Good habits that are easy to acquire
Text: Karina Sembe
Healthy lifestyle from trend turned into ubiquitous maxim and to many it seems an unattainable ideal - besides the ideal is boring and tedious. Nevertheless, we are confident that a balanced diet, mobility and hygiene of sleep are not transcendental rules of life, but quite obvious, feasible and very useful habits, which you should follow without fanaticism, but only joy. We advise you to instill in yourself the simplest of them - this will be a good start to taking care of yourself.
Have breakfast
It is not necessary to start every day with fitness enthusiasts every day with oatmeal with almonds, scrambled eggs with spinach or vegetable smoothies (although you can strive for this). If you are not ready to have breakfast thoroughly, you can always eat an apple with a handful of nuts and drink green tea or restrict yourself with a glass of kefir and cereal breads, and after a couple of hours arrange a brunch or lunch. Anyway, to eat at least something nutritious in the morning is necessary.
Studies show that among those who do not neglect breakfast, body mass index is lower on average (that is, closer to a healthy norm). Skipping breakfast, we do not allow the metabolism to “accelerate”, but we provide ourselves with a jump in blood sugar for lunch, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. To make breakfast less troublesome, when you next buy products, consider the morning menu options for the week: stock up on seasonal fruits and vegetables, nuts and dried fruits, oatmeal, whole grain bread, and dairy products of moderate fat.
Spend 15 minutes a day on physical activity.
To gain muscle mass or lose fat, you need regular long-term training, but for those whose goal is to stay awake and healthy and keep fit, less desperate forms of activity will do. Even 10-15 minutes of sports a day will not only bring muscles into a tone, improve blood circulation and normalize blood pressure, but also help fight stress: with any loads of sufficient intensity - from running to pushups - a surge of endorphins occurs.
Among the express trainings, the palm has already been for some time behind the tabata, but you can start with less intensive video training on YouTube - even with its own weight, even with projectiles, from ballet to fitness yoga. If the soul does not lie in repetitions and approaches, take a quick walk, jump on a rope or dance to your favorite track. The main thing in this business is not to blame yourself for irregularity: the feeling of guilt will only ruin the motivation, but the realization that the movement literally saves your body and spirit will allow you to gain a foothold.
Do gymnastics for the eyes
Charging for the eyes - the benefits of 2 in 1 for all employees: this is a way to briefly escape from thoughts about work, and the ability to give your eyes a break from the monitor. Exercises for the eyes are good for relieving tension in the eye muscles, maintaining visual acuity and preventing progressive myopia. According to some data, in the long term they also improve the condition of patients with dyslexia and impaired mobility of the eyeball. Exercises to preserve vision are freely available on the websites of eye clinics around the world, doctors prescribe them to patients, and pharmaceutical companies attach instructions to vitamins for vision.
If you work at a computer, an app like Time Out, designed to remind us of the need for interruptions at the monitor, will help train yourself to do eye exercises regularly. Two or three times a day during these breaks, try to do some simple exercises, and your eyes will thank you. If, among other things, you try to do palming - exercises for the eyes with fingertips, before that do not forget to wash your hands with an antibacterial agent.
Use interdental floss
Everyone has long understood that dental care is extremely important - and it seems more important than we thought. A number of studies have shown a link between dental health and heart health - it turned out that caring for the oral cavity and preventing local inflammation can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. So it does not hurt to pay due attention to all the stages of cleaning the oral cavity, because we have it alone (which sometimes does not interfere with the pleasure of eating for two).
To get rid of large leftover food and raids in hard to reach places, periodontists strongly recommend using interdental floss. In order not to shirk, buy a good floss (we like the black thread R.O.C.S.). Make the use of an interdental filament an obligatory step in brushing your teeth - especially as doctors recommend resorting to it before using a toothbrush.
Sleep in complete darkness
Why sleep is so important and how to make it full and healthy, we told more than once. Among other things, scientists advise to sleep in complete darkness, since only it produces melatonin, a neurotransmitter that tells the brain to go to sleep. If sleep is not easy, you can thicken the darkness: curtain the windows with thick curtains, turn off all electronic devices and get a sleep mask.
There are a lot of options with built-in bonuses on the market - from sleep trackers to eye patches, and some manufacturers even promise to get rid of migraines with the help of their masks, which is hard to believe. It is better to start with basic sleep masks made from soft natural materials. The only drawback of the mask is that it is not possible to wake up from natural or simulated sunlight in the morning, and it is this mechanism of awakening that normalizes daily rhythms, according to research.
Change pillow cases every week.
We care so hard for the skin, but now and then we forget about external factors affecting it in addition to the sun, wind and frost. People spend a third of their lives buried in a pillow. On the pillowcases accumulates sebum from the hair and face, dust, remnants of skin care products and even washing powder and laundry rinse. All this, mixing with bacteria, often becomes one of the causes of irritation and skin contamination, the appearance of allergies and acne.
Dermatologists recommend changing the pillow case every week, and for people with sensitive skin, with a tendency to acne, or who are allergic to house dust - and more often. Treat this as an important stage of facial care - changing pillow covers is no less important than weekly peeling. Fabric for bed linen dermatologists advise to choose natural and loose (best suited silk or cotton) and remind you not to go to bed with wet hair, if you do not want your skin to suffer from a wet mash of dust, hair conditioner and lint tissue.
If you drink - then pure alcohol
Domestic bar culture not only finally appeared, but thoroughly took into account the whole variety of cocktails. Those of us who could not manage to adapt to the taste of pure whiskey or gin, finally found a way to "get drunk." But, it seems, it is time to hold the horses. First, harmless cocktails are drunk imperceptibly, but no less seriously than bourbon (in which it often coexists with Campari, vermouth and gin). Secondly, liqueurs, sugar, maple syrup or sweet soda are usually added to the simplest cocktail.
"Empty" carbohydrates that do not carry nutritional value, on their own, beat on digestion and skin condition, not to mention their effect in combination with alcohol, which also affects blood sugar levels: in moderation it ensures its jump, and excessive can lead to a critical decrease, which is especially dangerous for diabetics. As for strong drinks like whiskey, vodka or rum, drinks in pure form or with ice are considered more "healthy". The useful properties of dry wine is difficult to deny, the main thing is to know your borders.
Photo: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 via Shutterstock, Amazon (1, 2)