Be physically active and exercise

Human bodies are made to move around and to be physically active. Just take a look at our ancestors. They were continuously hunting, gathering, climbing, fighting other tribes, and running away from hostile animals to survive.

That’s why we need to remain physically active and exercise to remain strong and healthy.

You should perform both strength training and cardiovascular exercise to have both good endurance, and power for all the daily tasks, and to age better.

Try to do something you enjoy whether it’s weightlifting, walking, running, or body weight exercises. What you like doing, are typically the things that you can persist and keep doing forever without any issues.

Watch your weight

A large portion (no pun intended) of our modern society is overweight, which will come as no surprise to many knowing how much great food there is at our disposal today.

Never before have we had this much, and such easy access to delicious, yet unhealthy foods such as fast food, processed food, and sodas that are full of sugar. Our bodies are still hardwired to search out calorie-dense foods since food sources were limited in ancient times.

Thus, our desire to search out calorie-dense food, which is typically unhealthy, is a leftover survival mechanism from our ancestors. That’s why it makes sense to crave foods such as soda, fatty foods, and sweets so much.

But we know that this is unhealthy since it places a lot of extra stress on our cardiovascular system, organs, joints, and muscles. It also increases the risk of attracting debilitating sicknesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancers, to name a few. Fortunately, there are a lot of things we can do to lose body fat.

Eat a healthy, varied diet

Eating a healthy, in addition to a varied diet ensures you’re getting all the nutrients you need, all the while keeping you from gaining too much weight.

That’s why you need to eat your vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish to hit both your macro and micronutrients.

Eating cleanly also includes refraining from eating sweets, too much-saturated food, and too much salt. But we’re only human of course. That means that we will succumb to the temptation from time to time. Just make sure not to overdo it, as most things are fine in moderation.

Limit sugar

We know that sugar is a major contributor to inflammation. And that’s not just limited to the joints, but to the organs, and other tissue as well.

Sugar is our primary energy source, signifying that all the sugar that doesn’t get used for physical activity, will get stored as fat instead. That’s why we need to limit sugar as much as possible.

It’s better to have a bit larger of a meal if that keeps you from snacking on sweets and drinking sugary beverages in between meals. Because a healthy meal is at the very least filling, and not full of empty calories.

Limit foods with saturated fats

Saturated fat can be described as a type of dietary fat that is saturated with hydrogen molecules. They are comprised of just singular chemical bonds between carbon atoms.

Many meals contain saturated fats these days. For example, palm oil, butter, sausages, bacon, and biscuits all contain a lot of saturated fat.

Eating too much saturated fat can raise the LDL cholesterol that’s present in your blood. This is commonly known as the “bad” cholesterol in our bodies. This can increase the risk of strokes, and suffering from heart disease.

Eat less salt

Salt in itself isn’t bad. But eating too much salt and sodium can increase blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and heart diseases.

That’s why you shouldn’t put salt on all the foods you eat, which is what a lot of people who like salt do.

Eat fish regularly

Don’t drink too much alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol can make you do dumb things. Not to mention that it’s dangerous, and unhealthy as well. It is considered a drug that can be highly addictive. Yet, alcohol is socially accepted and even encouraged in some societies.

That’s why alcohol is extremely dangerous, especially to those who are susceptible to addiction, and who don’t drink responsibly.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise that adults should limit alcohol intake to 2 drinks or fewer per day. They recommend that men drink 2 drinks a day at most, and women just 1 drink per day.

Better yet, is to abstain from drinking alcohol altogether. Yet, I’m guilty of enjoying some beers on the weekend as well, even though I’m fully aware of the harmful effects that alcohol can contain. Still, drinking in moderation can aid in limiting the harmful effects.

Drink enough water, stay hydrated

The human body consists of mainly water. Logically, we need enough water to fuel the body, and to keep all the natural processes flowing smoothly.

Drinking enough water prevents overheating, dehydration, kidney stones, and constipation. Furthermore, drinking enough fluids brings nutrients to all the cells in our body, while getting rid of wastes that build up over time.

If we’re dehydrated, we tend to feel sluggish, and less energetic, have trouble focusing, and brain fog might set in as well.

Take a multivitamin

Taking a multivitamin is a good idea for almost everyone since our current eating patterns leave much to be desired.

