You want to live a long, healthy and happy life, right? Here are the best healthy habits you should start doing today to achieve just that.
No really, we mean today.
Print out this list now, post it on your bathroom mirror or your refrigerator, and consult it often to give your mental and physical health a steady boost.
The Best Healthy Habits to Live By
11. Eat Your Vegetables and Fruits
People who eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and therefore have higher levels of antioxidants in their blood, have a 39 percent lower risk of death from any cause than those who eat the least.[i] No surprise here!
10. Read … Often
Curling up with a good book can help you escape from everyday stress, boost your mood, and help prevent memory loss and cognitive decline. Plus, reading even helps you show more empathy for those around you, improving your social interactions.
9. Eat More Omega-3 Fats
These are the healthy fats found in seafood, like salmon, and fish oil. Low intake of omega-3 fats is linked to up to 96,000 premature deaths a year![ii]
8. Turn Off the TV
You can live nearly 1.5 years longer just by cutting back on your television viewing to less than two hours a day.[iii]
7. Maintain Close Ties with Friends
People who live the longest typically have rich social lives and satisfying relationships, whereas those plagued by feelings of loneliness are more likely to struggle with depression, anxiety, stress and even health problems like elevated blood pressure, trouble sleeping and an increased risk of substance abuse and Alzheimer’s disease.
6. Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day
If you rarely brush your teeth, you have an increased risk of developing heart disease and chronic inflammation (a hallmark of many chronic diseases).[iv]
Laughter really is the best medicine — it can help you prevent heart disease and lower your risk of a heart attack,[v] lower your blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, improve memory and learning, boost your immune system and make you more alert and creative.
4. Have More Sex
Assuming its done with a monogamous partner, having more sex is linked with increased lifespan, pain relief, weight loss, a stronger immune system, lower risk of heart disease, increased self-esteem, lower blood pressure and healthier responses to stress!
3. Drink More Green Tea
If you enjoy green tea, drink up. Drinking five cups a day reduces your risk of premature death from all causes by 16 percent, and your risk of dying from heart disease by 26 percent.[vi]
2. Sit Less
You can increase your life expectancy by two years just by cutting the amount of time you spend sitting to less than three hours a day.[vii]
1. Exercise Regularly
Getting your heart pumping for about 30 minutes a day reduces your risk of chronic disease and can extend your lifespan by about 3.5 extra years (exercise more intensely or for an hour a day and you can boost your lifespan over four years). Even if you’re severely obese, exercising can boost your life expectancy higher than someone of normal weight who’s sedentary![viii]
Want to get started right away? Check out the FREE Pilates Made Easy DVD and in 20 minutes you will be taken through a warm-up and 19 Pilates exercises proven to strengthen, tone and energize. There’s absolutely no excuse not to … because this Pilates DVD is absolutely FREE.
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Great blog from a great site with lots of great practical content Thanks
I appreciate your blogs, they are very informative and good. I appreciate your nutritional advice because I have been interested in good nutrition since 1964, way before they started poisioning us all. I walk every single day (or at least 6 times a week). I still do my sciatic exercise. and also have your book on healthy back exercises..
Thank you