As women, it’s important to take care of ourselves. For one, this is our only body, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives in this form. Whether you’re an empowered woman working for career growth or life improvement, or even a mother who wants to be there for her family, being healthy is critical to succeeding at this. Especially the latter, as there are children involved- even more so when you’re dealing with pregnancy, then childbirth, and eventually breastfeeding.
However, even if you’re a childless woman, your health is still paramount to living the best life. Here’s how you can stay healthy.
Follow a Good Diet
Everyone should adopt a healthier diet, regardless of age or gender. A good diet is a key to living a healthy life, as our bodies need different kinds of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to function at their best. It’s important to limit sugar intake, especially processed sugar, as well as managing your sodium consumption. It’s also better to track your macronutrient needs by knowing how many calories you need to consume in a day.
To make the whole process even easier, it’s better to eat fewer portions but more frequently. This way, you can combat hunger pangs while making sure you’re not going above the recommended caloric intake.
Schedule Trips to the Doctor
A woman’s body is highly complex, capable of very specific functions that merit entire fields of studies. However, this also means that women are prone to health problems. That’s why it’s important to follow a regular health checkup schedule. You need to connect with a wide variety of health professionals too, like an ob-gyn, a consultant for scoliosis, and others. But mostly, you’ll be connected with them through your general practitioner. What’s important is you follow through with these scheduled trips as there are a lot of health risks that can easily be detected.
Start a Fitness Regimen
It’s a common misconception that women shouldn’t lift weights. This is furthest from the truth, as studies have shown that appropriate weight training can combat bone and muscle-related diseases that many women are prone to have in their old age. If you don’t particularly enjoy weight training, you can go for other forms of exercise, such as jogging, dance classes, or even high-intensity interval training.
This is of particular importance as many of us live a very sedentary lifestyle that exacerbates any physical ailments. Humans were born to be moved and be mobile, and keeping an active lifestyle adds to maintaining your health.
Keep Your Brain Active
Our brain is similar to a muscle in the sense that we need to constantly use it to keep it sharp. What this means is to read more books, challenge yourself intellectually, and don’t let your mental acuity decrease through constant mental stimulation. There are different “brain exercises” you can try to keep your focus and memory sharp. Take the time out from your busy schedule to exercise your mental faculties as well, and you will have good overall health.
Get Recuperative Sleep
Sleep is vital for maintaining good health, as it is during sleep when our body recovers. It is this time when our body breaks down the nutrients and vitamins we consumed throughout the day. So make sure you get more than six hours of uninterrupted, deep sleep. Use blackout curtains if you find that the light outside affects you, and make sure your bed is actually comfortable to sleep in.
Avoiding phone usage (or anything that requires you to stare at a screen) 45 minutes before sleeping also helps you rest your eyes in preparation for slumber. Melatonin supplements can also help you sleep better, but ultimately, it’s good habits before sleeping that prompts healthy sleeping patterns.
Drop Bad Habits
Equally as important is to drop your negative habits. Excessive alcohol intake is dangerous to anyone- but even more to pregnant or breastfeeding women. Even tobacco use is best dropped altogether. However, we understand how difficult it can be to drop habits or vices that have been developed throughout the years, so it’s best to hire a professional to help you get through the process. What’s important is you understand the need to stop them, and are making efforts to drop them altogether.
We’re the ones responsible for our health and well-being, and we have to take it to heart. It’s also important to remember that health is a marathon journey, and not a sprint. Take it one step at a time, at a slow but steady pace- and you’ll eventually become healthy.
