Living a healthy lifestyle is the right of every individual. People are becoming aware of how certain everyday habits can be harmful to their health. With changing times, and people working hard to achieve the high class lifestyle, most of us have started choosing easier instead of healthier ways to do things.

Healthy meals are now replaced by cheaper alternatives, and instead of being physically active, people have started looking for easy weight loss hacks. Although these smart solutions apparently make life easier and blissful in the short term, but adherence to them over the years can result in a plethora of health issues.

Replacing these ‘smart’ but unhealthy ways of living with smarter and healthier alternatives can make a lot of difference to the overall health and lifestyle of anyone who wants to give it a try. Here are some not-so-common ways to bring a healthier change in your lifestyle.

Change your eating habits.

This is probably the most common and also the most important advice listed on every health website. Cut down on fatty foods and eat smaller portions. But I believe that the problem of obesity needs to be addressed at a deeper level. It is not just the fatty food and unhealthy eating habits that results in weight gain, it has a lot to do with how we eat, sleep and work. What more, we are completely unaware of the effect food has on our health and body.

As I was writing this, I got up and went through the edible items in my kitchen that we consume on a daily basis. Literally every single food stuff had one or more harmful ingredients like monosodium glutamate, sugars, sodium, preservatives and other additives in it. Cornflakes, canned food, ready-to-eat meals, processed meat, cheese spread – all of them!

This made me think; this is suicide. Consuming all these things, not knowing their harmful ingredients and how badly they can affect us is like planning your own death.

Here are some tips to start off with healthful eating. After all, we are what we eat.

Replace all harmful snacks in your kitchen with healthy alternatives.

• Oats and fresh fruits in place of frosted cornflakes.
• Homemade batter mixes for waffles and pancakes with prepared mixes.
• Fresh fruit juices with packed juices.
• Cottage cheese with processed cheeses.
• Fresh vegetables and fruits with canned veggies and fruits.
• Homemade meals instead of ready to eat packets.

Things that look too good to be true are usually not that way. Natural ingredients are the best. Another addition in your healthy eating list can be foods that have antioxidant properties. These helps in cleansing your body of all the toxins and oxidants.

All fresh fruits and vegetables possess this property. A number of herbs are also known to help in getting rid of harmful oxidants. Taking a cup of herbal tea a day helps in giving an antioxidant boost to your system.

How about a home garden?

Some things in life don’t seem as appealing as they really are. Gardening is no different. Because once you start getting your hands dirty, you cannot stop. The excitement of growing your own fruits, vegetables, and even flowers is unmatchable.

If you are not too sure about your gardening skills, start off with easy indoor plants or herbs in small window pots. It is not that difficult and soon you will get a hang of it. Nothing is more satisfying than having a salad bowl made of vegetables and herbs grown in your own garden. Even if you don’t own a garden, you will find that many fruits and vegetables can easily be grown in large pots.

Another benefit of having plants all around you is a healthy and peaceful environment and pollution-free air. Gardening also keeps you physically active and is good for people who need some sort of physical activity.

The best thing about having a home garden is that you can make compost at your home. It will help you get rid of most of your natural waste of fruits and vegetables, and everything that will grow in your garden will be completely organic.

A healthy lifestyle

For me a healthy lifestyle means spending your life in a way that is beneficial for health. Here are some tips:

• Keep a fixed routine for everything. Your waking up and going to bed timings should be fixed. Similarly, your meals should be taken on time.
• Take 8 hours of sleep each day. You don’t even want to know the changes that lack of sleep bring to your mind and body.
• Do not skip meals, breakfast in particular. Take smaller meals but make sure to eat healthy.
• Incorporate some sort of physical activity in your daily life. It depends upon you what you like and choose for yourself. There are a number of options. Pick what suits you best. If you want to bring your mind and body at peace and harmony, get into the habit of practicing yoga daily. If you’re into gain and growth then hit the gym for the physique that you crave for.
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Cut off on smoking and alcohol.

These small steps have helped me change my way of living towards a healthier and better lifestyle.  If they have done wonders for me, they will work for you too.

AUTHOR BIO

ABOUT Alycia Gordan

Alycia Gordan is a freelance writer. She loves to read and write article related to health and lifestyle, sometime on health-tech as well.  She is crazy about chocolates and you can find her on Twitter: @meetalycia