45 Tips To Live a Healthier Life How healthy are you? Do you have a healthy diet? Do you exercise regularly?

Do yo u drink at least 8 glasses of watera day? Do you get enough sleep every day? Our body is our temple, and we need to take care of it to have a healthy life.Do you know that a shocking over 65%of Americans are either obese or overweight? T hat s insane! Think of your body as your physical shell to take you through life. If you repeatedly abuse it with unhealthy food, your shellwill wear out quickly. While you may look okay on the outside, on the inside,your arteries are getting clogged up with cholesterol and arterial plaque . That s not a pretty sight! Life is beautiful and you don t want to bog yourself down with unnecessary health problems. Today, your vital organs (kidney, heart, lungs, gall bladder, liver, s tomach, intestines, etc) may be working well, but they may notbe tomorrow. Don t t ake your good health today for granted. Take proper care of your body. Good health isn t just about healthy eating and exercise it also includes having a positive mental health, healthyself-image and a healthy lifestyle. In thisartic le, I ll share with you 45 tips to live a healthier life. Bookmark this article an d save the tips, because they are going to be vital in living a healthier life. 1. Drink more water . Most of us actually don t drink enough water every day. Wate r is essential for our body to function Do you know over60% of our body is made up of water? Water is needed to carry out our body functions, remove waste and c arry nutrients and oxygen around our body. Since we lose water every day through urine, bowel movements, perspiration and breathing, we need to replenish our wa ter intake. Furthermore, drinking more water aloneactually aids in losing weight. A Health.c om study carried out among overweight/obese people showed that water drinkers lo se 4.5 more pounds than a control group. The researchers believe that it s because drinking more water helps fill your stomach, making you less hungry and less li kely to overeat. I agree with that, and I have an added take that your body trie s to retain whatever water you take when you don t take in enough water, leading t o increase in weight. Whereas when you regularly drink water, your body knows th at it s going to get its supply of fluids, so it doesn t try to retain more water. The amount of water we need is dependent on various factors such as the humidity , our physical activity, and your weight, but generally we need 2.7-3.7 litres o f water intake ! Since food intake contributes about 20% of our fluid intake , t hat means we need to drink about 2.0-3.0 litres of water, or about 8-10 glasses (now you know how the 8 glasses recommendation came about!). One way to tell if you re hydrated your urine should be colorless or slightly yellow. If it s not, you re not getting enough water! Other signs include: Dry lips, dry mouth and little u rination. Go get some water first before you continue this article! 2. Get enough sleep . When you don trest well, you compensate by eating more. Usua lly it s junk food. Get enough rest and you don t need to snack to stay awake. Also, lack of sleep causes premature aging, and you wouldn t want that. 3. Meditate . Meditation quietens your mind and calms your soul . If you don t kno w how to meditate, don t worry learn how to meditate in 5 simple steps . 4. Exercise . Not just a few times a week, but every day. Movement is life. Rese arch has shown that exercising daily brings tremendous benefits to our health , including increase of life span, lowering of risk of diseases, higher bone densi ty and weight loss. Increase activity in your life. Choose walking over transpor t forclose distances. Climb the stairs instead of taking the lift. Join some aer obics classes. Take up a sport of your liking (see tip #5) 5. Pick exercises you enjoy . When you enjoy the sports, you ll naturally want to do them. Exercise isn t about suffering and pushing yourself; it s about being healt hy and having fun at the same time. Adding variation in your exercises will keep them interesting. 6. Work out different parts of your body . Don t just do cardio exercises (such as jogging). Give your full body a proper work out. The easiest way isto engage in sports, since they work out different muscle groups. Popular sports include bas ketball, football, swimming, tennis, squash, badminton, frisbee, and more. 7. Eat more fruits. Fruits are a plethoraof vitamins and minerals. Do you know t

