Why You Should Live a Healthy Lifestyle
Do you like to feel good? And I don’t mean just pretty good. I mean really great like your body and your mind are the healthiest they have ever been. Well, of course, you do. We all want that for ourselves and for those we love.
The problem is that most of us live a lifestyle that is anything but healthy. We work too much, we eat too much, we drink too much, and we are attached to our cell phones way too much. And that’s the problem. Everything in our lives nowadays is just too much.
As a culture, we have forgotten how to live the simpler, healthier lifestyle that so many before us enjoyed.
Perhaps it’s all of the advancements in medical care or the innovations in technology that have caused us to be this way. If we feel like we can do whatever we want to our bodies and a doctor can just fix it later, is that what is making us overindulge? Or if we feel like the newest technologies are just too cool to miss out on for a single second, is that what is making us obsessed with checking our notifications all day long?
And if we’re all going to die one day anyway, should we even try to be healthy now? Do we even want to put in all that effort?
It’s pretty obvious to see by looking around us that many people are not living the healthiest of lifestyles.
It’s common knowledge that fast food is bad for you, but there is almost always a line of cars out to the street when you pass a fast-food restaurant. I’ve never seen a line like that at a farm-to-table restaurant. And trust me, the food is so much better. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
And it’s common knowledge that smoking is bad for you, but there is a whole new generation coming up that thinks vaping is safe. Just think about it, we all learned in school that lungs breathe in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. I don’t remember them ever discussing inhaling candy-flavored chemicals in vapor form as another healthy function of lungs. That’s because it’s NOT!
The point is that we all make mistakes. I inhaled a lot of smoke back in college when smoking in bars and restaurants was the norm. And I drank way more than my fair share too. I had a really fun time doing it, to be honest.
But now that I’m older and wiser, I know just how important living a healthy lifestyle can be. And I realize that the biggest obstacle for most people is that everyone around you is making it look too hard to be healthy. It’s so overwhelming, it’s just easier to not even try.
Have you ever tried to look up a healthy recipe to cook and you realized that you’ve never heard of half the ingredients?
Or have you tried the latest fad diet only to discover that you are starving half the time, so you end up shoving a giant slice of cake in your face during a weak moment? The second I tell myself I’m on a diet is the second I start obsessively thinking about food all day long. You are not alone.
Worse yet, have you seen an ad for a new miracle weight loss pill that has death listed as a possible side effect in the fine print?
These are all ridiculous, but sadly they’re all true.
The only reason you need to start living a healthy lifestyle is that it makes you feel incredible. You look better, you sleep better, you just feel so much better. And adopting a minimalist approach to living a healthy lifestyle makes it easy. No mysterious ingredients, crash diets, or pills with awful side effects are necessary.
Healthy Lifestyle Benefits
There are so many great short-term and long-term benefits of committing to a healthy lifestyle through minimalism:
- Clearer skin
- Fuller, shinier hair
- Stronger bones
- Stronger teeth
- Stronger muscles
- Stronger nails
- Stronger immune system
- Healthier pregnancies
- Improved mental health
- Better sleep
- Increases energy
- Weight loss
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower blood pressure
- Stabilizes blood sugar
- Helps manage anxiety
- Reduced cancer risk
- Reduced heart attack risk
- Reduced stroke risk
- Improved memory
- Improved gut health
- Prevents injuries
- Lessens or even eliminate symptoms of auto-immune disorders
- Longer life span
- Save money on medical expenses
Ways to Live a Healthy Lifestyle
1. Water
Staying hydrated is one of the most important parts of living a healthy lifestyle. Plus, there are so many great options to ensure that you are drinking enough water each day. Remember, the more minimal ingredients the better when it comes to choosing healthy beverages. Making sure you have access to filtered water is a great way to start. Adding in fruit like lemons, strawberries, pineapple, and even cucumbers makes water taste even better. And sparkling water is great when you are craving a little bubbly.
