The greatest “wealth is health.” A healthy lifestyle involves both choice and action. The choices you make each day, and the actions you take on those choices, can lead to a healthier lifestyle. Making positive choices in the areas of physical fitness, stress, and nutrition and then acting on those choices ,promotes a sense of better self-worth, happiness and overall well-being.
We live in a world satisfied by instant gratification and adversed to discomfort. We value material goods over personal health and often welcome dis-ease into the body by creating and maintaining an environment for disease to thrive. We have magic pills at our fingertips and professionals endorsing them. I get it. It’s easy. It’s convenient. It provides quick relief and doesn’t require the discomfort of change. The pros are there, but do you ever stop to truly consider the cons of accepting the short-cuts being offered?
Below you’ll find 5 benefits experienced when long term health is pursued.
1. Decreased risk of disease. Dis-ease in the body occurs when it’s stressed, nutritionally imbalanced, and/or neglected of self-care. Often times, these occur simultaneously. To bring the body back into a state of balance, it’s essential we begin to adopt more sustainable behaviors. These behaviors are by no means difficult, they’re just different than the ones you currently subscribe to. Remember, life is a practice, not a performance.
2. More life-force energy. It is physically impossible for the body to have optimal energy when inundated with poor quality foods, chemicals, and long-term stress. Each of these respond negatively in the body and inhibit its ability to sustain energy levels for extended periods of time. Give the body what it requires and desires, such as wholesome nourishment, sunlight, clean water, and movement, and you will experience a dramatic shift in your daily energy levels.
3. Increased happiness, less depression. The gut contains 100 million neurons and is responsible for secreting major neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine and nitric oxide. When we nurture the health of our gut, we invite these feel-good chemicals to be secreted more easily and more frequently, thus influencing the state of our mood.
4. Increased feelings of self-worth. As you begin to experience mood shifts and desirable body changes, you will begin to make self-care a priority. Simple as that.
5. Save money. Leading a lifestyle of healthy behaviours allows for more money in your pocket by increasing work productivity, eradicating doctor visits, and decreasing missed work due to feeling ill and unwell. You’ll have extra funds to do things you love with those you love!
Quite literally, there are infinite benefits one will receive by way of pursuing a healthy lifestyle. I have chosen to showcase these 5 benefits for I feel they are most applicable to the quality of a human being’s life on a day-to-day basis.
Drink water, eat well, move the body, and choose to be grateful for this gift of Life!
Wishes of Wellness,
Natalie
