Quality Of Life: Planning To Live A Long, Happy Life
If you want to live a long, happy life, it starts with healthy living. What’s more important than having a happy life is to be sure you have a quality of life.
Too often, people think of the quality of life as being able to buy things, go out to dinner, and take vacations. Those are aspects of an enjoyable life, but it doesn’t define the quality of life.
Instead, having a quality of life is defined by a standard of health, comfort, and happiness and the ability to experience those things.
To have a long, healthy life is the foundation for quality of living and is built on a foundation of eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep, and taking care of your body and mind.
The 8 Foundations On Healthy Living For A Quality Of Life
Living and living well aren’t mutually exclusive. You can live and not live well, but you want to live your best life. Work and discipline will yield results.
Avoid alcohol and tobacco
Alcohol can act as a relaxant and occasionally buoy your moods but is a depressant to your central nervous system.
In addition, it is made with high levels of sugars in the fermentation process, which can disrupt your metabolism and blood glucose (sugars in your blood), and contains a ton of unnecessary calories.
Tobacco has a ton of additives that make it highly addictive and is the leading cause of mouth, throat, and lung cancers.
Be active
In order to live well, you need to adopt a lifestyle that includes physical activity. The definition of physical activity is anything that requires you to move, stretch muscle groups, and may raise your heart rate.
You don’t need to think that being active is about running a marathon or swimming 1500 meters. Instead, it’s about doing something every day that puts some stress on your body and helps elevate your heart rate.
The World Health Organization recommends that grown adults aged 18-65 get some form of exercise and activity every other day at a minimum.
The general recommendation is 150 minutes of moderate exercise weekly or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Vigorous activity is defined as one that is at 75% of your maximum heart rate and elevates your respiration for an extended time.
Eat well
Eating well should be at the top of the list for living well. What we eat goes a long way in providing sustainable energy and keeping our digestive and other bodily functions operating efficiently.
The objective of healthy living and eating well should focus on a plant-based diet that includes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and avoid processed, salty, sugary foods.
Food is the start of preventive medicine. Eating plant-based meals will provide plenty of energy throughout the day, eschew unnecessary toxins from your diet, and give you the nutrients you need to maintain a healthy mind and body.
Take vitamins and medications
Living well doesn’t always include just eating your fruits and vegetables.
It may require taking vitamins and medications specific to your genetic predisposition, age, gender, and other external factors.
Maintain weight
People are obsessed with their weight. But they’re obsessed in the wrong ways. Focusing on your weight includes considering your body type, age, and gender.
In addition, maintaining weight will reduce the risk of injury and possible severe health issues associated with weight gain or loss.
Maintaining a healthy weight will require an expert opinion, so consult your physician and get on a program to meet your weight goals.
Get enough sleep
Getting enough sleep is one of the most overlooked yet essential foundations for living well. Unfortunately, most people lack the proper amount of sleep; it is usually the first thing that is sacrificed when we’re stressed or busy.
But that’s the incorrect thing to do. Lack of quality sleep is a significant driver in long-term health issues and mental conditions, including anxiety and depression.
When people sacrifice sleep, they’re jeopardizing their physical and mental health over the long term.
Sometimes getting to sleep can be difficult, especially when you have a lot on your mind. In those cases, you can consider holistic and alternative sleep aids that are natural and often organic.
Some alternative sleep aids include the following;
- Lavender
- Chamomile Tea
- CBN sleep supplements
- Melatonin
- Valerian Root
- Passionflower
- Magnesium
Engage and challenge your mind
Engaging and challenging your mind is crucial in a variety of areas.
First, being a lifelong learner is a function of the quality of life.
Second, engaging and challenging your mind will help with memory and focus, especially as you age.
And three, you are forcing your mind to work, causing fatigue.
Eliminate stress and other toxins
Stress and other external toxins can have a slowly debilitating effect on your physical and mental health.
Eating well and getting enough exercise and sleep are good ways to reduce the impacts of those external toxins on the body, but finding ways to eliminate them is essential.
Toxins could include air quality, light, noise, dirt, dust, pollen, or other pollutants that you absorb and consume, often without knowing about it.
So take a look around you, see what you can do to eliminate those items, and be sure to read food labels and wash fruits and veggies before eating them.
The foundations of healthy living and creating a quality of life for the long term require a strategy and commitment to living happily and healthily. Eating well, taking care of your mind and body, and getting enough sleep are the cornerstones of living well.