2. Whole Foods
You do not have to bounce from one fad diet to another as part of a minimalist healthy lifestyle approach. Your body works best when you nourish it with whole foods. A simple rule of thumb is if a product is highly processed and/or has a lot of ingredients in it, especially those you cannot pronounce, it is not going to be very healthy for you. I also like asking myself whether or not my great-grandparents would have recognized something as food. If the answer is no, there is a pretty good chance it is a highly processed product disguising itself as food. Stick to whole, unprocessed meats, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains and you will feel much better in no time.
In addition to eating mostly whole foods, I prefer to buy organic, non-genetically modified food whenever possible to limit my family’s intake of pesticides. Pesticides are designed to kill bugs or make them infertile, so what do you think may happen to you after ingesting them regularly for 20, 30, or 40 years? And genetically modified foods are often less nutritious than their heirloom plant counterparts. Yet another reason food is healthier in its most natural state.
3. Exercise
With a minimalist lifestyle, you do not need expensive gym memberships or equipment to get the exercise your body needs to stay healthy. There are plenty of options when it comes to being active. Minimalist exercises like hiking, biking, brisk walking, running, and yoga are fun, and they do not require a large financial commitment or storing a bunch of products.
4. Supplements
Have you looked at a supplement aisle recently? There are enough supplements available these days to make your head spin. Due to our more sedentary lifestyles, processed foods, and genetically modified produce, it is quite possible that we are all lacking certain vitamins and minerals that our bodies desperately need. But instead of buying random bottles and chugging supplements all day, a great minimalist approach to take is to consult with your doctor. Blood tests can easily confirm what you need specifically and then you can forget about all the rest. There’s always the possibility that you do not need supplements at all.
5. Moderation
Moderation is my favorite minimalist lifestyle hack and for good reason. Being a minimalist does not mean that you give up everything fun in life. If you are anything like me, when you are told you cannot have something, suddenly that is all you can think of. Instead, just use moderation when it comes to treating yourself to anything less than healthy. Moderation works great with your intact of alcohol, sugar, and sodium.
6. Relaxation
Relaxation is a vital part of staying healthy, and yet, it is grossly underrated in our society. You can easily increase the amount of relaxation you get by adopting a minimalist lifestyle. Learning to commit to fewer obligations, spending less time endlessly scrolling on social media, and refraining from over-scheduling activities leads to a significant amount of time you can slow down and rest. Minimalism is all about giving up the things that you do not benefit from in order to have more time and energy for the things that you do benefit from. Whether you are relaxing on the couch with your significant other watching a movie or laying in bed cuddling your baby, having a minimalist schedule allows you to find the time you once thought was non-existent.
7. Sleep
It is impossible to stay healthy physically or mentally when you are not getting enough sleep. And lack of sleep is often a byproduct of being overworked and overstressed. Choosing to lead a life of minimalism takes away a lot of worries that prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep in the first place. You no longer race from activity to activity without the downtime you need to shut your mind off, you no longer worry about debt piling up because you’re not spending more than you earn, and you no longer worry about the next bigger, better promotion because you’re content with where you are in life. Sleep comes naturally when you chose to live a simpler life. No pills are necessary.
8. Community
Having a sense of community is a huge contributor to being healthier and having a longer life span. People need human connection to thrive. But oftentimes, people continue to try to cultivate relationships that no longer work for them. Just because you have been friends with someone since childhood, does not mean you need to continue being friends with that person for the rest of your life. A minimalist approach to having a healthy sense of community is focusing your energy on relationships with a smaller group of people who encourage you, support you, and want the best for you. Having a simpler social life in which you surround yourself with good people is far more beneficial than obsessing over the number of so-called “friends” you have in person or online. Minimalism allows you to focus on deep relationships, not on numbers.
9. Mental Health
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. No one is happy all the time and it’s okay to admit that. However, taking a minimalist approach to life greatly reduces stress and anxiety and boosts your mental health. When you are still struggling, finding a doctor who supports you or a therapist who listens well and guides you are important steps to improving your life. Again, working on your mental health does not have to be complicated to be effective.
