10 Ways to Improve Your Physical Health Now
In this article, you will learn about 10 ways to improve your physical health so you can start making easy changes that will make a big difference in your life!
How can you live a happier, healthier lifestyle? What simple ways can you improve your physical health? How can you reduce your risk of heart disease? How can you improve your health problems? Learn these 10 simple health tips to improve your health now.
DISCLAIMER: I am not in the medical profession and information on this website should not be considered a personal consultation for any health issues. Information is based on my own personal experiences and research. If you are in crisis, please see a health professional or your primary care provider about your personal needs.
10 Ways to Improve Your Physical Health Now: Let’s Get Started
You should consider these 10 easy tips to improve your physical health, but remember, this is a journey. Changes do not happen overnight. However, you can begin to make these simple changes now to help you get to where you want to be. You’ve got to start somewhere, so I hope these easy steps will help get you started.
Make simple lifestyle changes now and you’ll start seeing changes in no time! And remember, physical health helps you maintain a healthy mindset, and a healthy mindset helps you maintain your physical health!
1. Eat Cleaner
As information becomes more readily available about health and nutrition, a growing movement has begun to overtake the general sphere of knowledge around the world.
People everywhere are switching to more health conscious, natural ways of eating and even sharing ideas on how to better accomplish their health goals. And one of these is the trend of eating clean.
One of the most important things about eating clean is that you try your best to avoid any processed foods. Processed foods are full of chemical preservatives that cause damage to your nervous system and cause weight gain.
When ingested, some of these chemicals can build up in the body, and become stored in fats. This could put a strain on your organs as they break down and leave the body, causing future complications. Choose to eat fresher natural foods and whole grains instead. Preferably those that avoid the use of heavy pesticides.
A lot of processed foods also employ the use of extremely high amounts of salt to preserve foods as well as sugars to hide the taste of chemical additives. These mega doses of salt and sugar can manipulate your blood sugar drastically, and cause high blood pressure, which in turn puts a very heavy strain on your organs.
Eating lower sodium versions of foods, or buying organic and plain version of foods will help you to avoid the extra need for the food to contain flavors used to cover chemical additives.
2. Eat More Fruits and Veggies
One of the easiest ways to add vegetables to your diet is to add them to foods that you already eat. Basically, everyone loves pizza, so one of the first things you can try is to add them as a topping on pizza.
If you eat spaghetti, you can try adding a small amount of spinach or broccoli to the mix. If you add small amount to your food, you will notice that every vegetable adds a hint of flavor that you might really enjoy, and you have the extra benefit of adding a brand new variety of flavor to some of your favorite dishes.
Another very easy way that you can eat more fruit is to freeze fresh fruit, or buy frozen fruit that you can use in making smoothies. That way, if you are in a hurry, you can simply drink a healthy mixture of fruits on the go. This is especially great for people who are too busy to cook entire meals in the morning before work.
Smoothies are usually a mix of yogurt, and fruit or your choosing. For a really easy energy filled smoothie, choose your favorite yogurt and blend half a banana, strawberries, and blueberries. This will give you an awesome balance of carbs, protein, antioxidants, and vitamins to start your day off right.
You can even add spinach to your smoothies for more nutrients and antioxidants!
3. Eat at Home More
In a world where we are on-the-go all the time, take out food has become a way of life.
The absolute best way to eat clean is to simply make all of your food at home. When you use fresh produce, and limit your meat intake, you can avoid ingesting large amounts of preservatives, and chemical additives of all types. You will be able to absorb untainted nutrition that you need for a healthy body.
Even making a sugary dessert is healthier at home because when you make it yourself, you will not add preservatives that have been created for the sole purpose of keeping your food from perishing while it travels 1000 km to its next location.
Soups are an easy way to prepare health foods at home. You can use a crockpot or an Instant Pot to cut down on time. Plus, soups help you get in your daily vegetables.
You will be surprised by the almost limitless options that are available when it comes to making delicious, creamy soups that you can use to top rice, noodles, and meats, or even just eat plain.
You will be able to heat up these soups and eat them on the go much like the smoothies mentioned earlier in this article. If you plan ahead you can get all of your nutritional needs and more into a few cups during the day without getting take-out.
