How many of you can confidently say that you are absolutely healthy and fit?
Do you enthusiastically sign up for gym membership and swear by a new diet at the beginning of each year (like your New Year's Resolutions) only to fail miserably after a few weeks or months?
Physical health is certainly a great concern for us because without a healthy and well-functioning body, we cannot do as much as we want.
In this article, we will look at five changes that can transform your overall physical health in terms of dietary arrangements and a healthy lifestyle routine.
Change 1: Practice A Balanced Diet
Whether we admit it or not, most of us have our go-to's when we are eating at our favourite restaurants.
Some of us might even take a step further by going all out on a specific taste or food. It's kinda like the sweet vs savoury debate. A cheese party all day or a strawberry buffet.
To live a healthy lifestyle, we need to adhere to this principle: You are what you eat.
What you consume on a day-to-day basis needs to be well balanced in terms of nutritional values and also the right proportional values.
That means you need to have a bit of everything to have the optimal level of vitamins, proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, fibre and water for your body.
To get an adequate source of vitamins and minerals, be sure to incorporate vegetables and fruits in your daily meals.
Fresh vegetables and fruits (also known as plant foods) are high in antioxidants, which can prevent or slow down cell damage that's caused by free radicals in our body.
Don't forget to also include a variety of lean sources of protein such as fish, beans, nuts, tofu, and poultry for your regular meals.
Perhaps you can incorporate more plant-based meals once in a while to cut down on meat consumption as a New Year's Resolution.
When it comes to carbohydrates, fibre and fats, it is important to go in moderation. Whether you are opting for grain/flour-based meals like rice, noodles, oats, or grains, you can always opt for healthier cooking options.
For example, instead of consuming fried rice and noodles frequently, you can always try out steamed rice or soup-based noodles.
Apart from being mindful of our solid food intake, we should also pay attention to what we drink. For our fellow sweet tooths or caffeine lovers, we know it's tempting to order your favourite boba drink and cup of coffee every day to get that sugar or caffeine rush. However, excessive sugary and caffeinated drinks can cause several health problems in the long run.
Nothing beats water as the best liquid to quench your thirst and provide you with the best hydration all day.
Water helps to regulate and maintain the various systems in our body. Whether it is to aid your digestion and prevent constipation, or regulate your body temperature and electrolyte level, water plays an indispensable role in helping us have a healthy body.
Photo by Rosalind Chang on Unsplash
Change 2: Opt For Healthier Cooking Methods
Continuing on the topic of food and diet, we certainly cannot miss out on the cooking methods of our daily meals.
Opting for a healthier cooking method can not only enhance the nutritional value of the food that you intend to cook but also preserve the flavour of the food.
Some of the common healthier cooking methods include:
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Steaming
It is a cooking method that uses the steam (vapour) produced by boiled water to cook the food. Some examples of foods that you can use steaming methods to cook are vegetables, seafood, rice, and yes, the glorious dim sum.
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Grilling
It is a cooking method where high temperature is applied directly to the food or placed on a grilling plate. Some examples of dishes that incorporate grilling are grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, grilled fish, grilled kimchi and even grilled cheese.
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Roasting
Roasting is a common slow-heating cooking method that is usually done in a dry-heating environment like an oven, or an open flame. Some examples of roasting dishes are roasted chicken (like Kenny Rogers Roasted), roasted potatoes, roasted lamb and roasted fish.
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Poaching
If you love your food to be liquid-based and soft, then poaching is a cooking technique that you should master. All you need to do is submerge the food in the water/soup and simmer it until it is cooked. Some examples of food that you can use the poaching technique include poached eggs, poached poached chicken and poached fruits.
Ahem, we hope you are not salivating as you are reading this.
Change 3: Stay Active — Learn A New Sport Or Hobby
Having a healthy and fit life also requires you to build a strong body and a strong mind.
Your body needs to move and needs to be trained. And what better way to stay active physically than to learn a new sport for the coming year?
Whether it is a sport that you can enjoy by yourself or a competitive sports game which requires you to form a pair or a team, you are bound to benefit from learning a new sport.
Exploring a new sport can motivate you to stay committed to a body training routine. You get to use and build your muscles and improve your overall fitness level and stamina.
Furthermore, doing sports is a great way of releasing stress, and also enhances your cognitive function through focus and also game strategy planning.
Having said that, a good diet and sports routine is a great combo when it comes to keeping your body in shape and most importantly adhering to a healthy body mass index (BMI).
Photo by Rosalind Chang on Unsplash
For those of you who have an imaginative mind and a creative spirit, you can dive deep into the world of making beautiful handcrafts or enrol in a painting class as a hobby.
Whether it is DIY projects that you can enjoy at home or an engaging painting project that you copy while watching online tutorials, we assure you that these activities can be intellectually stimulating and uplift your mood.
Not sure where to start as an absolute newbie?
Fret not, we got you covered.
At Superprof, you can find an experienced art tutor who specialises in teaching handcrafts or painting.
You can enjoy undivided attention through one-to-one home tutoring or online tutoring and learn at your own pace.
Regardless of the city you are living in Malaysia, you can easily find a tutor that is based in your city in just a few steps as you navigate the Superprof Malaysia website.
As you browse through the tutors' profiles, you can review and compare the basic information of the tutors in terms of their teaching experience, teaching specialisation, scope of teaching, teaching methodology, and hourly rates.
Once you have finalised your decision, you can proceed to contact them via the messaging feature on their profiles.
Change 4: Get Enough Sleep and Establish A Regular Sleeping Routine
You can pretty much tell whether a person is in their best condition in the morning by the amount of dark circles they have.
While some of us are arguably early birds or night owls, what matters most is the quality of our sleep and our sleeping routine.
Without quality sleep, our bodies will not be in the best conditions. Our immune system will decrease, our cognitive functions will also decrease — causing a hit to our productivity at work. Our emotional well-being will also suffer a huge blow because our emotional regulation will also be affected.
Quality sleep can be achieved if we have a regular sleeping routine. By sleeping routine, we are not saying that you need to have 8 hours of sleep (although that would be great), but a regular time when you prepare to sleep and when you actually wake up.
We do know that sometimes it's difficult to fall asleep on time and we are usually exposed to screens even before we lay in bed. Do minimise screen exposure when you're about to sleep.
To fall asleep easily and stay in deep sleep, it is important to make sure your bedroom is a conducive and comfortable place to sleep in. Some elements that you should consider are the temperature of the room, the level of darkness, the level of noise surrounding your room, and yes, even the condition of your bed and pillows.
Oh, and don't stuff yourself with heavy meals just before your sleeping time. Choose light snacks or drink a cup of milk if you are hungry.
Remember, a good sleeping routine will certainly regulate your circadian rhythm and enhance your mental health in the long run.
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
Change 5: Go For Regular Health Checkups
After reviewing the changes that you can take to improve your health through your diet and lifestyle habits, there's one more action left — health checkups.
Prevention is better than cure. Going for regular checkups helps you have a professional and objective assessment of your overall health. It can also help you to identify certain health risks in advance.
Depending on your age, family history or needs, you can opt for different health tests like a blood test to test your cholesterol level, blood sugar level, body fat, functions of organs or a simple physical examination to test your blood pressure and heart rate.
A general health check-up every one or two years is highly recommended regardless of your age. Though a health checkup can be scary, but it is important to maintain good health and also to detect early signs of diseases.
American entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn once said, "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."
Be sure to make these five changes at the top of your list of New Year's Resolutions.
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