You’ve all heard of the national best-seller Seven Habits of Hight Effective People. We added a health component to it, but the core technique remains the same—the one of having a disciplined lifestyle. Discipline is difficult for most people. We choose to sleep an hour more, make excuses for not eating right, not taking the time to scheduling our day to meet our goals, and the list goes on. I’m sure we’re all guilty of one or more of these things. Some of us may have started strong, determined to solidify the healthy habit,s but slowly stagnate and lose the practice. It’s okay, if this happens. It’s actually just a process. Get back up and continue again. The most important thing is to not give up.
One thing to keep in mind that in the beginning, it may be necessary to be a bit stringent, and your friends and family may discourage you from being so extreme. This is what it takes in the beginning, and slowly you will come to the middle and be able to live a more balanced life.
So, this is what it takes to be healthy—7 crucial steps for a healthy lifestyle

1.Exercise

We all know that exercise is an important part of keeping ourselves healthy. Without exercise, our muscles stagnate, our bones deteriorate and our body loses its ability to maintain itself. It’s important to move your body at least 30 minutes a day. It doesn’t matter if you decide to join the gym or not, or whether you decided to exercise in the morning or evening. Do what’s right for you. Listen to your body and choose an exercise that you enjoy and can maintain—maybe it’s running, walking, swimming, cycling or using the elliptical machine. As you start exercising regularly, you will start having more energy, more stamina and just feel great, in general.

2. Eating Right

Eating is a pleasurable activity, but if you eat too much or eat the wrong type of foods, it can be detrimental to your health. We usually know what the wrong type of foods is by the way we feel after consuming them. We may have less energy, feel overstuffed, get allergies or just feel like crap. The problem is most of the foods that are not necessarily good for us tastes good. In this day of age of instant gratification, many choose to eat that bite of sugar-laden cake or put three spoonfuls of sugar in your morning cup of coffee. It’s okay to indulge once in awhile, but if you want to form a good habit, you must avoid the very thing that is not good for you. The best diet is a meal that is natural and not processed—in other words, foods that come straight from nature like vegetables, fruits, nuts, meats, brown rice, beans, etc. Avoid junk food, chemicals such as MSG and sugars.

3. Think Positive

What we think, we become. Our thoughts are powerful. We may not see it and it may not be tangible, but it’s there, and other people can sense it. That’s why when you are in a negative mood, things don’t seem to be going your way. When you emanate positivity, you get more support because that energy invites that to you. The best way to be positive is to train your mind to think positively. The best way to do that is to be grateful for the things you already have in your life. Write down 10 things that you are grateful for each morning. Then throughout the day, practice gratitude on people, things, situations. When negativity enters your mind, replace it with positive thoughts. Our thoughts make our moment to moments. It’s the most powerful tool you have to ensure a more fulfilling life.

4. Sound Sleep

What is sound sleep? You know you’ve gotten a sound sleep when you wake up feeling refreshed and not groggy. Try not sleeping for a few days, you will go insane! You not only need enough sleep, which varies for everyone, but you need good sleep. Some people feel rested after 6 hours of sleep, others 8 and some 10. There are studies that say an afternoon nap is good for you or not to sleep more than 8 hours. It doesn’t really matter as long as you’re listening to your body. What does your body need? We all intuitively know. We just choose to ignore or don’t listen. What seems to work for everyone is to wind down 30 minutes before going to bed by doing something quiet like meditating, reading a book, just lying on the bed, etc. Avoid stimulants like sugar, coffee, TV (especially violent movies) or anything that will overstimulate you.

5. Staying hydrated

Our body is made up of 50% water mass, which means that we need water in order to maintain our optimum health. That’s why when we get thirsty, it’s our body’s way of crying out, “You haven’t been drinking enough water. Now I’m starved.” So when you are thirsty, you’re already dehydrated. It’s important to keep yourself hydrated without letting yourself get to this level. How much water you need depends on your activity level. If you exercise a lot, your body will sweat out this water mass and it’s important that you replenish it. Stay hydrated also ensures a smooth operating system to keep your body functioning at an optimum level—something that your body does automatically and with better efficiency if you keep hydrated.

6. Meditation

Mediation is the most powerful way to keep mentally healthy. Just like we need exercise to keep our body healthy, we need meditation to keep our mind healthy. Just like exercise, you need to do it everyday to combat the everyday stresses of life. All day, everyday, we are bombarded by outside stimuli from street noises to a difficult boss, to a demanding mother or something someone said, did, a heartache—to be human means that it’s inevitable that we have to endure the realities of life. That’s why it’s imperative that you take at least 1-2 hours a day to regroup yourself, go inside and look within. There are many types of meditation. The breathing meditation where you concentrate on your breathe going in and out naturally is a popular method, but there are mantras you can recite or even rigorous ones like Vipassana, in which Buddha attained enlightenment. Choose the right one for you and keep at it. An hour in the morning and an hour in the evening is recommended, but to start out, you can do 30 minutes in the morning and evening. You may not feel an immediate difference, but you will notice subtle changes as you do it regularly

7. Staying organized
This may sound like common sense, but a lot of people neglect it. When your room is messy, it’s usually a sign of what’s going on inside you. You feel cluttered, so your outside is cluttered and vice versa. Some people vouch that their work area may look messy, but there is organization in chaos. Maybe that’s true for some people, but for most of us, clutter outside usually signifies something more. That’s why when you clean your room, you feel better, more able to concentrate and less stressed because you can find things around your room. You will perform better and your mind will feel more peaceful. Also if your room is clean, you’d want to sleep in it. Staying organized is a habit and if cultivated, that could mean a more sound mind, sound sleep and perhaps even a sound life.