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Managing your health and well being can feel like a chore. But you need to remember that your body is what allows you to get on with day to day life and being in good health is extremely important for a number of reasons. Poor health can limit your quality of life or reduce your life expectancy. Being in good health can help you to avoid pain and complications. Of course, there are some things we can’t control in this area. But it is important to manage and control the elements of your health that you can. Here are some suggestions that can help you to achieve this!
Manage Routine Health Checks
We should all attend routine health checks depending on our age, sex and other factors. These checks help healthcare professionals to look into your well being, identifying potential problems or giving you the all clear. This can prevent problems from occuring in the future or help you to get any treatment you may need as quickly and conveniently as possible. You should visit your healthcare provider whenever you notice a change in your health, but some checks you should attend whether you feel well or not are essential too. You should visit your dentist and hygienist once every six months. You should visit your optician every two years. You should go for a hearing test if requested or if noticing a change in your hearing. If you have a cervix, you should attend cervical screening when recommended. If you have a prostate, prostate exams are generally recommended over the age of 50. Make sure to contact your healthcare providers in each field to book in appointments as and when required. Some even offer reminder services, where they get in touch when a check up is due.
Eat Well
Eating well forms a major part of your health and well being. A good, healthy, balanced diet provides your body with the fuel it needs to thrive on a daily basis. So make sure to eat a healthy and balanced diet that ticks all of your boxes. Here are some areas that can help with this.
Calories
You shouldn’t obsess over your daily calorie consumption. Instead, you simply need to remember that calories are a unit of measurement you can use to make sure that you and your family are eating the right amount on a day to day basis. The recommended calorie count for different people calories due to factors like age, sex and how much activity you engage with. Sticking to roughly the right amount will ensure that you provide your body with enough fuel and have the energy you need, without overeating and end up experiencing issues like obesity. Here are some suggestions for calorie counts for you and different members of your family:
- Children aged 2 to 8 - 1000 to 1400 calories
- Girls aged 9 to 13 - 1400 to 1600 calories
- Boys aged 9 to 13 - 1600 to 2000 calories
- Active women aged 14 to 30 - 2400 calories
- Sedentary women aged 14 to 30 - 1800 to 2000 calories
- Active men aged 14 to 30 - 2800 to 3200 calories
- Sedentary men aged 14 to 30 - 2000 to 2600 calories
- Active adults over 30 - 2000 to 3000 calories
- Sedentary adults over 30 - 1600 to 2400 calories
Superfoods
Try incorporating some superfoods into your diet. This isn’t an official category of foods, but it rather something people use to describe foods that are particularly nutritionally dense. Some good examples include green tea, blueberries, goji berries, acai berries, steel cut oats and more. Most are available in your local supermarket, but can also be found in health food stores.
Gut Friendly Foods
Gut health is important - and there are a host of gut friendly foods and drinks that can help with this. Some options include fermented foods and drinks, such as Kimchi, Kombucha, Kefir and more. These can be found in health food stores, though many supermarkets and regular stores tend to stock them nowadays due to increased demand.
Supplements
Find that you’re struggling to get specific nutrients through your diet alone? You can always benefit from taking approved supplements. These can fill occasional gaps in your diet, ensuring that your body routinely gets what it needs to thrive. Of course, you should try to get all of your nutrients directly from the food you eat, but supplements can come in handy as a backup.
Exercise
If you don’t exercise frequently, it’s time to get yourself into a good exercise routine. You should aim to get one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week. This will help to keep you in shape, fit and strong. Choosing the right form of exercise can help to boost your stamina, maximise your strength, build your flexibility and work on your balance. Of course, you need to make sure that you’re choosing a form of exercise that you actually enjoy to stick to this and make a habit of attending classes or sessions. You don’t necessarily have to just hit the gym - though the gym does provide an ideal area where you can work out in a sheltered environment with all the machinery you need. There are alternative options out there, ranging from swimming to cycling, dance classes, yoga classes, sports teams and more. If you don’t know where to start, you may find that guided classes or personal training give you the know how and confidence you need to work out independently in the long run. You may also benefit from working out with others, as this can encourage you to attend to enjoy the social element of exercise, as well as to avoid letting others down by your absence.
Of course, these are just a few areas to focus on when it comes to improving your health and wellbeing in the long term, but they are some of the most important. Make sure to focus on them to benefit from ongoing change to your lifestyle that will benefit your body!
