How To Live Healthier in 8 Simple Steps

Do you want to get the most out of your body? Are you feeling tired and unmotivated? Keeping yourself healthy and feeling on top of your game isn’t complicated, it’s actually quite simple. Here are 8 simple tips that you can easily incorporate into your day to be a healthier, happier you!

1. Drink plenty of water

Most people know that you should drink 2 litres of water every day. This is true, but better advice is to monitor the colour of your urine. Individual people vary so much in their fluid levels that you may require more or less than 2 litres. You know you are well hydrated when your urine is a nice pale yellow colour. If its darker than this you are not drinking enough water. Being hydrated will help moderate your appetite, decrease your risk of headaches, help you stay more alert and improve your fine motor skills.

2. Eat at the same time everyday

The body loves routine and daily rhythms. Eating at roughly the same times everyday helps stabilize your appetite and metabolism. When you become sporadic, you are more likely to go to long between meals and then overeat at the end of the day.

3. Eat fruit

Fruit will satisfy a sweet tooth craving but will be much lower in calories than if you picked up a sweet biscuit or chocolate bar. Plus, you’re getting the added benefit of antioxidants, vitamins and fibre.

4. Make vegetables the main event

Most of the time we make vegetables the side dish. When you create a meal, fill up the plate with at least half vegetables and make the meat or other accompaniments the side dish. The meal will be just as filling and satisfying for a lot less calories. Plus your body will thank you for all the vitamins and minerals. Here’s a great post on how to get more vegetables into you day: 8 Ways to Include More Vegetables into Your Day

5. Choose high fibre

I encourage you to try wholemeal pasta and brown rice next time you make your favourite family dinner. Not only will it still taste great, you will feel fuller on less food! Fibre will also be great for your cholesterol and those daily bowel

movements! Other high fibre foods include, nuts, seeds, wholemeal or multi-grain bread, lentils, legumes, beans, fruit and vegetables. Check out this post for more information on getting your bowels moving and good digestive health: 8 Non-laxative Ways to Get Your Bowels Moving

6. Switch to skim

If you drink a lot of milk than switching to skim milk will dramatically reduce your saturated fat intake even if you drink lite milk now. Lite milk is 2% fat, which is pretty good, but skim milk is only 0.1% fat which is even better. Less fat means less calories and that is always good! Here are some other great swap ideas: 8 Easy Food Swaps to Keep You Slim, Trim and Terrific

7. Try fish

Fish is a great source of healthy fats (omega 3), protein and other nutrients such as selenium, iodine, calcium and zinc. Eat 1-2 serves of fish a week. Try this: BBQ fish in a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. Serve with lots of stir fried vegetables and drizzle over a dressing of lemon juice, crushed garlic, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and parsley. So good!

8. Have a daily probiotic

Did you know that a digestive system full of healthy bacteria can benefit you in many ways from reduced risk of colon cancer, gastrointestinal problems as well as boost your immune system? Eating natural yoghurt with live bacteria cultures daily can be very beneficial to your health as well as provide you with a significant amount of your daily calcium needs.

This is just scratching the surface of little things you can do each day to maintain good health. What little things do you do every day specifically for your health?