Promote a Healthier Way of LifeCredit : Unsplash

While there are factors that can contribute to your overall health, for the most part how you look and feel is a direct result of your lifestyle. If, as of late, you feel less energetic, unfocused, restless, and bloated, you can attribute it to the way you take care of yourself. The good news is that you can improve your health by making changes to your current lifestyle.

The Many Benefits of Sleep

All humans need a good night's rest. When you get the proper amount of sleep, you wake up alert, focused, energized, and feeling good. However, when you don't fall into a deep sleep or you short-change the amount of sleep you allow yourself to get, you feel the opposite: tired, sluggish, and unable to complete simple tasks. On the job, this can lower your performance level, prevent you from getting that promotion and, if the pattern continues, you may end up without a pay raise or a job promotion, and even lose out on getting one of the appreciation crystals that your boss hands out at the annual office awards dinner. 

Avoiding caffeine and sugar treats a few hours prior to bed and promoting inner tranquility by taking a hot bath with scented candles such as chamomile or lavender, can help induce sleep.

Staying in Shape 

Unbelievably, weighing even just a few pounds over your recommended weight can put you at a higher risk of obtaining certain diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Additionally, without working out, you lose muscle mass and your organs don't function at 100 percent. Eating snacks or full meals late at night can also cause weight gain. Over time, adding a few pounds each year can lead to obesity, which can contribute to more serious health problems. Keeping your body in shape will improve your body's functions, keep your brain sharp, and allow you to remain energized and mentally satisfied. Thankfully, you can perform virtually any type of exercise, so long as you increase your heart rate and work up a sweat. Exercise creates lean muscles, reduces fat, restores stamina, and makes you feel good. 

Health through Diet

Perhaps you've always enjoyed many foods high in sugar, salt, or saturated fats and never experienced weight gain. That's because, while you are in your late teens and early to mid-twenties, you burn calories at a faster rate due to your metabolism. However, many people start to see signs of their metabolism slowing down once they enter their thirties. Eating foods high in protein, whole grains, and essential vitamins, like those found in fresh fruits and vegetables, provides the nourishment your body needs without adding fat. Eating large quantities of white bread, with its empty calories and excessive amounts of salt, sugar and foods high in saturated fats, will add weight. 

Mental Health

Good mental health is an important part of achieving a healthy lifestyle. It impacts your thought processes, behaviors, and emotions. When your mental health is good, it impacts your normal daily functions. You maintain higher levels of productivity on the job and keep relationships satisfied. However, when you have mental health issues your world can become unraveled. You may feel depressed or anxious, unable to focus and have low energy, reducing your chances of coping. Luckily, there are ways to improve your mental health. Doing things like exercising several times a week, eating a well-balanced diet, socializing with family, co-workers, and peers and getting adequate amounts of sleep are all helpful.

Ditch the Bad Habits

Bad habits often come along as a result of boredom or in an effort to fit in with others. Unfortunately, long after the peer pressure ends and you have a fulfilling life, your bad habits remain. In many cases, these acquired habits are bad for you. If you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol excessively, quitting will improve your overall health.

There's no guarantee on how long you will live. However, you can promote a healthy existence by eating right, exercising 2 to 3 times each week, getting plenty of rest, and keeping your mind content.