What is a Minimalist Lifestyle
A minimalist lifestyle is all about giving up the extra so you can focus on what truly matters to you. And your health is your most important asset, so it only makes sense to take a minimalist approach to maintain it.
You don’t need the bigger, better gadget, pill, or fad diet to stay healthy. Starting out with consuming clean food, hydrating, eliminating stress, and staying active all work wonders when it comes to your physical and mental health.
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How can minimalism help you live a healthier lifestyle? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
My husband and I are trying to move towards a more minimalist lifestyle. We are re-modelling the home to suit us and intend to do a lot of de-cluttering. We also want to be outdoors more. We still love technology, but we want to use it appropriately. We are really re-thinking things and have been for a while, but it’s been a slow transition and I think that’s okay too.
I am so happy to hear this. You are going to love it! Your life will feel so much less stressful and busy. Good luck.
This was such a great read! Staying hydrated and eating better are two things I am trying to tackle this year and make them a habit! Thanks for sharing x
Good for you! You are already heading in the right direction.
I think especially with the holiday season upon us, this post was absolutely essential to remind us to appreciate the simple things!
You are so right. Holidays are definitely a time we all tend to lose focus on healthy living. I’ll be sure to reread it myself before making a plate. Thanks for your comment.
Great post!! Good reminders to live a simpler life and find happiness in the small things.
Thank you so much for reading. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Been working on drinking more water every day. It’s a small change that can have a lot benefits.
Good for you! It really can help a lot.
Great post! My parents love minimalism, and this is a very informative post about it 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for all of these tips! It’s crazy how none of these tips should be hard to implement, or cost a lot of money. But because it’s not a FAD, people probably have a harder time committing to them. I’ve been trying to up my water intake and eat healthier food. I’m pleased that during the covid stay at home time, I haven’t binged on chips or cookies and have snacked on fruits a lot more.
Good for you. Keep up the good work!
This all sounds wonderful and makes me want to find a farm somewhere in the middle of nowhere to live and relax.
I know exactly what you mean.
Yes, yes, and yes! I love minimalism and incorporating it into your health is so smart! Don’t overcomplicate it!
Exactly. You don’t need fad diets and pills to start feeling better.
Yes! Going minimalist can have such a big impact on your mental health. When you aren’t chasing the next big thing (technology, fashion, home style etc) your world just relaxes. Thank you for this post!
I completely agree with you.
Great tips and I love that you included mental health. Far too often people spend all of their time and energy focusing on their physical health and well-being, completely forgetting about their mental health in the process. Even worse, there are many that sacrifice their mental health in the effort to better their physical health rather than focusing on finding a balance. Thank you for sharing.
Yes! You said it perfectly. So true.
What a fantastic post! You are so right that minimalism (and moderation) leads to better health outcomes. The older I get, the more my body clearly communicates to me that I need to treat myself better (for example, I had two alcoholic ciders on Monday and I felt awful my entire Tuesday). There are some great tips here for leading a healthier lifestyle. I appreciate that you included “community.” I’ve been doing research on longer life expectancy (both of my parents died relatively young, so it’s been something on my mind), and a contributing factor on all of these “long life,” lists is having a close-knit community and human interaction. Awesome post!
Thank you so much. I completely hear you about alcohol intact. I cannot drink much these days either without regretting it. And as for the community comment, I read a study about it awhile ago, and it made so much sense just looking at my own family, that I started researching it more.
We appreciate your inclusion of mental health as a requirement! Thanks for this post, Brooke
Yes! Mental health is incredibly important and not discussed enough.
This is a great post! Sadly, minimalism is so overlooked in modern society. We would all be so much healthier if we got back to basics
I completely agree with you. I adopted minimalism a few years ago, and I have never been happier.
