Family and work responsibilities can fill the hours, and then one day, you realize you always seem tired and out of sorts. You experience never-ending stress, have trouble concentrating, are putting on weight and feel emotionally drained.

Your health does not suddenly decline. It is a process that results from poor dietary habits, inadequate exercise, lack of good regular sleep and not managing stress well. There are many contributors to declining health and just as many contributors to good health. The reason there are always so many articles, blogs, news reports, and consultants sharing advice on living a healthier lifestyle is because it takes a holistic approach to adopting a healthier life. You should be attentive to the choices you make throughout each day, but for most people, it is what they do at home that has the most significant impact on health.

 The following are six home tips for living a healthier life.

1. Adopt a Healthy Diet 

You ate oatmeal for breakfast and a salad for lunch and are now settling in for the evening after work. Do you collapse at night in front of the television most evenings and eat a big bowl of comfort food like ice cream? Do you eat plenty of ultra-processed foods like potato chips and cookies because they taste good? Do your dinners include a lot of restaurant food because it is easier to have a food delivery service bring food than cook? Even “healthy” restaurant salads are often unhealthy when they contain mayonnaise-based salad dressings, noodles, dried fruits and other added ingredients. Bottom line: Fat and sugar calories can add up fast.

It is too easy to undo all the healthy choices made during the day by making poor choices in the evening and when not working. There is no getting around the fact that eating a healthy diet at home is one of the primary keys to living a healthier life.

A healthy diet consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts low in saturated fat, whole grains, chicken and fish high in heart-healthy omega-3s like wild-caught salmon. Low-fat meat can be eaten once or twice weekly, but avoid charring it on a grill. Charring produces compounds that can increase the risk of developing some cancers.

You want to limit the consumption of sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and alcohol. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans discusses following a healthy diet at every life stage. One thing people are often slow to recognize is that nutrition needs change during the aging process. Increasing your awareness of how you eat at home, and especially while relaxing, is a crucial step in improving health.

2. Regularly Exercise

There are three types of people. Some do not exercise. Some exercise sporadically. Some exercise regularly. Some people believe exercise is always painful and tedious, so they avoid it. Making time to exercise regularly is essential because the body is built to move.

Research by the Centers for Disease Control has found that being physically active improves brain health, strengthens muscles and bones, helps manage weight and reduces the risk of developing various diseases. Surprisingly, you do not have to go to the gym and work out for an hour or more until exhausted to get the benefits. You only need moderate level exercise. Walking briskly 30 minutes daily for five days to get the heart rate up for aerobic benefits and doing light weight training exercises for two days each week are elements of a healthy lifestyle.

At home, you can walk or bicycle around your area, do functional fitness exercises like squats and push-ups, follow an online yoga class, and even stand more, especially if you work at home. Sitting for long periods, says Yale Medicine, decreases blood flow to the extremities, negatively impacts blood pressure and sugar regulation, and increases the risk of a heart attack and developing diabetes.

3. Manage Stress

The human stress reaction was never intended to be chronic. Stress releases cortisol and other hormones that disrupt your body’s functions. Chronic stress causes headaches, heart disease, digestive problems, high blood pressure and difficulty sleeping. Strategies to manage stress at home include enjoying a hobby, spending time with friends, exercising, listening to music and soaking in a tub of warm water. Sometimes, the best way to reduce stress is to make sure you take time for yourself no matter how hectic life has become.

4. Regularly Get Good Sleep

When you are stressed, leading a hectic life or experiencing hormonal changes due to normal aging, sleep becomes evasive. However, getting good sleep has the same effects as chronic stress. Consistently inadequate sleep lowers brain performance, causes weight gain, increases blood pressure and increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, to name a few consequences.

Experts recommend adults get at least seven hours of sleep each night to refresh the mind and body. There are many suggestions for getting better sleep. Set a sleep schedule and adhere to it, ensure the bedroom is dark and quiet, do not drink alcohol or eat large meals close to bedtime and relax before bed to calm the mind and body. Some people find that taking a relaxing shower before bedtime may improve sleep.

5. Strengthen Positive Mental Health

Maintaining positive mental health is vital to your general health. Negative thoughts, low self-esteem, and frequently feeling distressed or sad are signs you need to work on developing positive mental health. You need to like yourself. Some suggestions mental health experts have made include doing something creative, learning something new, mastering mindfulness and completing a home project you keep delaying. These steps are combined with exercise and getting better sleep.

6. Drink Water

Water is crucial to your health. Approximately 60% of your weight is water. All of your biological systems need water. Water helps maintain body temperature and blood pressure. It protects organs and joints, carries nutrients to cells, flushes toxins from the body, aids digestion and cushions joints. The Institute of Medicine’s research found men should drink 13 cups of water each day, and women should drink nine cups.

Living a Healthy Life at Home

Living a healthy life means living a healthy life 24 hours a day. How you treat yourself while at home has a significant influence on your health. As you can tell from the six tips, each person must develop and follow a unique plan that fits their life. The critical thing to remember is that good health does not happen suddenly. It takes time and effort to develop a healthier life. Start small to avoid getting discouraged and be persistent. Changing habits and behaviors to improve health is challenging but rewarding.

Written by Taylor McKnight, Author for Alpha Spine and Wellness