Follow the correct daily routine

To maintain health, it is very important to structure your day in accordance with biological rhythms. It doesn’t matter whether you are a “lark” or a “night owl”, the main thing is that throughout the day, periods of active activity alternate with rest. For example, make it a rule to take a break for 15-20 minutes after every three hours of work. Fill a minute of rest with any activity that differs from your main activity: in between physical labor, listen to calm music and relax; when working sedentarily, on the contrary, move around. Track what period of the day you are most active - at this time of day, schedule those tasks that require increased performance. Use the remaining time to do routine work. This will significantly reduce unnecessary energy waste.

Physical activity

At the initial stage of lifestyle correction, increasing activity can be achieved not by purchasing gym memberships, but by replacing habitual activities with healthier ones. Walk a few stops without using transport, without getting into an elevator, take the stairs - such little things form into habits and a new, healthy lifestyle. Athletes recommend choosing stretching exercises as primary physical activity. By doing them three times a week for 2 minutes, you will reduce the risk of injury, increase your own flexibility and mobility, and acquire good posture. Stretching after sleep or prolonged immobility will restore blood flow.

How lifestyle affects health and life expectancy

It is generally accepted that a habit is formed within 21 days.
By following the above rules, you can form a habit that will help you prolong your life and slow down the aging process. It is very important to follow the basics of a healthy lifestyle in a comprehensive manner. That is, if you take care of personal hygiene, exercise and eat right, but also smoke, a bad habit can slow down positive changes. The habit of living healthy
If you follow a healthy lifestyle, try to do everything possible to pass on a healthy habit to your children. Teach your child to do the right things from an early age.

• Enroll your child in a sports section from an early age.
• Go out into nature at least once a week.
• Sometimes give up public transport and the car, walk more.
• Visit your doctor regularly for preventive examinations of your body.
• Try not to introduce your child to fast food, sweets and products containing chemicals.
• From childhood, teach your child the rules of personal hygiene.
• Involve your child in house cleaning.

A healthy lifestyle should not cause discomfort; all actions should be a joy. Instill good habits gradually. First, get used to the new food, then start doing exercises in the morning, etc. Over time, you will begin to feel better and calmer, and you will be able to achieve goals that previously seemed unattainable.