Whenever I get sick or I am injured, I realize how important health for my well-being is. There is nothing affecting my daily mood more. For example, even if I have “only” a mild cold, it is substantially more difficult for me to stay positive and enjoy life.
It is a fortune that we can have a great influence on how hard a disease hits us and how resistant we are to injuries and diseases. The more we invest in our health and well-being, the better we can deal with it.
The terrible thing about it, however, is that we can hardly observe the real benefits and risks of investing too much or too little in our health. Usually, people who do not give a damn will only start to feel it when it is already too late: Lung cancer when you are smoking, insomnia when you abuse caffeine, stomach, back, cardiovascular, … problems if you only eat greasy food and do not do sports, etc.
Investing in your health is like investing in your pension: You might only feel and acknowledge the actual benefit when you are in need of it. In the best case, though, you will never have the feeling that you need more money in your old days. Same goes for your health: If you do it right, you will never regret doing too little for your health.
However, if you did not invest enough or anything at all, you might not have any negative thoughts about it in your 20s or 30s. But sooner or later you will feel more and more uncomfortable and be worried about the future. And when you retire, you feel the real downsides of not investing in your old days.
The key to a happy life is health. There is no well-being when your health is below its “average” level. When it comes to investing in your health, it is not about having the perfect formula for the ideal diet and lifestyle to achieve maximum “healthiness”, but rather it is about the little small decisions you make every day and maintaining a generally healthy lifestyle.
In the following, I want to tell you about a few habits I implemented in my daily life to improve my well-being and give you a short explanation of why I do it.
1) I drink 0.7 liters (23.5 fl. oz) of water right after waking up and I always have a full glass of water on your working desk
Water is an essential nutrient, and all organs and tissues in your body depend on it to function. Since your body loses a lot of water during sleep, you need to compensate for these losses to avoid dehydration. Drinking water first thing in the morning jump-starts your metabolism, fuels your brain, gets rid of the toxins in your body and re-hydrates the body.
2) Do not buy drinks containing sugar and any kind of candy for your daily life
This is all about the purchasing process. Once you buy the unhealthy stuff, it’s already too late. We all tend to eat so many things that are not good for our well-being only because of habitual behavior. When you feel bored or stressed, the first thing you usually do is to go to the fridge or a cupboard and search for something to eat. Most of the time this is not even a conscious decision.
In case you ban candy and beverages containing from your shopping list, you allow yourself to make more conscious decisions about what you eat and drink. Moreover, indulging yourself with candy or a soft drink becomes a conscious decision and you will enjoy it more.
3) Whenever it is possible, consume whole-grain products
Whole-grain products contain more fiber, vitamins and mineral nutrients than products subject to further processing (white bread, “normal” rice, etc.). Moreover, they fill you up longer and help you to maintain a stable blood sugar level which helps to prevent cravings.
4) Find a sport you can fall in love and exercise regularly
The most important influence on my life so far has been physical exercise. Since I started doing lifting more than four years ago, plenty of things have changed: I have become more self-confident, disciplined, open-minded, relaxed, energetic, communicative and so many things more. Doing a sport on a regular basis has an insane number of advantages.
As an innumerable quantity of scientific papers suggests, sport is also crucial for health and well-being. I am sure you already know all these benefits for yourself. Still, I wanted to point out the importance of sports in our lives again. I can only warmly recommend that you (again) do sport regularly as soon as possible. Doing sports can change your life. Not immediately, but definitely.
What are you doing for your health and well-being? Let me know and write a comment or send me a message!
