6 Staples For Staying Well

Every day we make choices towards our health through modifiable behaviours. These are lifestyle habits such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet and stress. It is the choices we make towards these behaviours that impact our long term health and the quality of life we lead. It is never too late to make a positive change!  

We can all be proactive in looking after our personal health. Follow these six basic principles to live a longer, healthier life. 

Be active everyday

By spending 30 minutes exercising at moderate intensity most days of the week unlocks an incredible range of health benefits. Staying active helps keep you within the ideal weight range, improve heart and lung health, boost your immune system and energy levels while strengthening your muscles and bones. Make sure you have a good mix of strength, flexibility and aerobic exercise to stay balanced. If you have a sedentary job aim to get up out of your chair every 20-30 minutes to circulate some blood and freshen up your mind.

·        I always have struggled incorporating flexibility into my regime because I found it boring, easy to skip or did not want to commit to a 60-minute class. Now I just complete a 15min yoga YouTube video every non-gym day. This gives me 45+ minutes of flexibility a week. Try starting at Yoga Journal

·        Not getting up from your workstation enough? Take all your bins away and use the central bins, this will make getting up from your station a habit.

·        Job requires you to sit long periods? Perform these seated stretches, I recommend half at 10am and half at 3pm.

Eat well 

Maintaining a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, lean protein and fibre gives your body all the vitamins and minerals it needs to work at its optimum and protect you from illness. Things to watch are sugar, trans fats and alcohol consumption. The less processed the food the better. 

·        When shopping in a grocer all the real food (unprocessed) is on the outer aisles, most of your groceries should come from there.

·        Count how many types of fruit and vegetables you had today and how many colours. Today I have had 10 types of fruit and vegetables and 5 different colours. Do you think you have enough variety?

·        Check out the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, Does your plate look like this?

  Stop smoking 

Smoking has been linked to many conditions including stroke, cancer, and heart disease. Stopping smoking is so important for your long term health and the health of those around you. Get help from your GP or call 13QUIT to greatly increase your chance of successfully saying goodbye to cigarettes.  

Know your health numbers

Regular check-ups for key health markers means two things, early detection and early intervention. The sooner the intervention the greater the health outcome. Your health numbers help identify signs you need to take action towards your health. You should know your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and family medical history. If not book in with your GP and find out! 

·        Take any opportunity to have your key health numbers checked. 

Understand your risks

Your personal health risk is constantly changing and is influenced by your age, gender, life stage, ethnic/cultural background and any pre-existing illnesses or conditions you may have. Having an understanding of these risks allows you, with the assistance of your GP to take preventative measures to help you maintain a healthy life.

·        Speak to your family and find out if there are any hereditary conditions in the family

Get quality sleep 

Sleep is the time when your body restores itself, grows and heals. Make time for adequate sleep to feel better through the day. The average adult needs about 7-9 hours every night. 

·        If you do have trouble sleeping try reading until you get tired or practice 5-10 minutes of mindfulness or meditation.

Take some time to think about these six principles and if you see an area that needs to be addressed set yourself a plan of action with small goals along the way to achieve your desired outcome. 

So what can you start today to improve your health tomorrow?

For a fun way to improve employee wellbeing visit the Active Workplace Challengeand request more information.