Healthy Lifestyle
Insights for new runners to live a happy, healthy lifestyle.
What is a Healthy Lifestyle?
There are many facets to your life. Physical wellness through running and marathon training is just one of the many.
A healthy lifestyle incorporates all the aspects of your life, physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Insights and tips will help you to find a healthy balance in your own life.
Mental Wellness
Mental health involves the processing, understanding, and storing of information.
Weight Management
Managing weight is more than just diet and exercise to help control weight.
Sleep Management
Sleep is a vital in mental health and wellness. Time for the body and mind to refresh.
Why is Mental Wellness Important for a Healthy Lifestyle?
Mental wellness is vital to the overall health of the body. Meditation, mindfulness, positive thinking, and visualization are all techniques to help boost mental health.
Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle
For some people, living a healthier lifestyle means boosting weekly exercise. For others, better sleep habits may be the priority. Wherever you’re at with your healthy choices, it’s not a one-and-done. It’s a lifelong pursuit.
When you exercise regularly, sleep well, and choose healthy foods, your body and brain function at their highest capacity. By making smart decisions, you can make the most out of your day-to-day life. And you will reap the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
1. Healthy Weight
One of the primary benefits of a healthy lifestyle is maintaining a healthy weight. If you are at a healthy weight then you’re right where you need to be. For most people, weight fluctuation is just a way of life. The pursuit of healthy weight loss can help improve cholesterol levels and blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The one-two punch of healthy eating and exercise can be the most effective and efficient way to lose weight and maintain it over time.
2. Sleep Quality and Increased Energy Levels
A quality night’s sleep determines your energy levels for the next day. Many people don’t get enough sleep (less than seven hours). This affects energy throughout the day. And may lead to chronic diseases over time.
Exercise helps sleep quality
Sleep is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle. Did you know that you can improve your sleep with regular exercise and healthy eating? The National Sleep Foundation found that just 10 minutes of aerobic exercise during the day may help you sleep better at night. And, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea.
A healthy diet boosts the quality of sleep
Quality sleep and energy levels can be improved with a healthy diet. Here are a few ideas of diet enhancements that can boost sleep quality.
- Eat food low on the glycemic index. This helps regulate blood sugar and keeps energy levels steady throughout the day.
- Cutting the amount of caffeine you consume throughout the day can help you get more restful sleep.
Overweight Runners Guide to Caffeine.
3. Improved Mental Wellness
A healthy lifestyle can also improve your mental wellness. Running and eating a healthy diet are tools that can help you manage stress. This improves your mood. When you run or work out, your brain releases endorphins. These powerful molecules make you feel good and may help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The diet helps with mental well-being
Eating a healthy diet can boost your mood and improve your mental health. Your brain needs premium fuel to function properly. A healthy diet rich in whole foods results in the highest brain function. Whereas eating a diet of crap food may leave you feeling sluggish, fatigued, and foggy.
4. Prevention of Disease and Injury
Living a healthy lifestyle may help prevent the development of chronic disease and injury. Here are a few ways healthy living helps you live longer.
Don’t smoke, eat healthily, and exercise regularly may help offset the risk of dementia, according to a July 2019 study published in JAMA.
Drinking alcohol in moderation may help you live free from disease, according to a January 2020 study in The BMJ.
By doing so you are less likely you are to develop diseases like:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Chronic kidney disease
- Hypertension
A study published in March 2020 in JAMA Cardiology defined a healthy lifestyle as the following:
“A healthy lifestyle is not smoking, eating healthy, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and maintaining healthy blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.”
Journal of The American Medical Association Cardiology
Exercise may prevent weight-related diseases
Running or working out regularly can help with weight loss. It can help prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, obesity, and heart disease. Aerobic exercise boosts your heart health and aids weight loss. Weight-training exercises can slow the progress of disease-related muscle decline.
Healthy lifestyle diet and prevention
Your diet is just as important as your exercise. The CDC found that poor nutrition can contribute to risk factors for obesity, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. However, eating foods low in saturated fats and trans fats can help prevent high cholesterol. Plus, limiting your sugar intake can lower blood sugar and help prevent or control diabetes.
