How to Get Fit, Stay Healthy, Live Happy

Eat 5 Portions of Fruit and Vegetables a Day

Fruit and vegetables are good for you, we all know that, but eating 5 portions of different fruit and vegetables a day will significantly improve your health. The World Health Organization recommends increasing fruit and vegetable intake to help combat obesity, and evidence shows it also helps to lower the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease by 20%. Fruit and vegetables are tasty, nutritious, packed full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants and can help to fill you up. One portion is approximately 400g, equivalent to 1 apple, 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked sweet corn, a bowl of salad leaves or a glass of fresh fruit juice.

Aim to get a variety of different fruit and vegetables into your diet each day, for instance by adding chopped fruit to your breakfast cereal, snacking on carrot sticks or raisins, and always ensuring you eat a portion of vegetables with your evening meal. You could also try making your own delicious smoothies and soups. By substituting sugar-filled snacks for fruit and vegetables not only will your health improve, but your waistline will shrink too!

Take 30 Minutes Gentle Exercise 5 Days a Week

Try to increase your exercise in simple, easily achievable ways. Walk the kids to school, get off the bus one stop early, take the dog to the park, get outside and do some gardening or just get stuck into household chores such as cleaning and vacuuming. All these things will help to increase your breathing/heart rate, which is what you’re aiming for.

Exercise reduces the risk of premature death, heart disease, strokes or developing type 2 diabetes. It might be easier to fit exercise into your day if you break it up into 10 minute chunks, which is perfectly OK. Exercising will help you stay fit and healthy, increase your life expectancy and release “feel good” endorphins into your body.

Give Up Smoking

Most smokers know smoking has a negative impact on health, but did you know it reduces life expectancy by 12 years? In America, 50 people die from a smoking related disease every hour of the day, in Britain it’s one every four minutes. Giving up smoking is the single greatest thing you can do for your own health, and that of your friends and family.

Increase Your Happiness – Be an Optimist

Studies show that people who have a positive outlook tend to live healthier lives, suffer less from heart disease and strokes, recover more quickly if they do fall ill, shrug off coughs and colds more easily and do better in terms of careers, than those with a pessimistic view of life. Increase your ability to feel good about life by maintaining friendships, finding things to laugh about and giving your partner a hug. Hugging also helps to reduce stress levels.