Habits for a Healthy Lifestyle

The most important gift to ourselves is our health. In order to have our health, we need to exert effort and avoid harming our bodies in any way. The following are some of the most important means of promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise

According to Harvard Health, everyone needs to exercise most every day. You need a routine that includes a cardiovascular exercise that gets your heart pumping, calisthenics that promote strength and agility, strength training and stretching.

Stretching needs to begin and end your routine. We stretch, use our muscles and then stretch again. The final stretch helps alleviate lactic acid that can build up in our muscles and helps set the stage for a lifetime of flexibility.

You have a lot of choices for cardiovascular exercise. The simplest is walking. Running, swimming, basketball, tennis, bicycling and aerobic exercise can all get our hearts pumping. A simple cardiovascular exercise like walking will keep your weight in check, your blood pressure low, your bones strong and improve your good cholesterol levels. The other nice thing about solo cardiovascular work is that it also provides us that really necessary time during the day in which we can process the day's events. Some of the best calisthenics include push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and calf raises.

Harvard Health advises at least two strength training sessions per week. You can use weights, machines, resistance bands or your own body weight in the form of calisthenic exercises. You are working at peak efficiency when you can use good form and carefully, with effort, lift a weight 12 times. When it gets too easy and you can lift the weight 15 or more times, you can move up to a slightly heavier weight. You need to work all of your larger muscle groups, including your hips and legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms and abdomen.

After all of that great exercise, your shower will warm and stretch your muscles and return your body temperature to a state of homeostasis. Then, you can choose a Young Living Essential Oils essence to calm and relax your body. You can also have an invigorating massage and rub the essential oils into your muscles.

Juicing

Many of us are not getting the government-recommended nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Juicing is an easy way to start your day with a huge shot in the arm of all of the vitamins and minerals that fruits and vegetables provide.

One big caution is that some of the so-called gurus of juicing recommend people combine fruits and vegetables in one juice. In the case of acidic fruits, like oranges, they are best left combined with other fruits. Apple can be combined with vegetable juice, though, and provides a sweeter taste.

These days, a good quality juicer can be purchased for under $50. One of the best vegetable juices packed with vitamins and powerful minerals, such as potassium, is to juice several celery stalks, some lettuce (best wrapped between the stalks), a few carrots, a cucumber and a garnet yam. You will find that the juice tastes quite sweet and satisfying.

Healthy Eating

There are a few guidelines that will help people eat in a healthy manner:

• Eat whole grains

• Half of your meal should be fruits and/or vegetables

• Choose lean proteins - like chicken, turkey, beans and nuts

• Drink a lot of water

• Lower your sodium intake by looking at labels

• Eat seafood once a week

• Choose healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables

A healthy lifestyle that promotes radiant bodily health and fitness includes daily exercise, raw vegetable juice and healthy eating of whole foods, with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, grains and healthy fats.