Do You Lead A Toxic Lifestyle?

Toxic Lifestyle. Can’t say that has a nice ring to it, can you?But it is true. What with the current affinity for the fast food fad and somewhat sedentary lifestyle, more and more people are leading a toxic lifestyle. And you can’t always blame it on technology, right?

There are studies to show that young adults in the 30-40 age group are being diagnosed with heart disease thanks to an unhealthy lifestyle and they will probably die before their parents, unless they decide to make the switch to a healthy habits. Even sadder than this is how the children of these people also look like they’re headed in the same direction.

Can this be reversed? 

Of course. And glad you asked. For the most part, it is as easy as making an improvement in our eating, exercise, and sleep habits. Now think about this: do you need to improve your lifestyle?  Yes, if you agree with the following statements.

– Fast food is your main source of food
– Your computer/phone screen has you mesmerized
– Exercise is not on your list of priorities.
– You don’t believe in regular sleep habits 

But why?

Fair enough. Knowing why will inspire you that much more to plan your lifestyle changes as soon as you can.

Fast food, as you probably know, is perhaps the worst kind of food to eat, especially if you want to improve your health. When you eat sugary, starchy and fat-rich fast food, you’ll put on weight. This will increase your risk for a series of health problems that includes pre-diabetes and diabetes. Be a regular fan of fast food and you will only be depriving yourself of essential nutrients you need to stay healthy and end up loading yourself with empty calories.

What to do?

Make sure you include healthy foods like nutrient-rich high-fiber carbohydrates, lean protein, low fat dairy and healthy fats into your diet. There is an app to tell you what to include in each of those nutrition categories.

If you find yourself stuck to your screen most of the time and unable to tear yourself away, because you find it so easy to manage your entire existence online, stop to think about it. Get up, stand up. Sitting increases the risk of death by 40%. So rather than let technology take your life over, why not leverage it for your benefit?

Get health tips. Join a support group. Use it to remind you to exercise. Play music as you stretch.

Next – exercise. Moving is an important part of life. See how silly that line sounds? As I said earlier, a sedentary lifestyle is an invitation for health problems. So now is the time to get off that chair/couch and away. Spend at least 20 minutes of cardio or core-strengthening exercise every day. You can start feeling slimmer within the week!

There are easy ways to exercise without going to the gym. If you enjoy the outdoors, here’s what you can do:

–   Jog around the park
–   Biking
–   Walking
–   Use a jump rope
–   Take your pet for a walk
–   Mow your lawn 

Indoors?

–  Get the music on and dance like there’s no tomorrow 
–  Get an exercise or fitness DVD
–  Take the stairs at work
–  Catch up with housework

Regular exercise, healthy diet, what next?

Sleep, of course. We spend one-thirds of our lives sleeping. Did you know that? Get enough sleep. Practice power-napping if you can. If you don’t get enough sleep, you can increase your risk for many health problems like obesity, weak immune system, heart disease, depression, stroke……the list is endless.  Arrange your bedroom in a way that relaxes you and try to get at least eight hours sleep every night.