Just because you can’t pronounce a word doesn’t mean it’s unhealthy for you, dihydrogen monoxide is the chemical name for water after all, and often extracts of fresh fruit and vegetables will be listed by their chemical name. If you’re concerned, Google the name so you no what it is. Also, you should really watch your fruit intake as they are packed full of sugar that can cause type 2 diabetes and reactivate hypoglycaemia, sugar is still sugar, refined or from a fruit
You make some good points, but whole foods are always healthier than processed foods. And moderation is key with everything. Even drinking too much water can kill you.
I love this post, it’s very informative for me because I honestly forget to eat or drink water. Thank you
I do the same thing when I work from home. I just get so focused.
This was such a great post to read and I love your outlook on life. I’ve been eating better over the last few months and have definitely noticed a change in my energy levels. I just need to get more sleep now.
Good for you. And yes, sleep is very important. I hope you get more rest soon.
Loved this! There’s definitely some great ideas here for living a better life.
I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you for your comment.
Great post, with some great tips. I’m starting to really try and improve my health. I’ve started with the simple one, drinking water, I used to barely drink any.
That alone will make a huge difference. One step at a time.
I didn’t know much about living a minimilist lifestyle before reading this post. Thank you for entlightening me, this was a great post!
I’m glad you enjoyed it and learned more about minimalism. It has been a really positive shift in my life.
YES to everything! Haha. I absolutely adore minimalism in itself but the “side effects” are so underrated and often go unnoticed. Great post!!
Thank you so much. You make a great point about the side effects.
I love your post. I’m always thinking of ways to live a healthier lifestyle so this is really helpful. I am also a big believer in minimalism.
Thank you so much. Isn’t minimalism the best? It makes life so much easier and more enjoyable.
Excellent post. The more I learn about minimalism, the more I think it’s the way to go. All the possessions we work so hard to accumulate don’t make us happy!
You are exactly right. We just end up taking care of more stuff and having less money.
Brilliant post! I’m currently thinking about lifestyle changes for a healthier life! so thank you for sharing!
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Love Alexa,
I’m glad you found it helpful. Being healthy doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
These are all such great reasons and benefits for living a minimalist lifestyle. Thanks for sharing all this!
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I Love this. I totally agree with everything here!!
That’s great! Thank you so much for commenting.
This was such a great read. I found myself nodding and relating at every sentence ! I’m definitely trying a more minimalist lifestyle with my living space, clothing and beauty products. I’ve genuinely never thought of applying it to my food and exercise , now I’m gonna try a new approach! Thank you.
You should. Minimalism makes healthy living simple.
Love this! I’ve really been trying to exercise more and I feel like it just helps so much overall!
I’m glad I could help. Healthy living doesn’t have to be difficult.
This is a wonderfully informative post! I know it is important to live a healthy lifestyle, but I didn’t realise just how important it was to things like your hair and memory! Thank you for sharing these tips – I think my goal would be to drink more water as I always seem to forget to fill up my glass!
Em x
I don’t know why, but I drink a ton more water when I use my stainless steel cups with straws than I do with regular glasses.
Great post. I’ve always wanted to introduce a more minimalistic style to my life!
Modern life is way too hectic. Minimalism helps me slow down and live a simple life. I’m sure you will love it!
This post is important, it is so easy to indulge in unhealthy lifestyle simply because YOLO. But what we forget is the amount of money it cost to live that way, to pay hospital bills, to pay any havoc caused by irresponsiblilities.
So living healthy saves all the cost and makes you healthy, you feel healthy and it saves tons of money. The minimalist lifestyle helps to focus on the most important things in life. Thanks for sharing
You said it perfectly. A healthy lifestyle does save you a lot of money in the long run.
There’s so much good information here! One thing I’ve realized in lockdown is how important exercise and water is to physical and mental health! Thanks for sharing
I agree with you. Exercise and water are important to both physical and mental health.
Love this! It’s so easy to get caught up in fancy things and magical solutions for all of our problems and we forget to go back to the core! I think the philosophy of minimalism is great to focus on the things that matter, especially when it comes to food and exercise!
You said it beautifully. It is incredibly easy to make every aspect of life more difficult than it needs to be including health.