It goes without saying that it’s the good things that we fail to do, and the bad things that we keep on doing, that ultimately hurt us.
So it’s time to take the reins on your health and take action for the better.
Implementing these three right behaviors is a great start toward achieving your intention to lead a healthier life:
- Stop smoking.
Smoking is a highly toxic habit that harms practically every organ of the body. Even a couple of smokes a day can already significantly diminish your overall health. With millions of Americans smoking, it doesn’t come as a surprise how so many suffer from various health problems caused by this habit.
Smoking brings about a variety of cancers. It has been established to cause cancer to the lung, mouth, larynx, throat, esophagus, bladder, stomach, pancreas, and cervix. It is even linked to acute myeloid leukemia.
This toxic habit also triggers asthma, cataracts, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease like emphysema and bronchitis, stroke, heart disease, aortic aneurysm or a balloon-like swelling in a chest artery, and even seemingly unconnected conditions like hip fractures. And if these aren’t scary enough, smokers who are already ill are at greater risk of succumbing to airway infections like pneumonia, a condition which a normal healthy person would be able to easily recuperate from.
We acknowledge that once you start the habit, it can somewhat be challenging to stop. Which is why it might be helpful to always keep in mind the above mentioned dangers that smoking poses. Having a buddy to constantly remind you to ditch the habit is also a great idea.
- Achieve a daily 10,000-step walk or 30-minute workout.
You probably already know how exercise is crucial to maintaining optimum health. Daily workouts not only improve mood, but also helps protect against back pain, obesity, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and even diabetes mellitus type 2.
To maximize workouts, experts advocate 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic activity at least every other day, as well as stretching and muscle strengthening routines at least twice weekly. If you’ve been sedentary of late, then opt to start with less strenuous exercise routines like walking or leisure swimming so as not to strain your body. Once you feel that you’ve adjusted, you can then increase the intensity and duration of your workout.
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