When we talk about self-growth, people immediately think about steps to increase their wealth or improve their talents. However, too much focus on these tend to result in the neglect of a very important aspect: physiological health. If you don’t take care of your body, you can’t possibly take care of anything else. Fortunately, doing so is not very difficult. Here, we take a look at very simple steps you can take to improve your physical health.
Get adequate sleep
You can never substitute a good night’s sleep with anything, even daytime sleep. All-nighters have been found to increase the risk of acquiring diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and other health issues.
Aside from allowing the body to rest properly, sleeping has effects on memory as well. It appears that the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that consolidates memory, is more active when you are asleep. The mechanisms and full benefits of sleep have yet to be understood fully. For example, there is still an ongoing debate as to how long a person should sleep at night. Some experts recommend only six hours per night, while some recommendations reach as high as nine hours.
One way to determine how much sleep your body needs is to choose at least three non-busy nights, and then sleep through each one without any alarms; just allow your body to wake up on its own terms. Take note how long you sleep each night, and then get the average.
Watch your weight
Study after study has shown that there is such a thing as a healthy weight, adjusted according to a person’s height, age, and body type among other factors. Anything that goes beyond should be a source of concern. Obesity has been linked to a lot of illnesses including (but not limited to) heart ailments and high blood pressure.
With this in mind, it’s important to manage our weight. We can start by being mindful of both the type and the amount of food that we consume. Having a balanced diet is essential for the maintenance of a healthy body.
Exercise
Many believe that exercising is only for bodybuilders and those who want to look good. However, similar to dieting, exercising is more than just a quest for beauty. A lot of the people you see in the gym don’t have rock-hard muscles and washboard abs, but they are healthier. Being active reduces the risk of contracting heart ailments and many other illnesses simply because it helps strengthen your immunity.
Avoid misinformation
Seeing as it’s so easy to upload information online, many of the articles that we read on the web aren’t very trustworthy. Protect yourself from misinformation, especially regarding matters that concern your health. If you find online journal articles are too complicated to read, content creators like Doctor Mike Media package health information in comprehensible ways. Health-related content produced by doctors, researchers, and universities are the safest to read.
Staying physically healthy is essential if we are to succeed in life. Ironically, the body usually gets sidelined first as we strive to reach our goals. Start putting your health first with these steps.
Lora Y