What does it mean to maintain a healthy lifestyle? There are proven habits that can help you optimize your physical and mental well-being. Getting enough sleep, reducing your sugar intake, exercising regularly, keeping a balanced diet, and maintaining a healthy weight are just a few recommendations to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Read on to learn about some of the top ways to do this. 

Eat A Balanced Diet

This seems to be a recommendation for everything, right? Well, the foods you consume have a big impact on your health, both in a positive and negative way. The human body requires a variety of foods for energy, which means eating a balanced diet. You should eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean protein, legumes, and healthy fats to obtain as many nutrients as possible. A registered dietitian can help develop a plan for you that benefits your health, should you need professional assistance. 

Stay Hydrated

People love to diversify their beverages, but a lot of people do enjoy water as one of them. As a general recommendation for your daily water intake, health experts recommend the 8×8 rule. That involves drinking eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day, but that isn’t sufficient for everyone, and does not account for physical activity. A better guide is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you weigh 150 pounds and divide that by two to get 75, you should drink 75 ounces of water per day. Staying properly hydrated can help:

• Boost energy levels
• Support weight management
• Improve digestion
• Help prevent kidney stones
• Improve brain performance 
• Help reduce joint pain

Reduce Sedentary Behavior

In present day society, sitting is all too common, and for many hours per day no less. Prolonged sitting and sedentary behavior can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer. Regular exercise does not completely cancel out hours and hours of sitting, though. Ideally, you should break up sitting with short stints of movement, even if it means walking around the office for a few minutes. When you do exercise, aim to get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intense aerobic activity per day. 

Get Quality Sleep

Sleep experts recommend people get at least seven to eight hours of quality sleep per night. During sleep, the body completes a number of essential tasks, such as repairing muscle tissue, restoring energy, maintaining bodily functions, and processing new memories and information in the brain. If you do not get enough sleep, you can experience irritability, difficulty focusing, and mood swings. If you experience chronic sleep deprivation, you may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. 

Avoid Smoking

This seems like a no-brainer, but smoking is a very common habit and addiction that can damage your lung tissue, heart health, and more. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health, no matter your age or how long you’ve smoked. In fact, studies show that quitting smoking can add up to 10 years to your life expectancy. Need help quitting? Try our Smoke-Less Formula, which contains natural herbs that assist the body’s circulatory, respiratory, and hepatic systems. 

Maintain A Healthy Weight

When you keep your weight in a moderate range, you can protect yourself from conditions like:

• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Stroke

You can determine if you have a moderate weight by determining your body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. A doctor will also consider other factors, such as ethnicity, body composition, age, and health history when giving information about the right weight range for you. Weight isn’t just about the number on the scale because everyone is different. 

Limit Your Intake Of Sugar And Processed Foods

It is best to limit your intake of sugar and processed foods, such as packaged and frozen meals. These types of foods tend to have excess amounts of sodium, calories, unhealthy fats, and added sugars. Additionally, watch out for sodas, sugary juices, candy, sweetened cereals, and packaged cookies and chips. Rather than throwing out all of this food at once, start slow by swapping out some processed meals and snacks for whole foods. It is easier to begin by swapping one to two options per week for healthier options.

Vincent Stevens

Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.