Today everyone is hustling in their way at every point of time to find that balance, that could put respective physical and mental issues at bay. This is where we tend to falter, as we consult experts, meet counselors, nutritionists, friends and read blogs or videos about ways to improve our mental and physical health, we stumble upon so many things, which tend to make us confused and seldom all over the place.
Recently, on World Hearts Day, I stumbled upon this data from WHO-World Health Organization, Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) take the lives of 17.9 million people every year, 31% of all global deaths. Triggering these diseases – which manifest primarily as heart attacks and strokes – are tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol. Heart diseases are caused due to several factors, but primary factors are, an unhealthy body and stressed our mind!
Now you would say, that you don’t have enough time for your body and stress is a routine in this modern era, like bread and breakfast, right? So, here are 6 very simple hacks to balance both, your mind and body to lead a healthy life.
1. Overrated hack called ‘Excercise’:
‘Overrated’, why? because we have made too much fuss on exercise as it is just a simple hack and not so much of a big deal. Why I am saying this? it is because I have seen people join gyms, Zumba studios, and yoga sessions. Then, trying too hard and quitting in the end. According to Bodybuilding.com, on an average, people who have set fitness resolutions say they have given up on them four times in the past and cited a number of stumbling blocks when it comes to achieving their fitness goals:
42 percent say it's too difficult to follow a diet or workout regimen 8 percent say it's too hard to get back on track once they fall off 36 percent say it's hard to find time
From personal experience of over 2 years of gymming, yoga and Zumba sessions, here is my take on the ‘Exercise’!
- Keep your goals simple and don’t go all guns from the first day.
- Don’t stress out on achievements from your exercise- Remeber! you are to exercise for a healthy body and not some celebrity body.
- Keep rest days to avoid overworking-out.
- Celebrate small successes in your physical transformation.
- Don’t give up on failures!
- The most important aspect, workout, eat healthily and sleep better- avoid cell phones while you workout!
- If you are motivated by music to workout, use airplane mode and prefer pre-downloaded stuff.
- Also remember, exercise improves blood flow towards your whole body, including the brain to enhance your mental health and keep you happier.
2. As simple as appl pie- Healthy Food:
I am not asking you to stop eating your favorite foods or go on a dieting spree. I believe, one should never torture, one’s body with hunger marathons! Let me put it in simple terms, change your favorite foods with healthy foods as an alternative, with the same taste and more benefits. There are lots of dieting methods around like, Alternate day fasting, intermediate fasting, keto diet, vegan diet, etc. But, frankly, it’s all about calorie count and nothing else. Some of my suggestions are:
- Eat-in small portions if possible than going binge eating.
- Reduce Sugar intake as minimal as possible.
- Try healthy alternatives- Gluten-free brown bread over regular bread or switch to boiled stuff over deep-fried.
- Most essentially, for gym-goers, rely more on natural proteins and less on your protein shakes.
3. Enough with the usual ones- Take time off:
Take time off from your routine and try something new, that you haven’t been up to, yeah, take your weekends seriously and turn them into adventures that will boost your mental health, go solo or on a family trip, but, be sure to avoid any contact with your regular monotonous affairs to have that solace you seek for, best ideas are…
- Try adventure sports- don’t compromise safety.
- Challenge yourself to a dare
- Learn a new thing- you can continue this for a few weekends
- Once you master that skill, choose a different one to learn.
4. Celebrate Yourself:
Don’t stress out on celebration planning, but celebrate each moment in your life, festivals are always there to meet people and have happy moments, Leave your stress and any other issue for those few days and immerse yourself into that festival with friends and family and you will find, that you were missing so many things each year.
- Try to celebrate the achievements of yours and of the people you care about.
- Celebrate, break-ups, failures, and losses even more-This will help you move-on, quickly!
- Keep distance from people who never expect you to achieve.
5. The Morning Routine:
Keep your morning routine healthy and happy. There are some simple steps to do that and which can help your productivity, health and overall progress in life and even help you reduce stress. You can also pick a simple mobile application to help you with this routine, as developers today are building applications for health-related aspects like sleep cycles, food diets, and workout trackers. This routine will also require you to have a sleeping routine to be followed. So here are the golden rules of the morning routine:
- Try to wake-up early, If you wake up early, you will have more time than your peers, to do important things, early enough.
- Have an exercise routine, optimize your morning time, by inducing an exercise session. It can be home workouts, yoga sessions or as common as a morning walk.
- Be sure to keep your morning exercise routine in nature’s lap-It is always great to have some fresh oxygen in your lungs.
- Reach early at your workplace- your morning routine can help you avoid traffic hassles, early reach and more time for higher productivity.
- Avoid digital gadgets including smartphones an hour before sleep and try reading a book maybe. As you need to sleep early to wake up early.
6. Stress Busters:
Well, different people have different stress busters, some would like music, some would play games or some would watch TV perhaps. No!, social media can’t be a stress buster if you are too sensitive about your social media image. So, I would recommend avoiding social media as a stress buster. What you can do is:
- Keep a specific time in a day as your time.
- You can do whatever you like, at that time to bust your stress.
- Don’t choose an activity that can lead to higher anxiety levels.
Wrapping it up:
We live in a world, where time is the biggest currency and you are on the shortfall. So, use it wisely and stay happy at whatever you do! If you are not happy in doing, whatever you are, ditch it and find the one that makes you happy.
If an exercise routine is not making you happy, or a career choice you are regretting, a relationship that is loathsome or a workplace that is increasing your stress levels, ditch them and move on, you will always find people who will encourage you, love you and care about you. So, leave naysayers and negative people in your life.
Remember, the more happy and healthy you are, the more you are worth it for your company or the people around you. There are no shortcuts to success, but, there are some simple hacks as discussed above to lead a healthy and successful life.