Four Steps to Improving Your Current Health

Sophia Belnap

It’s more important than ever to focus on health and wellbeing. It’s easy to fall into habits that aren’t good for you and sacrifice your health, especially if you’re focused on other priorities, like family, education and work. But poor health can lead to huge problems down the road, which is why it’s important to take control of yours now. Here are some ways that you can work on improving your current health. 

Get More Sleep

First and foremost, sleep should be a priority in your life. There’s a reason you’re supposed to spend ⅓ of your day asleep. Benefits to mental and physical recovery from your day are huge. Not only is the amount of sleep you get important, but the quality of your sleep is also important. 

When you’re asleep, your body spends time in different sleep stages, light, deep and REM. In deep sleep, your muscles recover and repair to take on the day’s physical strain. In REM sleep, your mind recovers from mental strain. Light sleep also has benefits. It’s when your muscles relax, your temperature decreases and your brain waves begin slowing. Light sleep gets your body ready for REM and deep sleep. 

What Effects Sleep?

Many things can lead to bad sleep. Drinking alcohol, especially before bed, is one of them. Drinking makes it harder for your body to get into deep and REM sleep stages and really recover. 

Things like eating large meals before bed and not drinking enough water can both lead to bad sleep too. If you’re struggling with sleep, look at your eating and drinking habits. Making some changes may have an impact on how you sleep. 

Too much blue light, especially before bed, can also have an impact on your sleep. Blue light is given off from your phone, computer, television and other devices. Think about it—even ambient mode on your television is giving off extra blue light, and that’s when you’re not watching it! You take in a ton of blue light every day, which can lead to a struggle falling asleep and getting into deep sleep. 

This is because blue light signals to your body that it’s daytime, which messes with your circadian rhythm. To combat this, stop looking at screens close to bedtime. You can also use blue light blocking glasses, or try red light therapy. 

Exercise Regularly

Another way to improve your health is to exercise regularly. Exercise is essential to overall health. Improving cardiovascular health can lead to a stronger heart, lungs and circulatory system. Improving muscle strength through strength training helps build stronger bones, leads to better balance and protects you from injury. Both improve energy levels and keep you from crashing throughout the day. 

Eat Well

Eating well goes hand in hand with exercise to overall health. If you’re experiencing energy crashes throughout the day or feeling exhausted, take a look at what you’re putting in your body. Think of food as fuel for your body. You have to fuel it the right way, with the right things, to keep it working properly. 

You should eat a good ratio of protein, carbs and fat to maintain energy levels, especially if you have an active workout routine. Protein should be a priority, and should be eaten throughout the day. Carbs should be centered around workouts, to give you energy when you most need it. Healthy fats are also important to keeping your body functioning properly. 

Practice Mindfulness and Gratitude

Finally, health is about more than the physical. To achieve better mental health, maintain a practice of mindfulness and gratitude. Spend time engaged in deep breathing or meditation each day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Keep a gratitude journal or work showing gratitude into other parts of your life. Gratitude can go a long way in helping you focus on and fully embrace joyful moments in your life, something many people find challenging. 

Health is important and you only get this one body. Live your life to the fullest by taking care of it.