hat oranges offer more health benefits than Vitamin C pills ? Taking in syntheti c supplements are not the same as consuming the foods direct from nature. Fill y our palate with these 10 most nutritious fruits : Watermelon, Apricots, Avocado, Apple, Cantaloupe, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Guava, Papaya, Strawberries. 8. Eat more vegetables . Like fruits, vegetables are important for the well bein g of our health. Experts suggest that we should have 5-9 servings of fruits/vege tables, and unfortunately most people don t even have at least5 servings! Some of my favorite vegetables include: Kidney beans, black beans, asparagus, long beans , french beans, sprouts, button mushrooms and carrots. What are your favorite ve getables and how canyou include more of them in your diettoday? 9. Pick bright colored foods . Fruits and vegetables with bright colors are usua lly high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are good for health because they remove free radicals in our body that damage our cells. So get your fill of fruits/veg etables of different colors: White (Bananas, Mushroom), Yellow (Pineapples, Mang o), Orange (Orange, Papaya), Red (Apple, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Watermelon), Gr een (Guava, Avocados, Cucumber, Lettuce, Celery), Purple/Blue (Blackberries, Eg gplant, Prunes). Here s a full list under the color wheel . 10. Cut down on processed food . Processed foods are not good because (1) most n utritional value islost (2) the preservatives added are bad for our health. Many processed foods contain a high amount of salt content, which leads to higher bl ood pressure and heart disease. Processed foods are anything that are not in the ir raw form. In general, most of the food in supermarket are processed the more the ingredients on the label (especially the ones ending with ite or ate ), the more p rocessed they are. Watch out for those with salt/sugar as the first 5 ingredient s and go for natural foods as much as possible. 11. Love yourself . How much do you love yourself on a scale of 1-10? Why? How c an you love yourself more starting today? In Day 20 of 30DLBL , we explore the n otion of self-love and get you started on loving yourself more. 12. Barefoot walking/running . There have been many proven positive benefits of barefoot walking/running, from better posture , less stress for your feet , less stress for your joints , etc . I ve been running barefoot since May 10, and loving it. Read more: 10 Reasons To Run Barefoot 13. Purge negative people from your life . Positive mental healthy isan importan t part of a healthy life. You don t need toxic people in yourlife. If you feel tha t a friend is overly critical or negative , then let him/her go . 14. Purge negativity from yourself . You don t need negativity from yourself eithe r. Listen in on the thoughts that come up in your mindand get rid of the negativ e thoughts you hear. A lot of eating happens because one feels unhappy, so by st aying in a positive,up state by yourself, you cut out that unhealthy dependence on foodto be happy. 15. Journal out unhappy thoughts .One great way to purge negativity from within is to do brain dumping exercises whenever you feel frustrated. This is something I do with my 1-1 clients as well, where I ask them to journal out their deepest thoughts so we can address them. Don t keep these thoughts pent up inside of you it snot healthy. 16. Avoid trigger foods . Trigger foods are the foods that make you go berserk a nd binge like crazy afteryou eat them. Everyone s trigger foods are different (min e are donuts, pastries, pasta and chips), but generally trigger foods are candy bars, chocolate, confectionery, chips, cookies, or anything with high level of r efined sugar, salt, fat or flour. These foods cause a blood sugar imbalance , he nce triggering one to eat more. What are your trigger foods? Identify them and r emove them from your diet. 17. Breathe. Deeply . Oxygen is a vital source of life. You may know how to brea the, but are you breathing properly? Most of us don t breathe properly we take onl y shallow breathes and breathe to 1/3 of our lung capacity. Athletes are coached proper breathing techniques to get their best performance. A full breath is one where your lungs are completely filled, your abdomen expands and there s minimum movement in your shoulders. 18. Address emotional eating issues . Emotional eating is eating to fill an emot ion, rather than real hunger. Do you eat when you feel stressed out, down or fru

strated? Do you reach out for food when you hit a block at work? Chances are, yo u re emotional eating. However, emotional eating will never make you feel happy, b ecause you re trying to fill a void that has nothing to do with food. Food doesn t g ive you love or happiness; it s just food.Why do you reach out for food when you re down? How can you address it? Get to the root of the issue and address it. Read: How To Stop Emotional Eating (6-part series) 19. Eat small meals . Choose several small meals over a few big meals a day. Thi s balances out your energy distribution throughout the day. In general, eat when you feel hungry, and stop when you re full (see tip#20). You don t need to wait unt il official meal times before you start eating. Listen to your body and what it tells you. 20. Stop eating when you feel full . Many of us rely on external cues to tell wh en we re full, such as whether everyone has finished eating, whether your plate wa s empty or not. These are irrelevant you should look at internal cues, such as wh ether your stomach feelsfull or not. Don t feel obligated to eat just because ther e s still food at the plate. Personally I like to stop when I feel about 3/4 full if I eat till I m totally full, I feel uncomfortable as my digestive system goes i nto overdrive. Use your gut as your indicator (literally). 