4 Tips For Better Health
The winter has finally almost gone, according to the calendar, so now we can start enjoying the health we have nurtured over those cold months. If, like me, you still have the sniffles from a lingering cold, you’re ready for it!
So let’s take a look at how to preserve and improve our health.
1. Vitamins
Yes, we do need them. Even the American Medical Association, who for years said we could get all the vitamins we need from our food, accepts that a multivitamin, at least, is necessary for all of us. The question is – which vitamins should we take?
For years, I took Centrum, until I learned four facts:
- There are better vitamins around
- As we grow older we need more vitamins
- It’s never too soon to start adding vitamins and other supplements to our diet
- Everybody needs a good multivitamin, but apart from that our needs are different
My staple now is One-Per-Day tablets, which supply far more of the essential nutrients than the Centrum I used to take. I also supplement with other vitamins and minerals according to my own needs.
2. Exercise
In North America, especially, we don’t exercise enough. We have created an environment where walking for our normal daily activities is discouraged. We drive instead of walking or cycling and ride elevators instead of climbing stairs. Any activity is good, but I choose to run and work out at home with free weights.
As I grow older, I am reducing my running and replacing it with walking, but I still look forward to running more in the warmer months. I remember the joy it gave me when I was younger and faster, and attempt to recapture as much of that as I can!
3. Water
Stay hydrated with at least eight glasses of water per day. You can add a slice of lemon or some electrolyte drops to enhance it of you find it difficult to consume that much. And, please, stay away from sodas: as well as being dehydrating, they are either too sugary or have toxic artificial sweeteners.
I keep a large bottle of water on the desk in my office, and drink from it whenever I feel thirsty. That way, even when I’m not exercising, I stay hydrated.
4. Attitude
More than anything else, our attitude to life controls our health. If you are gloomy, fearful or pessimistic, your health suffers accordingly.
Build an “attitude of gratitude.” Try starting and ending each day by finding all the things in your life you can be grateful for, and just see how much better you feel!
And don’t carry grudges. For some of us, forgiving others feels like weakness, but hating someone is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die! Forgiving someone is a gift for you, not the person forgiven.
Summary
So those are the four tips: exercise, supplement, drink and be merry! Yes, there are plenty of other things you can do to improve your health, but with those four you’re off to a great start.
Enjoy good health!
Resources
For Vitamins, I use Life Extension Products
If you enjoy running, you might like my Facebook page at Half Marathon Training Schedule, and I get my gear from Road Runner Sports.
You can read about the weight training program I use at 7 Minutes 2 Fitness.
The details of the study were that the subjects, ranging from 50 to 85 years old, were shown images, such as nature scenes and pictures of animals, and then exercised for six minutes on a stationary bicycle at 70 percent of their maximum capacity. (Yes, less than the 7 minutes we spend on our workouts!) One hour later, they were given a surprise test to see how well they recalled the pictures they had seen.
