What can I do to stay healthy?

There are many things you can do to maintain a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis, including incorporating more spontaneous physical activity, making relatively good food choices consistently, and finding better ways to manage daily stress.

Incorporating spontaneous physical activity is incredibly important because the increases and advancements in technology and automation have created a convenience that doesn't demand much movement. You can do things to combat our automated culture such as park farther away from your destination, make multiple trips to complete a task (laundry, putting groceries away, cleaning, etc.), take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, conduct walking or standing meetings, incorporate movement during television commercials, and use restrooms farther away from your office.

Making better food choices consistently will not only help you incorporate a healthy lifestyle, it can also potentially reduce your cravings. If you are too strict on your meal plan when nutrition isn't your strong suit, you potentially put yourself at risk for drastic inconsistency in food choices and bigger cravings. Some examples of making better food choices include drinking water or low calorie juices instead of regular soft drinks, eating half of what is served to you at a restaurant and put the rest in a to-go box, avoiding appetizers or restaurants with chips or bread served ahead of time, requesting salad dressing on the side, incorporating vegetables as a side instead of starches high in fat, and eating fruit and light Cool Whip for dessert rather than cookies and cakes.

In order to manage daily stress better in your pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, incorporate stress coping skills, time management, adequate rest time, and leisure activities that allow for down time.