Author: Healthi Coach, Mindy Matus
Isn't that what we all strive for, a healthy life? It is, in fact, the most valuable thing we can obtain. What would our life be without our health? We need to preserve and maintain it. And one of the most wonderful side effects of a healthy life is a healthy weight. And that's why we are all here isn't it?
But HOW do we maintain a healthy life? We have so much information thrown at us daily that it's sometimes hard to pick out what is good information. I am going to simplify it for you. I have THE perfect recipe for a healthy life. And you only need 4 ingredients: Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, and Stress management.
nutrition
/n(y)ootriSH()n/
noun
The process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.
Nutrition is paramount when looking at our health. It is the numero uno. NOTHING else is more important. In essence, we ARE what we EAT, and on a cellular level. Most of us on this journey already know good nutrition can help achieve and maintain a healthy weight. But the benefits of good nutrition go beyond weight control. Good nutrition can help increase your energy level, improve your skin tone, slow aging, reduce blood pressure, reduce the risk of diseases, lower cholesterol, improve well being, improve immunity, and improve your ability to recover from illness and injury.
exercise
/eksrsz/
noun
Activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness.
Exercise improves your heart and lung power. Exercise is the second most important tool to improving over all health. While exercise alone won't help you lose weight, it WILL help you achieve a more healthy lifestyle. Exercise, combined with good nutrition is essential. There are so many benefits of exercise which includes controlling your weight, reduces risk of heart disease, helps manage blood sugar and insulin levels, improves mental health and helps stabilize your mood, improves the effects of aging, reduces the risk of some cancers, improves sleep, and increases your chances of living longer. As you can see, exercise packs a pretty good punch when it comes to your over all health.
sleep
/slp/
noun
A condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended in order to renew and replenish your body.
Sleep is often times overlooked when we look at weight loss. But it definitely shouldn't be. Sleep plays a very important role in overall health and/or success in weight loss. When we don't get enough sleep it impacts our food choices, our motivation, and our hormones. Studies have shown that the lack of sleep actually does make you feel hungrier. Getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night will increase ghrelin (your hunger hormone) and decrease leptin (inhibits hunger). Lack of sleep not only affects weight loss. Many biological processes happen during sleep.The brain stores new information and gets rid of toxic waste, nerve cells communicate and reorganize, your body repairs cells, restores energy, and releases molecule like hormones and proteins. Cue in hunger hormones.
stress
/stres/
noun
A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.
Stress is probably the most overlooked aspect of daily health but it can definitely affect your body and your ability to lose weight. Raise your hand if you struggle with stress eating! Not only does it affect your hunger, it affects your sleep, and your motivation. Stress also effects your actual well being. It can cause some pretty severe symptoms. It can cause headaches, stomachaches, heartburn, irritable bowel, pounding heart, risk of heart attack, anxiety, insomnia, increases depression, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, weakened immune system, insomnia, and tense muscles. Wow, stress can be pretty detrimental to your health. It is well worth the effort to manage your stress levels. Meditate, connect with nature, move more, eat healthfully, get enough sleep, journal, listen to music, talk to a friend. There are many ways to control your stress, you just need to figure out what works best for you. It is evident that in order to live a healthy life you must eat well, move your body, get in enough sleep, and manage your stress.
It is also evident that these four aspects build upon each other. Just fitting in one or two will not help you reach your goals. Until you implement all four ingredients into your daily routine, your recipe for a healthy life will be incomplete and your ability to lose weight will become much harder.
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