In this strange time, we are all pressed to the facts with our noses. We now realize all the more that health is even more important than we ever thought. Now that we realize this it is good to think with yourself, how can I improve my health and with which points below can I achieve the most?
We have classified our tips into different categories. Which category do you want to know more about? Click on the link below and go directly to this section of our health tips!
Healthy food
We’re going to be the first to talk about nutrition. Nutrition is very important for your health. It ensures that you receive the necessary vitamins and minerals every day. But not only that, also fiber, proteins, carbohydrates and fats you get in through nutrition.
Now you really don’t have to switch to a diet that consists only of vegetables, fruits, some good fats and a little protein. Small adjustments to your current diet can already make a huge difference, especially if you look at the long term. Then the small adjustments will really pile up and yield results.
A few general guidelines you can stick to is 2 pieces of fruit per day and 250 grams of vegetables, this sounds pretty easy for many people to pick up. But you can quickly forget this or it can get in, before you know it you’re already at the end of the day and you haven’t gotten your portions in yet.
What exactly is healthy food?
Of course, healthy eating is a broad concept, what is healthy for one other can cause serious problems for someone else. Think of allergies. So we are also talking about nutrition that is generally healthy and has health benefits.
For example, vegetables contain a lot of antioxidants, vitamins,minerals and fiber these are things that are all good for your body.
It can be challenging to determine whether or not nutrition is healthy. The first thing you can look at is to what extent the product has been processed, the more processed the food is the less healthy it is generally.
Processed foods
For example, ready meals, but also many types of meat such as hamburgers, sausages, schnitzels and slaves are processed and therefore less healthy than the less processed meats. Salt and fat are often added when processing food.
In addition, you can look at the ingredients and nutritional value of the product. Find products with as little saturated fat as possible and added salt and sugar. These have no benefits for your body, of course you can occasionally take something that is unhealthy. But do this especially in moderation.
Training and exercise
Besides nutrition, exercise is also very important for your health. When you look at the current guidelines of the Health Council, it is recommended to have at least 150 minutes of moderate to intensive exercise per week. Preferably spread over several days a week.
Fortunately, there are many different ways to make it. This way you can go for a walk, play football or cycle. But also strength training or any other sport or activity you like to do is good.
It’s very important to find something you genuinely like to
do. Of course, you don’t want to spend every week doing something you don’t like. So take the time to look for activities you like! This also makes it a lot more pleasant to start and persevere.
When you are currently doing little or nothing about effort, it can feel that daily exercise and 150 minutes a week is very difficult to achieve. Remember that there is no need to do everything perfectly at once. Start by slowly building weekly exercise, from there you can work slowly towards the guidelines.
Strength
When it goes well for you to get the guidelines weekly and stay active, you can start looking at which sports are best for you. For example, you may want to work on your strength, your fitness, flexibility or a combination of these.
Strength training has its own and unique advantages over other sports. A few benefits of strength training include:
- Building muscle mass. As the name strength training suggests, you get stronger when you get it right. This can help you make your daily activities easier.
- Preventing injuries. Not only your muscles but also your tendons and ligaments will become stronger by practicing strength training. This makes you less likely to have muscle tears and other injuries.
- Reduce the risk of osteoporosis. By practicing strength training you will get a greater bone density. By exercising regularly, you ensure that your bone tissue stays strong and healthy!
- Good for your brain. Strength training is not only good for your body, it also makes for your mental health. Those who start an active lifestyle at a young age will reap the benefits later in life.
Recovery
Training and exercise is therefore very important for your health, but it is just as important to recover well from these workouts. When you continue, you never give your body the chance to recover. Especially after a workout where you get small muscle cracks like strength training. The right balance between rest and fitness contributes to improving health.
Sleep and stress
When your diet and exercise are in order, you can look at a few other things that will improve your health, such as sleep and stress. These are two factors that are often forgotten or seen as less important.
Good sleep
Sleep is hugely important when it comes to your health, when you don’t sleep enough it can have many different negative effects on your health. Of course, we all know that when we don’t sleep enough we have little energy, but this is not the only thing that happens to your body. For example, too little sleep can even increase the likelihood of an early death.
When you sleep, the immune system produces various substances such as antibodies and cytokines. These are substances that protect you from bacteria and viruses from the outside. If you sleep too little, you do not give your immune system the chance to make these substances (enough).
Symptoms sleep deprivation
These are a few things that can happen when you’re under-sleeping.
- Accidents. Low sleep increases the risk of a car accident and injuries from other causes.
- Memory. During your sleep, your brain forms new connections that help you store and process new information. Too little sleep can have a negative impact on both your short- and long-term memory.
- Health. 90 percent of people who suffer from insomnia also suffer from another health problem, so chronic sleep deprivation can increase the risk of heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke [4].
Symptoms of sleep deprivation that are easily recognized:
- Frequent yawning
- Extreme fatigue (also during the day)
- Irritability
Quality sleep
It’s not just about how much you sleep but also about the quality of your sleep. Sleeping better is a lot easier said than done. Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to improve your sleep quality.
What can help to improve your sleep quality is maintaining a steady rhythm. Getting up every day around the same time and going to sleep can help you.
The average adult needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Exactly how much you need varies from person to person but also depends on your age. The older you are, the less sleep your body needs.
Stress
The last factor is one that can have major consequences for your health. Of course, we know that stress isn’t good for us, but it’s not like we have a button that we can turn it off. A lot of stress can increase the risk of heart problems, of course you want to try to prevent this. Also, your body stores fat faster during stress.
When you regularly suffer from stress, it is good that you learn to recognize the signals in yourself. If you notice that you are starting to have stress, you can start moving or do a relaxation exercise.
Consciously create moments where you can relax. You can do this by listening to your favorite music, reading a good book or doing meditation.
Improving health starts at the grassroots
There are many factors at play when it comes to your health. Not only your diet and exercise but also your stress, recovery and sleeping habits contribute to your health. When you are consciously working on healthy life, you will notice that small adjustments make your life a lot fitter!
Want to improve your health? Then use the tips in this blog to optimize the basics in your life. Do you find this difficult and would you like help in adjusting your diet, training and mindset? I would like to help you with online personal training and online nutrition guidance with healthy weekly schedules!
