Here are some simple and basic HealthKick Healthy Living Habits that are easily worked into your daily routines that will help to improve your long term health.
HealthKick Tip #1: Drink water. Whether it’s flat water, sparkling water or flavored water, as long as it is not soda and as long as it doesn’t contain sugar, it really doesn’t matter. Drink a glass of water when you first wake up in the morning before anything else. Drink a glass of water before each meal. Carry water with you when you go to work or go out. Keep water in your car. Have plenty of water at work and always have a glass on your desk. Work out ways to make water always available and drink as much as you can. I’ve never been that big on just drinking bottles of water. Everyday I make a big batch of decaffeinated green tea and sweeten it with stevia and add lemon. I put it in the fridge and drink it throughout the day. Or I drink sparkling water with lime squeezed into it. Whatever form you like and will drink daily and consistently is best. It is universally known that drinking a lot more water than most people generally drink is vital to good health.
HealthKick Tip #2: Take extra vitamins and minerals daily. For many years I use to take vitamins and minerals in pill form daily. Now I have switched to a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement that is so much easier to take and I think it works better. One capful daily is super easy to take. I recommend one that is made from natural organic sources – mainly fruits and vegetables. These are easily available in most health food stores as well as vitamin stores.
HealthKick Tip #3: Eat as many raw foods as you can and try to work some raw foods into each meal and eat raw foods for snacks. Adding a salad at lunch and dinner is a great idea. Snacking on carrots, celery, apples or other fruit or raw nuts is also excellent.
HealthKick Tip #4: Cut out sugar, artificial sweeteners, sodas and complex carbs as much as you can. If you have to have the occasional soda, try the Zevia brand sodas that are sweetened with stevia. Realize that sugar is in a lot of things you don’t suspect – like ketchup, peanut butter, barbecue and spaghetti sauce and many other things – so be on the lookout. But most grocery stores offer sugar-free versions of these – you just have to look. Sweeten things with stevia that you would otherwise sweeten with sugar. And realize that the artificial sugar substitutes give pretty much the same reaction as sugar. See the section on Sugars and Sweeteners in this website.
HealthKick Tip #5: For bread, I recommend Ezekiel brand bread that is made from whole sprouted grains, which comes in several different versions including cinnamon raisin and 7 grain. They also make an english muffin version that’s excellent too. These have a low glycemic index and are very high in fiber – and they actually taste great.
HealthKick Tip #6: Do some physical exercise at least 3 times per week. In the exercise section of this website there are some very simple and fast exercise routines that you can use.
HealthKick Tip #7: Only take antibiotics when it is absolutely necessary and I strongly recommend taking a form of probiotics daily, particularly after taking antibiotics. Be cautious in taking OTC pain relievers like Tylenol and ibuprofen. If you have to take them, don’t take them longer than for 10 days and do not exceed the dosage. Longer term use of these can have some very serious repercussions that are explained right on the bottle – unfortunately a lot of people don’t read the fine print (especially when we are in pain!) and most people think the fact that something is OTC means it not dangerous. If taken in too high a quantity or for too long, these can cause serious complications.
HealthKick Tip #8: Brush and floss your teeth minimally once per day, preferably more often than that. Decaying teeth can also cause other health problems in addition to losing your teeth. Good teeth are an important part of the entire digestion process. I keep the little floss toothpicks in fancy cups all around the house to make it easy to floss when you are reading on the computer or watching tv.
HealthKick Tip #9: Take good care of your spine and joints. The entire nervous system runs through your spine and it is a highly sophisticated structure. Good posture, lifting things correctly, good back stretching and strengthening exercises – and the same for your major joints – as well as being cautious of rough sports or over-stressing the back and joints from hard physical labor or more vigorous exercising – are all important. These good habits should all start when you are young and healthy and be continued throughout your life. Don’t wait for problems to occur before you act. Spinal and joint related injuries and problems affect 100s of millions of people. Many spinal conditions can take months or even years to fully heal and some never fully heal. There are 10s of thousands of spinal and joint surgeries done per year. Good care for your spine and can save you from a lot of pain and expense in having to handle situations after the fact.
HealthKick Tip #10: Eat organic on the most important items. Avoid those fruits and veggies known that have high pesticide content and meats and dairy that have been raised with heavy use of hormones and antibiotics. Eat fish that is low in mercury content.
HealthKick Tip #11: Eat “good” fats, fats that are healthy, such as avocados, olive and coconut oils, small amounts of raw nuts and flaxseed.
HealthKick Tip #12: There are certainly a lot of studies that show how the human spirit affects the body. Pent up aggressions, grief and sorrow, guilt and regret can also cause physiological manifestations. In addition to getting any personal counseling that might help, I have a recommendation that I have found very helpful. It’s not particularly easy to do as when one is feeling low, it’s probably the last thing you might think of doing at the time. But if you can get yourself to do it, even in small doses, it will help. I think that the best thing you can do for your soul is to do something to help someone else. A selfless action to help another or to help improve someone or something in your community improves self worth and helps to lift your own spirit more than you may realize. Whether it’s helping another family member, neighbor or friend, rescuing an animal or volunteering for a worthwhile cause in your community. Any action along this line will give you a lift. The more you do, the more lift you get yourself. Donating clothes, shoes or household items that you don’t use anymore has the added benefit of less clutter at home. Helping in any kind of community clean-ups has the added benefit of getting you out of the house and out of your head and putting your attention out in the environment – also very therapeutic. Any kind gesture to another, small or large, is good for the soul. Keep working at it and you may feel little twinges of happiness. Good feelings release endorphins in the body that lead to improved health. It’s also just good karma.
I’m sure there are more that I will add to this list over time, but this is a very good start to work in simple healthy living habits into your daily routine and lifestyle. Remember these are healthy living habits, meaning you do them daily or routinely for real benefit.
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