If you’re like the typical American, you have at least a few concerns about your health and how your health might change in the future. Unless you’re a part of the tiny minority of the population who follows all health recommendations religiously and has an Adonis-like physique, you’re probably struggling with issues including, but not limited to excessive weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, and more.
Health is a complicated topic. And getting healthy isn’t exactly easy.
But with the right strategies, you can finally get more control over your health.
Why Health Often Feels Like a Battle
Why is it that health often feels like a battle? Why is this a topic that’s so hard for us to conveniently access and intuitively understand?
There are a few main reasons:
- Overwhelming information. First, human health is inordinately complicated, and if you’re not already acquainted with the basics, the available information can seem overwhelming. How do you even begin to learn about the complexities of nutrition? And how do you choose between competing health decisions, like whether you should sacrifice sleep to wake up earlier and squeeze in a workout before your day starts?
- Lifestyle changes and sacrifices. Second, many positive changes to health require lifestyle changes and sacrifices. If you’re used to eating delicious foods in large portions, the prospect of switching to healthier foods in smaller portions may sound burdensome. And if you’re used to a sedentary lifestyle, even small amounts of exercise may sound overwhelming.
- Lack of immediate results. Third, we don’t benefit from feeling immediate positive results from our health-centric actions. Eating a salad instead of a double cheeseburger for lunch won’t make you lose five pounds. In fact, many people won’t feel an immediate difference from a single improved meal or new action. This makes it difficult to stick with new habits.
How to Finally Get Control Over Your Health: Baby Steps and Small Upgrades
Understanding these challenges, the best way to get control over your health is to take baby steps and make small upgrades. If you focus on smaller, more individual and manageable changes, you won’t have to learn entirely new subjects, you won’t have to make big sacrifices, and you won’t be as affected by a lack of immediate results.
These are some of the best changes that you can make to get more control over your health:
- Invest in a bidet toilet seat. A heated bidet toilet seat is an attachment that’s fixed to your toilet. In addition to making the experience more comfortable with a heated seat, this bathroom device also allows you to clean your underside with a jet of gentle water, rather than rough toilet paper. It gets you cleaner, prevents health conditions like hemorrhoids, and is much, much more hygienic. As an added bonus, it’s a great way to save money on toilet paper.
- Reduce the volume of your vices. Many of us have vices we indulge in at least occasionally. Maybe you smoke a few cigarettes each day, or maybe you drink alcohol a few times a week. Quitting cold turkey can be overwhelming, so instead, simply work on reducing the volume of your vices. Instead of having four drinks, have only three. Instead of smoking five packs a week, try to get down to four. These changes are more manageable, and can help you build the momentum you need.
- Commit to drinking more water. It’s almost impossible to drink too much water, so make a commitment to drink more water each day. If this is something you struggle with, consider filling a large container and carrying it around with you everywhere you go; make a conscious effort to finish drinking the water from that container by the end of the day.
- Find substitutes for your unhealthy snacks. There’s nothing wrong with occasionally having an unhealthy snack, but if you eat corn chips, ice cream, and French fries regularly, consider finding substitutes. Instead of French fries, consider having raw vegetables with your favorite dip. Instead of ice cream, try a fruit parfait as a sweet treat.
- Get more incidental exercise. Motivating yourself to exercise can be tough, so try to get more incidental exercise. For example, taking the stairs instead of the elevator is a small change that can help you get more physical activity each day. You can also park further away from stores and other destinations, or ride your bike instead of driving to a friend’s house.
- Work out the ways you want, but do it every day. The benefits of physical activity cannot be overstated. Accordingly, you should try to exercise every day; this habit is going to be much easier to sustain if you find a slot for it in your daily routine. The good news is, any exercise is better than no exercise, so you can focus exclusively on exercises that you genuinely enjoy. Don’t like running? Try swimming. Don’t like using free weights? Try machines or resistance bands. Bored with routines? Get involved in sports. Keep trying new things until you find full body exercises you like.
- Improve your sleep hygiene. Sleep is critical for your health and sense of well-being, so work on improving your sleep hygiene if it’s an area of issue for you. That means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, eliminating screen time before bed, upgrading your sleeping environment, and going through a consistent routine at the end of each day.
- Wash your hands more frequently. Most of us don’t wash our hands enough, even though soap is cheap and we all know how to do this. Washing your hands more frequently means getting rid of germs that spread infectious diseases, reducing the likelihood that you’ll acquire or spread a disease throughout your household.
- Commit to regular checkups. Annual physical exams may seem inconsequential or annoying to deal with, but they have the potential to save your life – or meaningfully improve the quality of your life. Schedule a checkup for yourself and commit to regular checkups in the future.
- Get a health buddy. Even these small lifestyle changes and new decisions can be hard for some people to adopt. If you’re having trouble staying motivated, or if you feel alone or overwhelmed, consider finding a health buddy to go through the process with you. Ask a close friend or family member if they’d be willing to share your journey and help you learn.
Making meaningful changes to your health doesn’t have to be stressful or disruptive. With even a handful of lifestyle changes and upgrades, you can set yourself up for better health and a brighter future.
