Healthy living often has a mixed reputation in a particular circle. On one hand, some people frown upon it, calling it boring and costly. They tend to associate good health with expensive gym memberships, regular yoga and meditation classes, and bland food. On the other, some people aspire to have it, cutting down their bad habits little by little, because they want to feel more confident in their bodies.
If your social circle consists of both types of people, shifting to a healthy lifestyle can be difficult. One side would support you, while the other would try to dissuade you, insisting that getting drunk on weekends or pigging out is still more fun. If you want to satisfy both sides, you’ll be forced to live somewhat of a double life. One day you’re eating clean, and the next, you’re killing your organs.
But here’s an important bit you need to know: True friends should care for your health and happiness. If they don’t support your healthy endeavors, cutting them out of your life is a healthy choice, too.
Though heartbreak is the last thing you want to experience while living healthy, sometimes, it’s necessary. And you shouldn’t regret it, because a healthy lifestyle will make you cooler than ever.
Here’s why a healthy lifestyle is the best life you’ll ever live:
1. You’ll Achieve and Maintain a Healthy Weight
A fit body is the only one of the many things you’ll achieve with a healthy lifestyle. But it’s not superficial, contrary to what others may believe. A healthy weight can reduce your risks for a number of serious diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, poor bone density, and some cancers.
Knowing that your body is as good on the inside as it is on the outside can increase your self-confidence. You don’t have to worry about your health in the future. You can also do more exciting things, such as run a marathon, play a sport, or dance. And the best thing about it is that you don’t have to be skinny. A healthy weight isn’t defined by how small you are. Instead, it’s determined by your Body Mass Index (BMI) and other good factors in your diet and physical activity.
2. Your Mental Health Will Thrive
Some people burdened with stress think that alcohol, drugs, or unhealthy food can give them a happiness boost. Before you became health-conscious, you probably engaged in stress eating or drinking, too. But those only gave you short-term satisfaction, and you crashed shortly after.
About 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract. This part of your digestive system is linked to a hundred million neurons, which help you digest food and guide your emotions.
If you feed your gut with good bacteria, you’ll experience inflammation less, and the good bacteria will activate your neural pathways, giving your brain a serotonin boost.
Studies show that healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, can reduce the risks of depression by 25% to 35%. Therefore, if you often feel blue, feed your brain with positive thoughts, and your guts with healthy food. Combined with other healthy practices, your mental health will thrive.
3. Your Memory Improves
Isn’t it frustrating when you keep missing deadlines at work or forgetting birthdays? If you start eating healthy, you won’t deal with those frustrations anymore. A study has shown that certain vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids and polyphenols, and fish can improve your memory. They also prevent cognitive decline and dementia in old age.
4. Your Bones and Teeth Will Become Stronger
Strengthening your bones now will reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis later in life. Strong teeth, on the other hand, make your smiles more radiant.
You don’t have to consume dairy milk to fill up with calcium. Instead, just stock up on calcium-packed veggies, canned fish (with bones), tofu, and legumes. Getting your fix of magnesium is crucial, too. Take it from leafy veggies, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
5. You Become a Good Influence on Others
Living a healthy lifestyle makes you more positive. After all, your journey probably started rough. You didn’t enjoy a healthy diet right away, especially if you lived on fast-food before.
But after overcoming the adjustment period, you’d start to focus on the positive effects of healthy living. Instead of moping over what you can’t eat anymore, you relish the thought of having a healthier gut, heart, brain, and weight. As such, you don’t feel jealous of people munching on junk food.
Your clean and healthy lifestyle can also inspire you to start a healthy business. Tap into amazing poke business franchise opportunities, for example, if poke bowls are your go-to food. Selling healthy food will allow you to promote your lifestyle better, and influence more people into adopting it.
When you can live a long life, maintain an agile body, and love yourself more, you’ll never regret abandoning your old, unhealthy habits. People can call healthy boring, but you don’t have to please everybody, anyway.
