Tips & Tricks to Improve Your Health This Year
Did you know that our health is not just based on the food we eat, but other components such as activity levels and recovery as well? One of the most important things anyone can do is learn to properly care for their body. It is crucial to provide your body the right fuel, attention, and care it needs to function properly.
In today’s world, staying healthy is more important now than ever before. For some, it can be challenging to know exactly what they need to do to achieve their health and fitness goals. With these 11 health tips for 2020, you will learn how to make changes to your lifestyle to improve your overall well being, allowing you to enjoy all of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
1. Stay Hydrated
Did you know that over half of the human body is made up of water? In order to keep our body functioning properly, we have to give it the water it needs. For the average adult, the daily recommended amount of water intake is eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day. However, if you’re very active, you may need to drink more than this amount to keep your body hydrated. By making sure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day, you can increase your energy levels, improve your digestion, and detox your body.
Pro tip: For additional benefits, try adding lemon to your water. Drinking water with lemon, especially in the mornings, can aid in digestion, skin clarity, weight loss, and provide a good source of Vitamin C.
2. Eat Your Fruits and Veggies
We’re sure this is causing some flashbacks to your childhood, but it’s crucial to your overall health to eat fruits and vegetables. These are natural ways to obtain the vitamins and minerals that keep your body strong and healthy.
If you’re not a fan of fruits or vegetables, that’s okay too! With so many recipe options, you can get creative with how you obtain your recommended servings. Chickpeas and sweet potatoes make great substitutes for flour in baked goods like brownies, while helping you reach your daily servings of vegetables. Mixing them into a smoothie is also an easy way to ingest your fruits and vegetables without having to actually eat them — especially those that aren’t that delicious. We’re looking at you, kale!
Want some other ideas for sneaking fruits and vegetables into your diet? Click here.
3. Add Variety to Your Meals
Whether you stick to a strict routine, or are just uncomfortable branching out of your food comfort zone, it can be easy to get stuck eating the same things. By doing so, however, you’re preventing your body from obtaining the variety of nutrients it needs.
A well balanced diet not only includes fruits and vegetables, but also proteins, dairy, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. One way to easily ensure your meals have the necessary food groups is to plan your meals in advance. By planning the meals beforehand, you can learn how to incorporate foods in your diet that you typically wouldn’t choose. A convenient way to add variety without the extra work is by using a meal prep service. They offer balanced, varied, and nutritious meals, and take care of all the pre-planning for you, saving you lots of time (and money!).
4. Manage Your Stress
Let’s face it, life can be stressful. If not managed in a healthy way, stress can build up and take a toll on your health. By learning to manage your stress in a way that works for you, you can begin to see an improvement in other areas of your life — specifically, your overall well being. For some people, journaling helps them release and control their stress, while for others meditation or relaxation techniques do the trick. Experiment with different techniques to find what helps you.
5. Start Moving
The next on our list of health tips for 2020 is to start moving. Exercise is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle, and if you want to improve your overall health, it’s important to incorporate some sort of physical activity in your daily life.
For some, it can be difficult to know how to begin. So, start by doing what you can! Take the stairs, or go for a walk around the neighborhood. Over time, your body will get stronger and you’ll be more willing to try new exercises. On average, adults should aim for 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day.
Not only is exercising great for your body, but it also positively affects your mental health. By getting up and moving around, your brain will release chemicals like dopamine and serotonin that improve your mood and overall sense of well being, naturally. Exercising regularly is another way you can release stress that has built up throughout the day, too.
6. Reduce Your Added Sugar Intake
One of the most important health tips for 2020 is to limit your consumption of added sugars. These added sugars are not found naturally in the food, but rather are additives to increase the sweetness of the product.
Despite what you may believe, sugar that we find naturally in food does play a critical role in how our body functions. These natural sugars, such as fruits and honey, help give our body energy.
It wasn’t until recently that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made it a requirement to include the amount of added sugars in the Nutritional Facts we find on food labels. When looking for snack options, always take a look at the label. You’ll likely be surprised to see just how much sugar is being added to your food! According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the daily amount of added sugar intake for men should be less than 37.5 grams, and less than 25 grams for women. Keep this in mind when reading the nutritional information and choose options with low amounts of added sugars to manage your daily sugar intake.
7. Lower Sodium Intake
Similarly to added sugars, a lot of the food options we consume contain high levels of sodium. Not only can too much sodium lead to dehydration and headaches, but it can also cause damage to your kidneys and increase your risk for high blood pressure. You can learn to limit the amount of sodium you consume in your diet by cooking with less salt, rinsing canned foods before consuming them, and comparing the nutrition labels when shopping for your groceries.
8. Eat Healthy Fats
Another dietary change you can make is including healthy fats in your diet. An example of these foods are avocados, nuts, seeds, and extra virgin olive oil. These healthy fats can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. When you incorporate them in your diet, make sure to measure out portion sizes, as healthy fats are often high in calories.
9. Get Plenty of Rest
An often overlooked part of our well being is our sleep health. If you want to improve your health, aim to improve your quality of sleep by adhering to a schedule that allows for a minimum of six to eight hours of sleep a night.
For some people, when they learn to manage their stress, the quality of their sleep will improve. Another way to achieve more restful sleep is to reduce your blue light exposure in the evening, approximately one to two hours before you plan on going to sleep. This is a critical time to help your body recover and is just as important to your health as what you do when you’re awake.
10. Be Consistent
The key to seeing the effects of these health tips for 2020 is consistency. Start turning these tips into habits and pretty soon you won’t even have to think about them!
As with any change, give your body time to adapt to your new lifestyle. Change never happens overnight, so be patient. Set daily reminders to move and remove temptations like soda and junk food to help in your progression towards a healthier you.
11. Maintain A Healthy Weight
Each of these 11 health tips for 2020 plays an important role in keeping your body at a healthy weight. Maintaining a healthy weight can not only give you more energy, but also prevent you from developing conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even arthritis.
At UpFresh Kitchen, we know the importance of good nutrition and how it affects our general health. Which is why we created a menu filled with a variety of well balanced meals! Our menu options change every week, so you’re sure to find meals that not only taste great, but also fit into your new healthy lifestyle. We’ll even deliver them to your home!
Ready to order? Check out this week’s menu and create your personalized meal plan with UpFresh Kitchen to schedule your first order!