Top 10 Health & Fitness Tips for a Better You

Here are ten healthy living tips to get you geared up for World Health Day. 1. Sleep well. Everybody knows that sleep is important to staying healthy and making it through each day. But if you're not sleeping well, the effects of your health can be more detrimental than you might expect. Doctors recommend between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per night, and a short nap during the day is also beneficial, especially if you don't get enough nighttime sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep contributes to virtually all aspects of your life, and also plays a crucial role in lower stress and anxiety, increased happiness, clearer skin and healthy hair. 2. Consider weight loss surgery. It's not for everyone, but if you're significantly overweight, undergoing gastric sleeve surgery or a similar procedure can give you a much brighter future health wise. When used in combination with exercise and diet, weight loss surgery can help you turn your life around and speed up the process of losing the pounds and getting healthy. You can read gastric sleeve testimonials from people who have had the surgery and see if it's right for you. 3. Treat your allergies. Most people are allergic to at least a few things - pollen, pets, and certain foods are all common culprits. Untreated allergies can severely impact the quality of your life, and in some cases can be quite dangerous. Getting tested for allergies is a good idea, and after doing so, your doctor can help you manage them. 4. Manage stress and anxiety. Skin conditions, psychological disorders, and even your immune system are all affected by stress. Some stress is unavoidable, but learning coping skills such as deep breathing will help you manage it during those times when it needs to be waded through. This is also where yoga and meditation can come to the rescue and really helps you relax and de-stress. 5. Take in more Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps keep your heart healthy and powerful. Many people take vitamin C supplements, but the best way to get more of it is to eat citrus fruits. (Always try to eat vitamins naturally over taking supplements.) Eating whole fruits instead of drinking juices gives you all the nutrients with the added benefit of slower sugar absorption. If you are a juice fan, drink as much pulp as you can and invest in a juicer to extract all of the nutrients out of what you are consuming. 6. Try acupuncture or get a massage. Pain is usually alleviated by taking a few pills, but every so often get a massage or acupuncture treatment instead. In addition to relaxing you, they are also excellent pain relief methods. You don't have to get them every day, but once in a while treat yourself and your body will thank you. Acupuncture especially. 7. Balance your meals. Eating from just one food group per meal is something many people are guilty of, but doing so deprives you of nutrients and energy. Try to eat at least three different food types per meal - at least one should be a fruit or vegetable. 8. Use more garlic. Good for more than just warding off vampires, garlic has been proven to have numerous health benefits. The biggest draw is its heart-strengthening properties. Garnish your meals with it and help keep your heart free of disease. 9. Ditch coffee for tea. Your morning cup of coffee can be replaced by an equally tasty cup of tea, and you'll feel better for it. Tea wakes you up just like coffee, but promotes heart health and has useful antioxidant properties. It's the morning drink of choice for the health-conscious. Green tea is full of catechins (antioxidants) and has been linked to myriad health benefits, including a decreased risk of catching certain diseases/viruses, clearer skin and even fat loss. If you want something a bit sweeter, try white tea, as it has many of the same health benefits as green tea but is not as bitter. 10. Count your chews. It's well known that chewing your food slower helps you eat less, feel fuller, and digest better. But do you actually know how much you chew? If you don’t chew enough you are essentially swallowing more air and letting it into your digestive tract, which could result in gas and stomach aches. Count 15 chews before you swallow and see how much better you feel after your meal is done.