Related Article: Staying Healthy After 60 (My Best Tips)
4. Move Your Body
One of the most challenging things about being able to fit a workout into your day is the fact that there are only 24-hours in a day.
Time is one thing that is entirely non-negotiable when it comes to daily life, so making extra time to take care of your physical body can be challenging. How you do find the time to exercise when you have a busy schedule?
You’re got to get creative, my friends!
We all know that mornings can be intense, especially if you are a parent. But what you can do, is wake up 15-minutes early. That way, you will be able to get a few stretches, pushups, crunches and some jumping jacks in before anyone is up asking you for cereal.
Doing a few short exercises will also help you to jumpstart your metabolism and get your day off to a strong start.
If you work a very long day and you know you have already missed your morning work out, you can use a part of your lunchtime to get a quick 5-minute workout into your day.
Before you eat lunch, you can drop and do 20 pushups, and 15 crunches in no time. And still have time for a short break between both of those. These could help you to maintain your physicality in between major workouts.
And of course, you’ve heard about parking your car farther away from doors and taking steps rather than the elevators. Any extra movement – walking, skipping, bending, stretching, dancing – will help improve your physical health.
Just move your body whenever you have a few minutes to spare!
5. Maintain a Regular Schedule
The human body functions on a much higher level of efficiency when it knows what times are for what things. Sleep, for example, needs to happen on a predictable time schedule, otherwise your body will have a hard time getting into REM sleep, which is needed to rest and repair the mind.
Meals should also follow some kind of schedule so that your body is prepared to digest food at the appropriate times. If you don’t live on a schedule, your body will become hungry, tired, and weak at inappropriate times, which could lead to the loss of productivity and physical illness.
It is important to maintain a schedule for your physical wellbeing. This includes time for daily exercise and planning/prep for healthy diet choices.
If you do not have time to consider your physical wellbeing, you may want to reconsider how you prioritize your time.
6. Drink More Water
I know the problem isn’t that you don’t understand you need more water. The problem is trying to find time and circumstances to get your daily recommended amount. Here are some different ways to ensure you get plenty of water every day.
As part of a regular schedule, everyone should have a healthy wake up routine where they wake up, stretch, brush their teeth, eat breakfast and so forth. Add the step of drinking a glass of water right when you wake up.
This is good for your body because it will provide fresh fluids for your vital organs.
Also, your mind will function more efficiently because you’re giving it something vital to promote proper cellular functionality. That way you will become sharper by the time you get to work, school, and any other activities where you need to use your mind.
If you keep a water bottle around, you will find it easier to remember to drink water, and you will be far less likely to reach for a sugary soda. Another great advantage of having a water bottle is that it will help you to be more aware of the amount of water that you drink in a day.
Some people will even buy a water bottle that visibly measures how much water they drink each day. There are even high tech options that communicate with applications that will electronically monitor your water intake and deliver them to your phone.
During sleep, it is inevitable that you will lose lesser amounts of water. When you go 7 – 8 hours without any sort of fluids, your mind and body can become somewhat dehydrated.
While you won’t want to consume a large quantity of water right before going to sleep, it could be a very beneficial if you drink a small cup of water about 30 minutes before going to bed. This will reduce the amount of water lost during the night.
7. Sleep 7-8 Hours Daily
More people have a tough time falling asleep now than ever before. With the constant connection of users to entertainment, and various new and social media applications, people seem more tired and overwhelmed than ever, but what can be done about this?
The reality is that people will have to change their lifestyles so that they can get better rest. It will require them to incorporate good habits into their lifestyle.
One of the most common bad habits that prevent people from sleeping, is the habit of eating too close to bedtime. When you eat close to bedtime, your body springs into action to digest food.
During sleep, the only job that your body should be doing is healing and regenerating itself. When you introduce food into the equation, you confuse your body and cause it to do something unnatural during those hours. And it interferes with good sleep.
Plus, any food that was digested will often be stored in the form of fat, while the rest simply sits in your stomach until morning. This can cause unnecessary stomach problems.
These days, one of the biggest contributors to the lack of sleep is the engagement with electronics. You will have a hard time sleeping if you are online surfing the net or trying to see what people are saying on the newest most popular social networking site.
