By Winnie Osika
The phrase “Health is the biggest wealth” cannot be emphasized enough. You can only enjoy your wealth if you are healthy. Healthy living is the practice of health- enhancing behaviours, or, put simply, living in healthy ways. It has lifelong benefits. As such, an individual's decisions on health behaviours has a ripple effect on the kind of life that one will live.
In the wake of COVID-19, individuals started picking up healthy behaviors in what was seen to be a paradigm shift in lifestyle. More people engaged in exercises, started eating healthy and observed maximum hygiene. This in turn reduced the chances of an individual getting the virus and in overall, boosted their immunity.
So what constitutes healthy living? It involves maintaining a healthy lifestyle and introducing habits that improve one’s health. This may be through changing old habits that were a threat to your health or introducing new habits that will improve your health.
There are several elements in healthy living, but the key ones involve having a balanced diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a regular sleep pattern, managing stress and dietary supplementation. Other overlooked but important elements include improving your social life by building healthy relationships with people around you, meditating, praying or doing that which you find solace in. Yoga has also proved to be a good element in improving health.
It is also important to be aware of any health risks related to illness that one might have, its treatment, and working with your doctor, to monitor these and then take prescribed action. People should also take individual responsibility for their overall health by having regular check-ups.
There are habits that one can get rid of to improve their health. Such may include smoking, excessive drinking, poor eating habits, not getting enough sleep. It may not be easy to get rid of certain behaviours at once, but certain easy steps can be followed that may help one in improving their lifestyle.
These include changing one thing at a time, and being flexible and intentional on what you are trying to change. An example is cutting down on sugar. A good approach is to start by doing one and half tea spoons instead of the regular three most people take and gradually graduate to no sugar at all. One can also build on what they are already doing such as making daily morning jogs incerementary longer or faster.
