Happiness and health can be measured in numerous ways. You can, for example, measure happiness by your sense of emotional well-being and satisfaction with your life. Meanwhile, you can measure health as the absence of a debilitating injury or serious illness.
What you may not have considered is that they both work synergistically. When you’re happy, you’re much more likely to be self-aware enough to take good care of your health; and when you’re healthy, you’re much more likely to feel optimistic about almost everything going on in your life.
Yet, perhaps, the most interesting thing about happiness and health is that you’re only a decision or two away from being happier and healthier.
Here are three decisions you can make today to upgrade the quality of your life.
Decide to Exercise More
Many people exercise to meet a weight-based goal. Often, a man who thinks he is too skinny wants to be more muscular, or a woman who thinks she is overweight wants a svelte figure.
While there’s nothing wrong with changing your appearance to get closer to your ideal size and shape, exercising confers far more benefits than just looking more attractive and winning admiring glances.
For one thing, it makes you happier because you experience a rush of feel-good chemicals in your brain when you work out. You may also experience a surge of self-confidence because you’re now engaged in a goal-setting activity that’s noticeably improving the quality of your life.
For another, you will be transforming your health because exercise not only builds muscle and burns fat but also improves hormonal balance and supports a healthy immune system.
An optimum way to exercise more regularly is to join a gym.
Besides the vast range of free weights and machines to exercise your muscles and improve your cardiovascular health, gyms offer you many opportunities to learn more ways to stay fit and healthy.
At a gym, for instance, you may decide to hire a personal trainer to help you perform exercises correctly to maximize progress and minimize injuries. Gyms also offer you a chance to enrol in specialized exercise classes that will teach you new ways to increase your flexibility or improve your endurance.
Choose a gym in your neck of the woods. If, say, you live in San Diego, you will find excellent gyms in San Diego with a wide range of exercise equipment, fitness classes, and amenities.
How much exercise should you do a week? Many primary care physicians who rely on good science suggest 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of more intense exercise.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to restrict yourself to aerobic activity alone to improve heart health. You will also get reap cardiovascular benefits from calisthenics, bodybuilding, or weightlifting.
Remember these recommendations are the minimum amount you should exercise. You can, if you like, exercise more often to experience greater benefits.
Decide to Upgrade Your Lifestyle
Upgrading your lifestyle can be one of the most effective ways to stay healthy and happy in the long run. Introducing activities such as swimming, jogging, and other cardiovascular exercises in your daily routine can have a great impact on your physical and mental health. One great way to inculcate these habits is by having a gym or a swimming pool built at home. The right builders for the job can be found by searching for “best swimming pool builders near me” or something similar. This emphasis is due to the fact that swimming is an excellent low-impact exercise that can improve cardiovascular health, increase muscle strength, and enhance flexibility. It can also reduce stress levels and improve mental health by releasing endorphins.
In addition to having a pool, other lifestyle upgrades such as eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and participating in regular physical activity can also have tremendous benefits for your overall well-being. By taking care of yourself and investing in your physical and mental health, you can improve your quality of life and enjoy a happier, healthier future.
Decide to Drink More Water
You’ve often heard that you should drink more water than you usually do, but you find it hard to do. For one thing, you just don’t feel like it. For another, it can be inconvenient if you’re working in an office or your job requires you to travel frequently.
Still, when you research the enormous benefits of staying hydrated, you might want to adopt this health practice.
One analogy that may drive the point home for you on the value of staying hydrated is to compare your body to a car and compare water to engine oil. How well will your car work, if you run low on engine oil?
When you consider the enormous benefits of living a happier, healthier life, it doesn’t make much sense not to adopt a great attitude and pursue a health-oriented lifestyle.
