Did you know there are small, mindless, even effortless things that you can do every day to live a longer life? Living a long and healthy life and ageing gracefully can be achieved by doing things that are so simple, you won't even realise you're doing them. These things should already be a part of our lives, but thanks to the 21st century lifestyles that most of us lead, these basic things become hard to do everyday. Be mindful of doing these small things everyday in order to live a longer life. A longer life means more time to do the things you love - think about it, it's a fair exchange.
1. Walk more
We cannot stress the importance of walking more, enough. Not only does walking help cure a bad mood, improve memory and help you burn calories, but not walking can actually have adverse effects on your health. Sitting for long stretches of time can slow down metabolism, which affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure. Studies have linked excessive sitting with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and even early death.
On an average, 10,000 steps per day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as active. As a starting point, get yourself an activity tracker and make sure to get in your required steps everyday. A sedentary lifestyle (less than 5000 steps a day) can prove to be extremely harmful.
2. Meet with and talk to people everyday
In short, socialise. After a 75-year-long study of adult life that started in the late 1930s and continues to this day, Harvard professor and psychiatrist Robert Waldinger proved that the secret to living a happier and healthier life was "good relationships". The Harvard study revealed that - "Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives. Those ties protect people from life's discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes."
3. Moderate your portions
Not just your food portions, but it's also important to monitor how much sugar you're consuming, how much time you're spending on your phone and even how much you're exercising in a day. Everything is good when done in moderation. And yes, there can be such a thing as too much of a good thing.
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