We are already more than a month into 2021 and many of us might have already broken our resolutions – still eating junk, still procrastinating, still lazy to start exercising, and still failing to sleep on time. Yes, common problems in all our lives! If at all following healthy habits were so easy. We often lack the determination to stick to an ideal, healthy regime and quit very soon. But maybe we could try the 21-day magic trick to turn things around! It is said that it takes 21 days of continuous practice for an action to become a habit. So our determination must be towards making changes for 21 days at a stretch which will translate into a long-term habit.

So what are healthy habits? Healthy habits are practices that help improve one’s physical and mental states thus leading a happy life. The Covid pandemic has been a great lesson for us all. We realized the importance of health, immunity, and overall fitness. We realized that we can survive without junk food. This should be a good belief for us to begin with in order to work towards a better lifestyle and well being. There’s still a major part of 2021 left and it is not late to start following healthy living habits.

5 Basic, Healthy Habits That One Should Follow

The following are five super basic and undoubtedly beneficial healthy habit tips that every individual should adapt in 2021:

1. Make Time To Exercise Daily

If you are a person who spends time exercising and caring for your fitness, then you can check this off from your to-do list. However, for the rest of you reading this article, you knew this was coming. Long term benefits of workout include control of weight by keeping one fit, reduces the chances of being affected by diseases, improves blood circulation, reduces anxiety and depression, etc. Make your 2021 more productive and healthy by exercising daily.

Those whose work involves a lot of sitting and less movement of the body should make it a habit to get regular physical activity. The easiest and best exercise is to walk. Walking for 30+ mins a day can be a great benefit for both short term and long term goals. Additionally, other ways you can engage in physical activity would be involved in yoga, gym-ing, dancing, or some sports like swimming, roller-skating, hiking, running, etc.

If yoga interests you but don’t know how to start, here’s your guide to beginner yoga

2. Stay Hydrated

One of the best health habits is to drink a minimum of 4 Liters of water per day. Almost 70% of the human body is made of water and keeping the level intact is crucial to ensure the healthy functioning of all body organs. Drinking more water has the potential to make one feel more energetic. It hydrates the skin, increases blood circulation, smoothens bowel movement, and is also believed to help in weight loss due to boosting digestion of food. Furthermore, water is a natural and the safest detoxifier.

What you should do:

a) Drink a glass of water after waking up on an empty stomach

b) But avoid consuming a lot of water just before going to bed

c) Use motivational water bottles that will keep you interested to keep going

d) Another option is to set reminders or alarms in your phone at regular intervals to remind you

e) There are also plenty of reminder, health-related apps that help you keep up with your goals

However, it is important to note that we should avoid drinking too much water before and after eating a meal.

3. Eat Freshly Made Foods

It is ideal that we four very nutritious meals every day. Skipping meals (especially breakfast)  causes adverse side effects on the individual’s body. One of the best health habits is to make your food, and you can even start from absolute scratch by growing your own food as well. For optimum benefit, one should intake the four meals with a gap of four to five hours between each.

The quantity of food should decrease throughout the day, i.e. an individual is supposed to have a fulfilling breakfast and followed by a lunch, then in the evening a light snack should be taken, and after the gap, one should have a light dinner. The dinner should consist of something that is easy to digest, and it should be taken at least an hour or two hours before sleeping.

4. Get Enough Sleep

One mistake that a lot of us do, is that we cut off our sleeping time when due to our busy schedules. But this is a very unhealthy habit and can cause many health issues in the long-run. An average adult must have about 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every day for being healthy. Anything lesser would not really provide ample rest. Our body not only rests but also grows and repairs within while we are sleeping. This year make sure you don’t self deprive of sleep.

If you have trouble sleeping well, you could fix them with these simple ways.

5. Balance Your Work-Life

Even though one needs to be productive and make their day fruitful, it is important to understand the difference between being productive and overworking. People tend to mistake these two to be the same. The thing about overworking is that it leads to exhaustion (both physical and mental) and that holds enough potential to make one ill or push them towards a breakdown.
This is why everyone should be careful about the amount of work they take on and the time they spend working. Every being’s body and mind also needs some time to rest and rejuvenate. And that is why healthy living habits include well distribution of one’s time in a day for work and leisure. The balance of work and life is essential for an individual to be productive.

Some Other Beneficial Practices:

Here are few more healthy living habit suggestions that one can include in their daily or at least weekly schedule:

a) Reading more books

b) Writing a journal daily

c) Exploring mother nature

d) Spending time doing hobbies

e) Saying your affirmations daily

f) Taking a break from social media sites

g) Planning and shopping for your meals

h) Taking supplements and medicines on time

i) Going for monthly, quarterly or half-yearly health checkups

j) Practising the expression of gratitude for the things you have in life

k) Abstaining from mobile, TV or other electronic devices that emit blue light

l) Spending time doing self-care activities like brushing teeth twice, flossing, pampering your skin, nourishing your hair

Adopting some healthy habits might seem challenging, but the key to doing it is by understanding its benefits and staying motivated to maintain continuity. If one ever feels a lack of motivation to follow the healthy regime they planned for this year, they should remind themselves why they started it in the first place and that too for their own benefit.

Other ways to keep yourself on track and motivated is by setting alarms or finding another person to follow the routine like yours so that you both can support each other motivated. Hope this article helped you and we also hope that this year brings you good health and prosperity in life.