Keeping Healthy: Top Tips

Staying fit and well is incredibly important. Keeping healthy obviously makes you feel good/better, is good for those around you, is likely to extend your lifespan (i.e. switching from smoking to using e cigarettes and e liquids) it and reduces any strain on the NHS and other valuable services. This is a collection of non-preachy tips and tricks for keeping active, staying well and making sure that you remember to prioritise your mental health too. From promoting balance in your diet to choosing e liquids over tobacco cigarettes, there is plenty that you can do to boost your health.

Keeping Healthy: Eat Well

If you are on a fad diet, ditch it immediately. The chances are that it is only going to make you miserable. The key to eating well is to enjoy a balanced diet. This is your opportunity to explore new foods, new recipes, ways of eating and to make healthy eating enjoyable. Also, remember that a little of what you fancy does you good. A treat from now and then is a must. Don’t think of any foods as being bad, just enjoy a little of everything and remember that the goal is to not eat more than you move.

As well as making better food choices to help you meet your health goals, consider changing how you eat. Have you always been a three big meals a day person? Try five smaller meals to aid digestion, reduce the amount of snacking and to help you with keeping healthy by building new and positive habits. 

Drink Well And Enjoy The Balance

When we say “drink well” we don’t mean that you should immediately crack open a bottle of spirits and get stuck in. As with everything, balance is key when it comes to alcohol, sugary drinks and even coffees and teas.  

If you’ve been looking to boost your health we’re pretty sure that you’ve already been asked to drink more water. We know that it is boring, however, the health benefits are undeniable when working on keeping healthy.

There are many ways to boost your hydration, from setting yourself a timer to carrying around a water bottle. It can take time to make drinking more a habit but it’s worth the effort. You may feel like you’re needing to wee every ten minutes to start with but that does usually ease off.

Vape, Don’t Smoke

The fact that smoking is incredibly bad for you can’t come as much of a surprise. It is common knowledge that smoking can cause many illnesses, contribute to others and is a risk factor for heart problems, strokes and more. WHO, (the World Health Organisation) have been clear when reporting on tobacco smoking that it has the potential to cause cancer and has been directly responsible for the premature death of many.

Public Health England, the group who are responsible for health and the reduction or harm, is also clear in their public campaigns on the dangers of smoking. They do, however, advocate for the use of e cigarettes and e liquids as an alternative for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to quit smoking.

Many smokers have managed to successfully move away from cigarette smoking by moving over to vaping. This is a particularly useful alternative to smoking because it steps in to help where for many NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) just doesn’t work. Vaping helps a smoker to overcome physical and chemical withdrawal and cravings. This enables them to enjoy a hobby they don’t want to give up but without the health implications.

If you can’t give up smoking on your own, and many can’t you might want to consider vaping as an alternative. 

Keeping Healthy: Enjoy Daily Exercise

You don’t need to take on Joe Wicks level exercise or suddenly become a long-distance runner. All that you need to do is to find something that works for you and that you can do regularly. Go for a walk, a brisk walk, to get the blood pumping. Run up and down the stairs (carefully), follow your favourite Yogi on YouTube; whatever it takes, find something that can help you enjoy daily exercise that you will stick to. The benefits of exercising daily are countless, even if it is just a walk or short jog. You never know, you might even enjoy it.

Stay Mentally Well

It is important to forget about mental health or at the very least not prioritise it highly enough. Everyone has mental health. Everyone has some stresses and worries. Many people can manage this daily low-level stress fairly easily, some people can’t. Some have more going on or are able to cope less. This is not a negative reflection on anyone. Anxiety and depression are more common than you might think and mental illness is something that should be treated with the same priority as physical health.

There are many ways that you can self-manage your mental health and how effective this might be will depend on your individual circumstances. Treat yourself kindly, look into meditation and mindfulness, journal, talk to people about whatever you need to, if you can. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another. 

If you find that you are struggling with your mental health speak to your GP or usual care provider. They are best-placed to signpost you to more support and help in other ways as appropriate.

Keeping Healthy – In Conclusion

When it comes to keeping healthy it is important to look at all aspects of your lifestyle and make positive changes. Don’t try and do everything at once but do plan and work towards a healthier future. Opt for balance in your eating and drinking, increase your exercise, vape e liquids instead of smoking chemical-filled tobacco cigarettes (or just don’t smoke) and do not ignore your mental health. If you have any physical or mental wellbeing worries make sure that you contact the appropriate caregiver, support agency or GP for individual advice and support.