Live A Dream: Ways To Form A Healthy Lifestyle

Are you sick of the same routine you do every day? Have you been looking for ways to transform and spice your life up for the better? Well, don’t feel bad! 66% of fellow Americans feel the same way ( 22 Noteworthy). To have a top-notch life, we need balance. In our busy lives, we still need to maintain healthy habits like drinking water and exercising. From a mental health aspect, doing activities that make us joyful like reading and spending time with friends, can make a significant impact emotionally. In this article, I will be explaining how to create this healthy balance in your life by doing activities such as exercising, eating healthy, giving importance to mental health, and community service.

“Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together, and you’ve got a kingdom,” said Jack Lalanne, a fitness and nutrition guru and speaker( Stiefvater, Sarah). Exercising and eating nutritional food affect our success in life. Eating healthy provides your body with proper and enough nutrition while exercising nourishes your energy. Many people often compare their body to a temple. What we put into our bodies is crucial in determining how effectively we work and perform. Did you know that only one in three Americans do their necessary physical activity for the week?

According to the CDC, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, being physically active allows you to have certain health benefits like improving your thinking, learning, and judgment skills even as you get older. Exercise helps you get rid of stress, anxiety, helps you sleep better, and reduces your risk of getting diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes (“Benefits of Physical Activity”). In addition to physically being active, you must also prioritize your diet. If you are looking for ways to enhance your diet, make sure to eat a plethora of fruits and vegetables and limit sugar and salt intake. Avoid fast food, consume herbs like moringa, eat foods from animal sources like meat and legumes like beans or lentils(“Healthy Diet.”). It’s alright to consume foods like candy, chocolate, or other unhealthy foods once in a while. Keep a balanced diet! Even in your busy life, your health should get ranked first.

Being healthy is often associated with being fit, eating nutritious foods, and exercising. What we must also remember is that being mentally healthy is just as important as being physically healthy. Celebrities like Prince Harry, Dwayne Johnson, and Emma Stone have talked about the stigma surrounding mental health illness( Singh, Olivia). Your mental health matters because it assists in working efficiently, being physically healthy, making strong relationships, coping with stress in life, and discovering your potential( “Mental Health.”). You might be asking, what factors in my life could affect my mental health? Well, it could be factors like drinking alcohol, smoking, insufficient glucose and oxygen, life experiences, and biological things like genes. So, now that you know mental health matters, it’s key to seek ways to improve your mental health. You can improve your mental health by talking about your emotions, caring for other people, eating healthily, being active, and taking breaks (“How to Look after Your Mental Health.”). If you think you have a mental health issue, please find assistance. Try finding a therapist and get in touch with your doctor. I encourage you to read books about mental health, being healthy, and avoiding mental issues in your life. One of my recommendations includes “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.”

As a volunteer, I have worked on service projects with people from all backgrounds who share one common thing: they all want to serve the community. Community service is a great activity to help others. It makes you feel better because you make an impact on many people. But, do you know the benefits of community service on your health? Well, volunteering can help reduce your chances of getting depression, and it teaches you practical skills like cooperation (Admin). Also, volunteering creates a positive mindset in you, makes you live longer, makes you active physically and mentally, and you can meet new people and form relationships. In a survey of volunteers who served within the last year in a charity organization, 78% said their stress levels went down, 76% said they felt healthier in a physical way, and 96% said volunteering nourished their sense of purpose in life (“Doing Good”). You might be wondering how and where can I start volunteering? That’s where I can assist you! You can begin by doing small acts of kindness like helping your teacher or complimenting someone. If you are skilled with computers, like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word and PhotoShop, you will be a sublime volunteer. If you are not that skillful, try training by watching Youtube Videos or taking classes in your city. To find a nonprofit to volunteer for, you can use websites like VolunteerMatch.org or Serve.gov to find the best match! I hope you have found this advice helpful, and it encourages you to serve your community.

It’s significant to have a balanced life by using the strategies discussed in this article; exercising, eating healthy, putting value on mental health, and community service. I hope you found these strategies applicable and are using them in your life. These are all the popular techniques that all successful people like Barack Obama and Bill Gates use. As a result, if you apply these strategies, you will be on the path to success! I decided to write about these strategies after I had an unbalanced life. After I used these strategies, I bettered my life and reached my goals. By utilizing these techniques, I fulfilled happiness and success in my life. I also want you to have a better life and be happy.

Sources:

• “22 Noteworthy Work Life Balance Stats for 2021.” TeamStage, 8 Jan. 2021, teamstage.io/work-life-balance-stats/.
• “The 6 Health Benefits of Volunteering.” Mayo Clinic Health System, mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/helping-people-changing-lives-the-6-health-benefits-of-volunteering.
• “The Benefits of Volunteering and How to Find the Right Opportunities.” CoachArt, CoachArt, 8 Apr. 2021, coachart.org/blog/benefits-of-volunteering-and-how-to-find-the-right-opportunities/.
• “Benefits of Physical Activity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 Apr. 2021, cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm.
• “Doing Good Is Good for You.” United Health Group, 2013, https://www1.unitedhealthgroup.com/content/dam/UHG/PDF/2013/UNH-2013-Annual-Report-Summary.pdf.
• Exercise & FITNESS: Facts & Statistics – RxResource.org, 30 Aug. 2021, www.rxresource.org/fitness/exercise-and-fitness-facts-and-statistics.html#:~:text=Less%20than%205%25%20of%20adults,65%2D74%20are%20physically%20active.
• “The Godfather of Fitness® King of Fitness®.” Jack Lalanne, jacklalanne.com/.
• “Healthy Diet.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, who.int/initiatives/behealthy/healthy-diet.
• “How to Look after Your Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 4 June 2021, mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-mental-health.
• “Mental Health.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 10 Aug. 2021, medlineplus.gov/mentalhealth.html.
• Singh, Olivia. “35 Celebrities Who Have Opened up about Their Struggles with Mental Illness.” Insider, Insider, 15 May 2020, insider.com/celebrities-depression-anxiety-mental-health-awareness-2017-11#wayne-brady-described-his-battle-with-depression-and-constant-self-doubt-in-2014-13.
• Stiefvater, Sarah. “25 Healthy EATING Quotes to Motivate You to Make Better Choices.” PureWow, PureWow, 13 Jan. 2021, purewow.com/wellness/healthy-eating-quotes.

[By Alaa Alhabeety, student contributor at EdSeed and Sahasra Nandela, Empower And Help Student Ambassador from North Carolina]