21. Go for brown carbs vs. white carbs . White carbs are refined grains like whi te rice, pasta, white bread, crackers, noodles, tortillas, wraps, anything with white flour and breading. The nutrients have been removed in the production proc ess, leaving them rich in caloriesbut low in nutrients. They also cause unhealth y spikes in our sugar levels. Go for brown carbs (unrefined complex carbs) inste ad, like brown rice, whole grain, oats, oatmeal, legumes, nuts. These come with nutrients and vitamins intact. 22. Live a life with purpose . Positive health starts from within! Are you livin g a life of meaning? Are you living in line with your purpose? After I started l iving in line with my purpose 2 years ago, I ve never ever been happier. And you c an experience that too. Read: Discover Your Purpose in Life (series) 23. Say no to oily food . Reduce yourintake of fast food, fries, doughnuts, chip s, wedges, and foods that have been deep fried. Not only are they very fattening (1 tablespoon of oil is 120 calories), deep fried food contains acrylamide,a po tential cancer-causing chemical. According to a BBC report , an ordinary bag of crisps may contain up to 500 times more of the substance than the top level allo wed in drinking water by the World Health Organisation (WHO). I personally find that when I consumeoily foods, I feel sluggish. There are better alternatives, s uch as grilled, steamed, stir-fried or even raw food(see tip #41). 24. Cut out sugary foods . These areyour candy bars, your pastries, chocolate, c ookies, cakes and jelly donuts. Not only do they not fill you, they trigger you to eat more due to the sugar rush they cause (see tip #16). Go for healthy snack sinstead (see tip #36) - you ll be more satisfied and happy. 25. Go organic . Organic foods are foods produced without synthetic inputs such a s pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organ isms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives . ( Wiki ) The organic movement is slowly catching on, with more su permarkets, especially in US, offering organic options. Organic food tends to co st more, but hey would you rather save some money and feed your body with pestic ides or pay a few extra dollars for a cleaner, healthier body? 26. Improve your posture . Good posture improves your breathing (see tip #18) an d makes you look more smarter and more attractive. Read more: Benefits Of Having A Good Posture (And 13 Tips To Get One) 27. Cut out soda and caffeine . Drinks with caffeine are diuretics meaning they speed up the rate of urine production. Hence, these drinks do not contribute to your 8 glasses of water/day requirement they actually take away from it! Further more, soda is unhealthy, causes weight gain, is an artificial stimulant, among o ther reasons. Ditch your soda and go for plain water or fresh fruit juices inste ad! Read more: 5 Reasons To Quit Soda(And How To Do It) 28. Don t drink alcohol . Like caffeine,alcohol is a diuretic. Not only that, alco hol is repeatedly proven to have negative effects on our body and health impacti ng the proper functioning of our brain, liver, lungs, and other major organs. If

you drinkalcohol regularly, it s time to cut it out. 29. Prepare your meals . Lately I m beginning to appreciate the value ofpreparing my own meals. When youprepare your meals, you control what goes into them. No mo re being in a dilemma between eating healthy and choosing between the sub-optim al food choices. Get some quality kitchen equipment these will be your best inve stments ever. Ibought my blender 3 years ago and it s been such a breeze making my own fruit juices! 30. Learn to say no . Don t feel like you ve to eat just because you re out with your friends, or because other people offer you food. Simply say no and say you re not hungry if you don t feel like eating. Read: How To Say No To Others 31. Bring a water bottle when you go out . That way, you can replenish your flui ds whenever you want to. It saves you money as welland you don t need to subject y ourself to poor alternatives like soda, which increases your fluid outtake inste ad (see tip #27). 32. Dine at salad bars more often . Lately I m falling in love with salad bars. Sa lad bars work like this: You pick your greens, you select X number of toppings ( usually 6 or limited, depending on the outlet) and you finish off with a dressin g. The variety is huge, it s filling and it sextremely healthy. 33. Go for low calorie, low fat alternatives . There are many low-fat / non-fat alternatives today from yogurts, to salad dressing, soy milk, spreads, ice cream , etc. Check out this comprehensive list: Lower Calorie, Lower Fat Alternatives . 34. Stop smoking . It has been extensively proven that smoking is detrimental to health , severely increasing the risk of lung cancer, kidney cancer, esophagea l cancer (of our gullet), heart attack, and more. Smoking light cigarettes does no t decrease health risks. Bottom line if you re a smoker, quit for better health of not just yourself, but also your family and friends. If you don t smoke, stay tha t way and don t start. 