Wellness refers to a healthy state of being, both mentally and physically. Mental and physical health are closely interlinked and often, where there is a problem in one area, it is reflected in the other. To achieve wellness, a person must intentionally and continually take a holistic approach to leading a healthy lifestyle.
It requires strong willpower and an understanding of what habits need to be adopted. These habits include making healthy food choices and leading an active lifestyle. They also involve knowing how to destress and when to seek mental health support.
More than ever before, people today tend to lead sedentary lifestyles that have had a negative effect on their physical and mental wellbeing. It has resulted in the prevalence of health conditions like obesity, lifestyle diseases, mood swings, low stamina, and depression.
Leading a healthy lifestyle has become increasingly important in helping people to overcome these issues and lead happier, more fulfilling, productive, and longer life. Here is why you need to learn and adopt habits that will get you healthy and well.
Physical Wellness
Promotes Weight Management
Excess weight gain has become a widespread problem as people opt to consume more fast food than ever before and spend little time being physically active. Whether it comes from being too busy at work or studying or simply being lazy, when you combine high-calorie diets with a sedentary lifestyle, it will usually lead to weight gain.
Regular exercise and a healthy diet can help in avoiding all this. Even the recommended minimum of just 150 minutes of exercise each week can be a big help in getting people more physically fit. When it comes to food, not only do you need to achieve the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vegetables on your plate, but you also need to ensure good portion control so that you are burning more calories than you are consuming to lose weight.
Prevents Lifestyle Diseases
Lifestyle diseases stem from how people lead their lives. The behaviours that can result in lifestyle diseases include eating large portions of unhealthy foods, drinking alcohol excessively, smoking, abusing drugs, and being inactive.
For those that lead such unhealthy lifestyles, it becomes easy to develop such health conditions as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, asthma, stroke, body pain, and more. Making healthy food choices and undertaking regular exercise can go a long way in boosting metabolic rate, reducing weight and boosting mental health.
Boosts Mental Health
When you lead a healthy lifestyle, your mind tends to be more relaxed, and you are better able to focus at work. You also tend to be more consistent and feel energised. Your mood will improve, giving you greater confidence and making it easier to make and sustain personal and professional relationships.
When your mind is at ease, it also becomes easier to avoid feelings of stress. Regular exercise is a good destresser, with a healthy diet helping to nourish and energise the body. Combining a healthy diet with regular exercise will also help promote better sleep. This will further relieve stress and allow a person to wake up feeling refreshed and energised.
Enhance Appearance and Longevity
Those that lead healthy lifestyles are more likely to enjoy a more youthful appearance. Their skin and hair will often appear healthier and more vibrant, making them look years younger than those that lead an unhealthy life.
When a person normalises healthy eating and regular exercise, they also benefit from fewer health problems and longer lives. They can enjoy a much longer independent life into their senior years than those that are plagued by lifestyle diseases from earlier on, which tend to become progressively worse with age.
Occupational Benefits
Many organisations have become invested in health and wellness programs for their employees. This is because a healthier workforce will often be more productive, have fewer sick days, and have a higher retention rate. They incorporate such programs as on-site fitness centres, wellness challenges, and smoking cessation programs. Some also offer employees healthier food options at workplace cafeterias and even massage therapy sessions.
All this is done to not only improve their physical condition but also their mental well-being. Most of these programs apply to large organisations, but there are still strategies even smaller companies can apply to encourage their staff to lead more healthy lifestyles. Even at a personal level, an employee can adopt healthy habits that will improve their health and wellness. Strategies as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator to your office floor to add to your daily steps or sitting outdoors in the sunshine while having lunch can benefit both physical and mental wellbeing.
Cuts Financial Costs
Often, making healthy food choices and preparing your own meals can help cut your food bill substantially. There are many simple, cheap, and healthy meals you can prepare that can make up a fraction of what you would spend on take-out and dining out. Taking up a more active lifestyle may also help in boosting your finances. Those that opt to leave their car at home and use public transport, which requires walking longer distances, will often save much on fuel and other maintenance costs.
The biggest savings however tends to come from medical expenses. Managing lifestyle diseases like diabetes and heart problems medically can get very expensive. While patients do benefit from NHS cover, it is still a burden on the health system, not to mention the support you will need from family, friends and colleagues. Adopting a healthy lifestyle that reduces the burden of having to be a recurrent patient will not only make your life easier but will also be good for your mental health.
