10 Healthy Lifestyle Tips for Adults
Last Updated: 2023
Eat a variety of foods
Base your diet on plenty of foods rich in carbohydrates
Replace saturated with unsaturated fat
Enjoy plenty of fruits and vegetables
Reduce salt and sugar intake
Eat regularly, control the portion size
Drink plenty of fluids
Maintain a healthy body weight
Get on the move, make it a habit!
Start now! And keep changing gradually.
1. Eat a variety of foods
We need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no one food can provide them all. It's not about just one meal, it's about a balanced food choice over time that will make a difference!
A high-fat lunch can be followed by a low-fat dinner.
After a large portion of meat for dinner, perhaps fish should be the choice the next day?
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2. Base your diet on lots of carbohydrate-rich foods.
About half of the calories in our diet should come from carbohydrate-rich foods, such as cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread.
It's a good idea to include at least one of these at every meal. Whole foods, such as bread, pasta, and whole grains, will increase our fiber intake.
3. Replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats
Fats are important for good health and the proper functioning of the body. However, too much can negatively affect our weight and cardiovascular health.
Different types of fat have different effects on your health, and some of these tips might help us keep the right balance:
We must limit the consumption of total and saturated fats (which often come from foods of animal origin) and completely avoid trans fats; reading labels helps identify sources.
Eating fish 2-3 times a week, with at least one serving of oily fish, will contribute to our correct intake of unsaturated fats.
When cooking, we must boil, steam or bake, instead of frying, remove the fatty part of the meat, use vegetable oils.
4. Enjoy lots of fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are among the most important foods for giving us enough vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
We should try to eat at least 5 servings a day. For example, a glass of fresh fruit juice for breakfast, maybe an apple and a slice of watermelon for snacks, and a good helping of different vegetables at each meal.
5. Reduce your intake of salt and sugar,
A high salt intake can cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
There are different ways to reduce salt in your diet:
When buying, we could choose products with lower sodium content.
When cooking, salt can be substituted for spices, increasing the variety of flavors and flavors.
At mealtime,
it helps not to have salt on the table, or at least not to add salt before tasting.
Sugar provides sweetness and an attractive flavor, but sugary foods and drinks are high in energy and best enjoyed in moderation, as an occasional treat. Instead, we could use fruits, even to sweeten our food and drinks.
6. Eat regularly, monitor portion sizes
Eating a variety of foods, regularly and in the right amounts, is the best formula for a healthy diet.
Skipping meals, especially breakfast, can lead to uncontrolled hunger, often resulting in helpless eating.
Snacking between meals can help control hunger, but snacking should not replace proper meals. For snacks, we could choose yogurt, a handful of fresh or dried fruits or vegetables (such as carrot sticks), unsalted nuts, or perhaps some cheesy bread.
Paying attention to portion size will help us avoid consuming too many calories and allow us to eat all the foods we enjoy without eliminating any.
Cooking the correct amount makes it easier not to overeat.
Some reasonable serving sizes are 100g of meat; a medium piece of fruit; half a cup of raw pasta.
Using smaller plates helps with smaller portions.
Packaged foods, with calorie values on the package, may help with portion control.
If you go out to eat, we could share a portion with a friend.
7. Drink lots of fluids
Adults need to drink at least 1.5 liters of liquid a day! Or more if it is very hot or they do physical activity.
Water is the best source, of course, and we can use tap or mineral water, with or without gas, plain or flavored. Fruit juices, tea, soda, milk, and other beverages may be fine from time to time.
8. Maintain a healthy body weight
The right weight for each of us depends on factors such as our gender, height, age, and genes.
Being affected by obesity and being overweight increases your risks for a wide range of diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Excess body fat comes from eating more than we need. The extra calories can come from any caloric nutrient: protein, fat, carbohydrates, or alcohol, but fat is the most concentrated source of energy.
Physical activity helps us expend energy and makes us feel good. The message is reasonably simple: if we are gaining weight, we must eat less and be more active!
9. Get moving, make it a habit!
Physical activity is important for people of all weight ranges and health conditions. It helps us burn the extra calories, is good for the heart and circulatory system, maintains or increases our muscle mass, helps us focus, and improves overall health.
We don't have to be the best athletes to get moving! 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity is recommended, which can easily become part of our daily routine.
We all were able to:
take the stairs instead of the elevator,
take a walk during lunch breaks (and stretch at our offices in between)
make time for a weekend family activity
10. Get started now! And it keeps changing gradually.
Gradual changes in our lifestyle are easier to maintain than major changes that are made all at once. For three days,
we could write down the foods and drinks that we consume throughout the day and record the amount of movement that we made. It will not be difficult to detect where we could improve:
Skip breakfast? A small bowl of muesli, a piece of bread or fruit, could help to introduce it little by little in our routine.
Too few fruits and vegetables? To begin with, we can introduce an extra piece a day.
Favorite high-fat foods?
Eliminating them abruptly could return fire and return us to old habits. Instead, we can choose low-fat options, eat them less often and in smaller portions.
Too little activity? Taking the stairs every day could be a great first step.
