Being healthy is not just about eating a healthy meal every now and again and hitting the gym once a month. Being healthy means following a healthy lifestyle, and with February being Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Month, we're sharing some tips to help you get healthier — and stay that way!
The theme for the South African 2020 Healthy Lifestyle Campaign is "Cheka Impilo - Have peace of mind". How do you go about doing that? Try to take small steps to improve your health for a healthier and happier you!
Here are a few things you can do today:
- Drink more water: drink 6-8 glasses of clean, safe water every day. Try to avoid sugary drinks or flavoured waters which can lead to an energy overload and weight gain.
- Get enough sleep: good quality sleep can help improve stress levels and maintain a healthy body and healthy weight.
- Exercise daily: physical inactivity is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension. Aim to add more steps into your day, or take the stairs instead of using a lift – every step counts!
- Eat more fruits and vegetables: these are rich sources of vitamins and minerals as well as dietary fibre. Try to get in 5 servings of fruit and vegetable daily!
But being healthy is not just about eating enough fruit and vegetables, it's also about relaxing and spending quality time with your loved ones as this contributes to an overall healthy lifestyle and well-being.
The key to embarking on a healthy lifestyle is to start small. Making a small change to your diet and being able to maintain it can go a long way. We all have something that we can adjust in our diets and lifestyles.
Make it fun by challenging your friends or colleagues on who can achieve the greatest number of steps in a day. Try a new form of exercise, dance in the kitchen, use herbs instead of salt to flavour your food, choose chicken or fish over red meat, have a meatless Monday, take a moment to be outside, get up from your desk and talk to humans instead of texting, borrow a dog for a run. There are so many different options – just do something!
If you want to add more exercise into your daily routine and are concerned about any health issues you may have, please consult with your doctor. You can make an appointment at Campus Health Service by calling 021 808 3494.