35. Avoid passive smoking . Second hand smoking (breathing in air from smokers) causes many of the same long-term diseases as direct smoking( Wiki ). Get away f rom smokers andavoid cigarette smoke where you can. 36. Have healthy snacks . If you re hungry during work, eat healthy snacks , like fruits, salads, and fruit juices. These are nutritional and don t give you that su gar rush. Havethem readily available so you can dive in for a munch and stop whe n you d had your fill. Get away from cookies and candy bars. 37. Drink fruit/veg smoothies . I lovesmoothies because it s a quick way to get vi tamins and nutrients. Simplythrow my favorite fruits into the blender, wait for 30 seconds, and it s done! And it tastes great. I m drinking an orange and banana sm oothie write now as I m writing this article and it s delicious! 38. Juicing. Juicing is where you extract the juice from vegetables / fruits (vi a a juicer machine). Since the fibre is stripped away, you are literally drinkin g the nutrients and minerals directly from the juice! Juices and smoothies compl ement each other the former gives our digestive system a break while the latter gives us the fibre which aids our digestion. Check out an introduction to juicin g video below. If you re new to juicing, learn more about it here and check out th ese sample juicing recipes . 39. Go on a vegetarian diet . First off,going vegetarian doesn t necessarily lead to better health, because there are many unhealthy vegetarian food out there (fr ied food, white carb laden diets, etc). On that note, there are many proven heal th benefits of a vegetarian diet . I became a vegan because I tried it for 30 da ys and saw the positive effects for my mental and physical health. Try it out fo r 21 days and see how it works out for you. Get started here . 40. Go on a vegan diet . A vegetarian is someone who does not consume animal pro ducts. A vegan is someone who doesn t consume animal or animal-derived products. T his means no dairy, honey, cheese,milk, etc. So in that sense, it s seemingly stri cter, but it brings about even more positive benefits on top of a vegetarian die t. Learn more about veganism here and here . 41. Become a raw vegan . A raw vegan consumes only non-processed, raw vegan food , mainly fruits, vegetables and nuts. Notice that the progression from vegetaria n -> vegan -> raw vegan diet is towards foods that are naturally occurring. Ther

e are many reported benefits in switching from veganism to raw veganism, includi ngincreased youth, weight loss, increased energy, increased health benefits and more. It s an area that I m exploring at the moment and learning more of. Learn more about raw veganism: Here , here , here and here . 42. Get out more often . If you have a regular 9-5 job, chances are you spend mo st of your times holed up in the office and not a lot of time going out and havi ng fun. During weekends, you re probably busy with work or running errands. Make i t a point to go out with friends at least once a week. Get some sunlight . Go ou t and have a changein environment. It ll be great for your body and your soul. 43. Exercise good dental hygiene . Not only does good hygiene make you a lot mor e desirable, it is linked with better health (Read AHA Study ). Brush your teeth twice a day, rinse your mouth after each meal and floss your teeth at night. 44. Join classes . Dance classes, aerobics classes, tennis classes, ballroom dan cing, scuba diving, wake boarding courses, are all placesto start off with. Goin g there also lets you socialize with a whole new group of people. 45. Hang out with healthy people . You re the average of the 5 people you spend th e most time with , so the more time you spend around healthy people, the better it is. Eat with people who are health conscious and get workout buddies.It makes healthy living even more fun. Which health tips are most applicable for you right now? These are timeless tips , so bookmark this article and integrate these tips into your life. Sharethese h ealth tips with your family and friends too to help them stay healthy use your Tw itter and Facebook via the buttons below. Live a Healthier Life in 21 Days Challenge in Jan 2011! If you re wondering why there s a healthy living post out of the blue, that s because we ll be having live a healthier life challenge come 1st Jan! I ll be posting the an nouncement post on 27 Dec, which will have the details of the challenge and sign up instructions. And to ensure that all of us start off 2011 with great health, vitality and goodness, the challenge is going to be 100% free! Yes, you got tha t right! Free, $0, nada, zilch! Update Dec 27 10 : The announcement post is up now! Sign up here ! Update Feb 11 : The challenge is nowover! Thanks to everyone who ve taken part all 400 of you it s been an amazing blast! Sign up for Personal Excellence newsletter to be in the loopof future challenges and also to receivelife-time access of fre e, premium articleson how to live your best life. I m personally super enthused about this and I can t wait to get started. I ll be post ing more about the challenge ina couple of days time, so stay tuned! In the meant ime, tell all your friendsand family about this, because come 27Dec, the doors a re going to be open for sign-ups!! Get ready everyone 2011 is going to rock!! ?