Healthy Living and Good Health Systems

                          

Healthy Living and Good Health Systems

The three great means of living a good and proper healthy life is exercise, proper diet, physical activity and physical fitness.

Exercise:

   There is an increasing prevalence of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers due to poor physical health. Establishing a healthy lifestyle is your primary and best prevention against many of the conditions

    Exercise is a planned, well-structured and repetitive bodily movement done to improve or maintain one or more component of physical fitness, such as endurance, flexibility, or strength.

   Exercise is the aerobic, strengthen of the chest and stomach core, there are two types of aerobic exercise.

·       Easy exercise- breathing and fast heart rate , brisk walking, bike riding, dancing

·       Hard aerobic- faster breathing, jogging. Running, swimming

·       Cardiovascular exercise

·       Flexibility exercise

·       Strength developing exercise

    Experts say just 30 minutes of activity, three to four days per week will help you stay healthier.

    Exercise will make you feel better, improve your health and help you perform at your best every day.

    Best of all, it is never too late to start; the question is how do I do this? There are many ways to exercise every day without going to the gym or to a fitness club. Here are a few:

§  Park further away from work, the grocery store, or the shopping mall.

§  Take your dog for a 20-30 minute walk every other day.

§  Add exercise into your daily plans

   Turn your coffee break into a walking break.

§  Use the stairs instead of elevator/escalator.

The Benefits of Exercising

§  Capacity of the lungs increases.

§  Heart muscles grow stronger.

§  Promotes stronger and healthy bones.

§  Increases intellectual capacity and productivity.

§  Antidote for emotional disturbances-also known as stress.

§  Realistic way to lose weight.

Healthy Eating (diet)

    Guide your food choices with the help from the ‘’food guide pyramid and the dietary guidelines’’.

    A well balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is a successful combination to help keep your body fit and sound.

    A food pyramid or diet pyramid is a pyramid-shaped diagram representing the optimal number of servings to be eaten each day from each of the basic food groups. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974 for more detailed info on this wikipedia

Stress

    Stress is simply the body’s non-specific response to any demand made on it. Stress is synonymous with nervous tension or anxiety.

    Stress can also cause exhaustion, illness, heart attacks and other adverse conditions. One important thing to remember about stress is that certain forms are normal and essential.

Recognizing Stress

    The following are indicators that you may be encountering negative stress:

·       General irritability

·       Elevated heart rate/increased blood pressure.

·       Floating anxiety-anxious feeling for no specific reason.

·       Trembling

·       Anger

·       Emotional pain

·       Insomnia

·       Headache

·       Indigestion

·       Pain in the neck/or lower back.

Stress Management Strategies

·       Structure at least three to four days a week to include a minimum of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise.

·       Eat well-balanced meals, more whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetable.

·       Avoid alcohol and drugs. These substances may add to headaches and swelling, decrease coping mechanisms and depression.

·       Get at least 7hours of sleep each night.

·       Spend time each day with at least one relaxation technique-imagery, day dreaming, prayer, yoga and meditation.

·       Go for a walk.

·       Avoid living a life of regrets, be contented, have a strong will and be free.

·       Release that which you cannot control.