Your lifestyle, including what you eat and what you do can have a big impact on your overall health.

High blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, high cholesterol are conditions that we hear about in everyday life and when we visit our doctor’s offices. Any disease state when not controlled, affects our quality of life. Modifying life style can make a big difference in our body and control above conditions.

Here we will discuss some small lifestyle changes, which you can incorporate in your daily life to stay healthy.

Healthy diet

A healthy diet is rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. It is low in meats, sweets and refined grains. Diets including large amounts of saturated fats and carbohydrates such as burgers, fries, potato chips, carbonated drinks and ice creams are not considered healthy.

You might not be able to make a sudden change in your diet and stick with it for a long time, however you can make small changes. Try changing one small thing every couple of days, for example keep the burger but avoid the fries and continue for a couple of days, then switch your drink to water. Another trick is to eat the same food but only half of it!

Weight loss

Thinking about losing weight makes many people frustrated. Generally if you eat less and move more you can lose some weight. There is no diet which fits all however many healthy and effective diets which are based on body science suggest eating small portions every 3 to 4 hours instead of fasting for a long period and eating a large portion afterwards. Although mathematically the two might seem the same, there is a huge difference on body with the two methods because of the way insulin works in the body.

Reduce salt

Eat less processed food, which are sold in cans, boxes, jars and bags. Try to eat more fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits. You may also choose low sodium canned or boxed foods at first and make the change step by step!

More activity

You might think that you need to sign up in a gym to be more active. Of course that can be helpful, however doing everyday things you enjoy can increase your activity too. Try walking, gardening, dancing, playing with kids or vacuum cleaning! Start low and go slow, 10 minute walk every other day and then increase to 15 minutes and…

Less alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol on single occasion or over time can have serious effects on brain, heart, liver and immune system.

Recommended alcohol intake for women is one standard drink a day. For men the recommended drink is two a day. The difference is in the way men and women metabolize alcohol in body. A standard drink is can be:

• 12 ounce can or bottle of beer
• 5 ounce glass of wine
• 1.5 ounce shot of whisky

Whatever you tackle first, set specific realistic goals. For example decide to walk 10 min every other day and stick to it.

YOU CAN DO IT, START TODAY!