How to Live Long and Healthy

We should all take care of our bodies as best as we can. If we abuse and poison our bodies, we will end up shortening our life span and quality of life. Learning good and healthy habits early on and continuing to practice them throughout our life can lead to health and longevity. Read on to learn how to live long and healthy.

Things You'll Need

• Good eating and sleeping habits
• Healthy diet
• No abuse of alcohol or drugs
• Regular physical check-ups
• Exercise
• Enjoyment of life
• Social network

Instructions

1. Practice good eating and sleeping habits. This includes eating a healthy and balanced diet, drinking enough water, and maintaining a healthy weight for your height. It’s also important to make sure you get all of the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs. Regularly eat foods from each food group and take a multivitamin if necessary.

2. Don’t abuse alcohol or drugs. While many people drink in some form of moderation, over consumption of alcohol over a period of time can damage your organs as well as cause you to become dependent on it. Drugs can also cause addiction as well as illness, destroying your body from the inside out. Smoking is also unhealthy so quit if you can. If you can’t quit, try to cut back on how much you smoke.

3. Stay physically and mentally active. Make sure you exercise regularly. Physical activity helps to keep your body in good shape which contributes to good health. As you age, keeping physically active will help your strength, motor and even cognitive skills. What’s also good for keeping cognitive skills intact is making sure to use your brain. Read books, do puzzles, and be sure to engage in activities that keep your mind active. Brain function can deteriorate as we age but having strong cognitive function can greatly minimize any deterioration.

4. Get an annual physical check-up. During your visits to the doctor, you can be screened for any diseases or illnesses and discuss any hereditary illnesses that run in your family. Your doctor can give you information on how to keep healthy and potentially lessen your risks for developing illnesses that run in your family.

5. Be social and interact with others. Being around other people is healthy for us. It helps with our emotional connections and keeps us from being lonely and secluded. Companionship is an important part of our health. We have to take care of our emotional health as well as our mental and physical health.

6. Discover your purpose in life. When you feel like you have a reason to live, it helps you to find enjoyment out of life. Just find something in life that gives you a sense of satisfaction. People with hobbies and goals that they work towards tend to have more enjoyable and fulfilled lives.

7. Make it a point to smile and laugh a lot. People who smile and laugh often tend to be happier and have less stress in life. Having too much stress can lead to other illnesses so try to keep your stressors at a minimum and your happiness level elevated. Happiness radiates positive energy as opposed to being in a bad mood all the time which radiates negative energy.