·  What is lifestyle?

Lifestyle is the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture. There are a few types of lifestyle such as college lifestyle, a vegan lifestyle, a minimalist lifestyle, green lifestyle, Christian lifestyle, post-grad lifestyle etc. But we want to focus our attention to a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people’s health and well-being, by being careful of the weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol which usually leads to a longer life.

In order to be healthy one has to include physical activities, weight management, stress management and, of course, a healthy diet in the normal routine. Here you have 10 healthy lifestyle tips for adults:

1. Eat a variety of foods

For good health, we need more than 40 different nutrients, and no single food can supply them all. It is not about a single meal, it is about a balanced food choice over time that will make a difference! Eating a healthy diet is not about strict limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, improving your health, and boosting your mood.

a) Whole grain foods (at most meals)

b) Plant oils (olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut and other vegetable oils)

c) Vegetables (in abundance)

d) Fruits (2-3 times a day)

e) Nuts, legumes (1-3 times a day)

f)  Fish, poultry, eggs (0-2 times a day)

g) Dairy or calcium supplement (1-2 times a day)

h) Red meat, white rice, white bread, white pasta, potato, soda and sweets (use sparingly)

2. Reduce salt and sugar intake

A high salt intake can result in high blood pressure and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are different ways to reduce salt in the diet:

·  Choose products with lower sodium content.

·  When cooking, salt can be substituted with spices, increasing the variety of flavours and tastes.

·  When eating, it helps not to have salt at the table, or at least not to add salt before tasting.

3. Eat regularly, control the portion size

Skipping meals, especially breakfast, can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in helpless overeating. Snacking between meals can help control hunger, but snacking should not replace proper meals. For snacks, we could choose yoghurt, a handful of fresh or dried fruits or vegetables (like carrot sticks), unsalted nuts, or perhaps some bread with cheese. Paying attention to portion size will help us not to consume too much calories and will allow us to eat all the foods we enjoy, without having to eliminate any.

4. Drink plenty of fluids

Adults need to drink at least 1.5 litres of fluid a day! Or more if it’s very hot or they are physically active. Water is the best source, of course, and we can use tap or mineral water, sparkling or non-sparkling, plain or flavoured. Fruit juices, tea, soft drinks, milk and other drinks, can all be okay – from time to time.

5. Getting Regular and Adequate Amounts of Sleep

Getting a regular and adequate amount of sleep is first on our list as it is often downplayed in importance relative to diet and exercise. The relationship between sleep and life expectancy has been demonstrated in many studies, but what surprises some people is that the relationship is a U-shaped curve. In other words, both too little and too much sleep raise mortality (the risk of death)

6. Engaging in Regular Physical Activity

Thirty minutes a day of regular physical activity contributes to health by reducing heart rate, decreasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, and reducing the amount of bone loss that is associated with age and osteoporosis. At the current time, lack of exercise is thought to contribute to 9% of breast cancers and 10% of colon cancers in Europe. Physical activity is important for people of all weight ranges and health conditions. It helps us burn off the extra calories, it is good for the heart and circulatory system, it maintains or increases our muscle mass, it helps us focus, and improves overall health well-being. Some tips:

–   Use the stairs instead of the elevator

–   Go for a walk during luch breaks

–   Make time for a family weekend activity

7. Healthy body weight

Healthy body weight, defined as a normal body mass index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 24.9. Being affected by obesity and overweight increases the risks of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer.

8. Smoking

Well, there is no healthy amount of smoking. “Healthy” here meant never having smoked. But if you do smoke and cannot let go of this bad habit, try to reduce the number of cigarettes as much as possible.

9. Moderate alcohol intake

 Moderate alcohol intake was measured as between 5 and 15 grams per day for women, and 5 to 30 grams per day for men. Generally, one drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. That’s 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

10.  Surround yourself with positive energy

In order to have a sound mental and emotional state, you must surround yourself with positive energy. Yes, not all problems can be avoided. But it helps to face such obstacles with an optimist outlook. Surround yourself with encouraging friends and people that will provide you with constructive criticism every once in a while to help you improve. Make it a habit to always look at the brighter side of life. Even if you find yourself in the worst situation, there is always an upside to it—something good and positive.