Turn off your screens and allow your mind to settle down so you just can slip into sleep.
Related Article: Bedtime Affirmations for Good Sleep
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8. Reduce Your Worries
For some people, they think about their worries so much that it leads to severe stress and anxiety. In fact, this is one of the reasons some people deal with chronic stress, where it never really seems to go away. And their physical health suffers.
In order for you to reduce the worries you experience on a daily basis, you need to understand what your actual worries are. These worry thoughts are probably what is adding to your stress and overwhelm. Worry thoughts are sometimes very obvious, while other times they come from very surprising places.
The first thing you need to do is figure out what your biggest worry thoughts are, then look for good resolutions to put them to rest. This is an important part of an effective emotional self care practice.
Not all of your worry thoughts will have a good resolution, but once you have analyzed where your worries are coming from, you might find that some of your thoughts are just you overthinking. Or maybe you are making a bigger deal out of things than you really need to.
To reduce those daily worries, start practicing mindfulness. Being more mindful helps you understand your state of mind better, helps you maintain a more positive attitude, and will allow you to stop judging yourself and others.
Focus on what you are eating, where your mind is while you are working, your emotions while driving, walking, or playing with your kids. Being more mindful is a great way to start reducing those daily worries.
As a result of using strategies to reduce your worries, your body will become healthier because stress and anxiety takes a serious toll on your physical health.
Related Article: 10 Simple Ways to Find Your Zen in the Chaos of Life
9. Practice Good Hygiene
Another way to take care of your physical health is to practice good, daily hygiene.
One of the most overlooked ways of doing this is your oral hygiene. While most people brush their teeth each day, very few people make sure that they floss daily and that they brush and floss before bedtime.
Good hygiene helps to lower the risks of some diseases. Also, with good hygiene, you look and feel better so you tend to take better care of yourself.
Regular bathing and washing of hands, as well as limiting your contact with those who are sick, will help you stay healthy. If you already have a disease or infection, it’s important to take precautions such as wearing gloves, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and getting plenty of rest.
Practicing good hygiene is a great way to keep your physical health in check. It helps to protect you from the spread of disease and to maintain good personal hygiene.
In order to practice good hygiene, one must have a basic understanding of how germs spread and what can be done to prevent them from spreading. As you go about your day, there are many opportunities to pick up germs from surfaces that have been touched by someone else. Wash your hands frequently and don’t touch your face!
10. Find Joy from Family and Friends
When you feel joy, the body releases endorphins which help improve both mental and physical health. Friendships and family relationships can also contribute to a happy disposition which leads to a stronger desire to take good care of your health.
Friends and family members are the most important sources of emotional support in one’s life. Friends can provide practical help or emotional support when someone is struggling with something like mental distress, loss, or physical illness.
A lot of people think that their friends and family are just for emotional support, but in reality they can also be beneficial to your physical health.
For example, when you’re feeling stressed or depressed friends and family can help you combat these feelings by joining you in an activity. Exercise is another example of how people who care about you can make things better.
Physical health is an important aspect of an individual’s life, but it can sometimes be difficult to maintain. One way to improve one’s physical health is by getting more family and friends involved.
By including more family and friends in your lifestyle, you are able to enjoy the benefits of social engagement and physical activity.
Related Article: Achieving Happiness Isn’t As Hard As You Might Think
Final Thoughts: 10 Ways to Improve Your Physical Health Now
There are so many more than 10 ways to improve your physical health but these tips will get you started! Of course, physical health is just one component of a healthy lifestyle so you should be sure to focus on your mental, social, and spiritual health, as well. Check out 3 of my top articles about each kind of health and wellness:
Social Health: The Importance of Positive Social Interaction to Your Overall Health
Mental Health: How to Protect Your Peace of Mind
Spiritual Health: 7 Powerful Benefits of Regular Massage Therapy
You don’t need to spend hours on any one component of your health and wellness. Make these simple habits a regular part of your daily lifestyle and they won’t be “just one more thing” to add to your busy schedule!
If you would like additional information about ways to improve your physical health, this article from NIH is well-done and easy to read! It is a Physical Wellness Toolkit with printable information! Check it out!
Good luck! Be sure to take good care of yourself!
Love to ALL! ~ Susan
