Posted on August 25th, 2010
Wishing you weren’t having a birthday again this year? Humans have been looking for the “Fountain of Youth” for centuries. What we really want is to look and feel younger than our age. It takes some self discipline but it can be a reality. Developing a therapeutic lifestyle is the first step. A therapeutic lifestyle might be defined as making daily choices that will enhance your health and prevent disease. In fact the National Institute of Health (NIH) recommends lifestyle changes as the most important and cost-effective way to lower cholesterol. Lifestyle changes are now recommended as the first line of therapy for many chronic diseases.
Here are five fundamental areas of lifestyles to check into:
- Balanced eating
- Regular activity/exercise
- Nutritional Supplements
- Stress Management
- Adequate Sleep
Eating 5-6 small meals/snacks each day will keep the blood sugar levels from dropping too low or spiking too high. It also keeps the body digesting regularly and maintaining hunger/appetite control. One other important factor is to choose low glycemic or low sugar foods as snacks/meals.
Many of us are busy and don’t think we have time to exercise. The good news is that you if you can carve just 30 minutes out of your day to do some aerobic exercises, strength training and stretching you will have yourself an exercise program.
It is important to get the proper nutritional supplements that address your individual needs and deficiencies. It is also necessary to get high quality supplements; ones that have independent, voluntary testing done to verify their purity.
Managing stress is a multi-million dollar industry. You can keep is relatively simple, though. The number one issue is to identify what causes the most stress in your life. Next is developing relaxation techniques and adjusting your life to avoid those situations as much as possible.
How much sleep does a person need? Many studies/experts agree that adults need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. The body repairs and rebuilds while at rest. You will also feel more energetic and able to handle stressful situations better.
It’s time that we took control of our lifestyle, get off the couch, away from the computer and get active. We need to stop overindulging and being careless with our health. You get just one life and one body, so make the most of what God has given you. You can alter your life by making healthy choices each day.
Therese Bertsch
Firstline Therapy Educator