Even if you do eat a healthy and varied balance, then it’s still likely that you are deficient in some minerals and nutrients such as vitamin D due to the sun not shining every month of the year in most countries.

You shouldn’t overthink this one. Taking a general multivitamin will go a long way towards covering a lot of bases. Supplementing with vitamin D, and fish oil are my go-to’s as well.

Don’t smoke

Smoking has become less and less popular over time. It’s also very expensive to smoke today, and since life is getting increasingly expensive, that money can be put to better use elsewhere.

Smoking is a well-researched topic, and the effects of smoking are clear. Smoking is highly addictive, and very bad for your health. It commonly causes diseases such as lung cancer, lung diseases, heart disease, diabetes type II, and a whole host of other chronic health issues.

It’s both mentally, and physically addictive. The nicotine that’s present in cigarettes is a physically addictive substance, which can make it extremely hard to quit smoking. Mentally, we might associate smoking with a good time, relaxing, and socializing with others. That’s why it’s mentally addictive too because we link it with pleasure and dopamine release.

Manage your stress levels

It’s not just our physical health that we should worry about, but our mental health as well. The mind and body interact. As such, it will come as no surprise that suffering from chronic stress will harm both our mental, and physical health.

That’s why you should learn to control your stress levels. A good general rule is taking action to fix the things you can do something about while trying your best to worry as little as possible about the things you can’t change, and have no control over.

Activities such as yoga, mindfulness, and breathing exercises can help make chronic stressors much more manageable. Sure, they’re not for everyone, but they’re at least worth checking out.

Manage your emotions

Managing your emotions is key to preventing suffering from stress.

Just imagine if you would get worked up about every small thing, such as what people think of you, when you take everything personally, and when something doesn’t go your way.

That’s why you should learn to keep your composure, even when you’re under pressure. This is something that we need to practice to get good at it. But when you do, you’ll be happy that you put in the hours to do so.

Get enough quality sleep

Sleeping is our way to replenish our energy. Sleep is required to function properly. Without it, we feel dull, can’t think properly, feel tired, and can’t concentrate on the task at hand.

To combat this, you’ll need to make sure that you get enough uninterrupted sleep. Aim for at least 8 hours each night, while trying to prevent waking up too many times.

Try to limit electronic devices such as cell phones and computer screens before going to bed. Don’t drink too much water before going to sleep, so you don’t wake up at night because you need to go to the restroom.

Reduce screen time

Reducing screen time can be a good way to maintain our mental health. It’s been shown multiple times by now that too much social media such as Facebook, and Instagram hurts our mental health.

The internet often portrays a perfect and idealistic picture of someone’s life, while the reality is typically much more grim and painful. This can lead to fear of missing out (FOMO) and getting depressed due to feeling the constant need to compare your life to that of others.

Like with most things in life, moderation is key. But if you know you’re prone to comparing yourself with others, and scrolling for hours on end, then it might be best to leave social media altogether.

Protect yourself from the sun

Protecting yourself from the sun is essential to prevent skin issues. Folks who have suffered sunburns in their youth can get skin problems such as skin cancer, skin lesions, and premature aging of the skin.

That’s why you should always wear sun cream to protect yourself from the burning sun. When the sun is out in full force, you should search out the shade, while wearing protective headwear such as a cap, and even sunglasses.

Do regular checkups

Doing regular checkups with your doctor is a good safety precaution. More and more of our current health system is based on preventing issues rather than solving them. Either by providing information or due to detecting diseases sooner by doing more regular checkups.

Getting your blood work done, and searching your skin for potential skin melanomas can go a long way to prevent issues, or to keep them contained.

Personally, I get my blood work done at least once a year. That’s probably still not optimal, but it’s better than never doing so. At the very least, this gives me a better fighting chance if something like cancer should get detected during the processing of my sample.

Practice safe sex

And last but not least, practice safe sex. This might be something we forget during the heat of the moment, but it’s nonetheless essential, especially when it’s not our regular partner we’re having intercourse with.

You can never fully know someone. As a result, you can’t fully trust that they’re not suffering from any sexually transmittable diseases. It’s different when you have a relationship with a steady partner, and when you’re trying to have kids. (Obviously.)

But if you’re just having fun out there, then you should be careful to protect yourself. One wrong decision can alter your life permanently if you’re not cautious.