Changing Your Lifestyle to Achieve Better Health and Lifestyle

“Lifestyle” is the attitudes, interests, habits, and behavioral orientations of a person, community, or society. The word was first introduced by Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler in his famous essay, The Case of Miss R. with the simple meaning of “the basic nature of a human being as established at early childhood”. The term has come to include any and all behaviors that are considered normal and that promote the well-being of a person. In more modern times, however, the term has been expanded to include such diverse subjects as educational, political, cultural, medical, technological, and even social aspects of human interaction.

There can be various reasons for the development of a bad lifestyle. One reason may be rooted in an unhealthy life style. For example, some people may pursue their careers in dangerous ways, abusing their bodies and health in general to satisfy their needs for monetary gain. Such persons generally live below their means. They also spend most of their leisure time doing things they consider unfulfilling rather than engaging in wholesome recreational activities.

An unhealthy life style can also cause mental health problems. Chronic insomnia, for example, can lead to depression, anxiety, and emotional problems such as irritability, aggression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts and behavior. A person who lacks sufficient sleep experiences greater difficulty concentrating, paying attention, staying awake, making decisions, and remembering things. Some people with sleep problems develop addictive behavior patterns, using drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, pornography, sexual promiscuousness, and other unhealthy ways of acquiring “pleasure”.

Healthy lifestyles, on the other hand, promote mental health. People living such lifestyles tend to have healthy mental health and greater social relationships. They are active participants in their communities support them. They eat a healthy, balanced diet, exercise regularly, practice good hygiene, get enough sleep, and lead active social lives. This may help prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health problems.

Although you cannot reverse lifestyle habits, you can change your current lifestyle to achieve your goals. Lifestyle changes, when combined with diet and regular physical activity, can help you to live a healthier life. You can achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle by adopting some of these changes:

In order to improve your overall health, you should be committed to a lifestyle that is healthy for you now and for the future. Change your lifestyle if you feel like you need to. Just don’t settle for unhealthy lifestyles. The only one that gets affected is your pocketbook. You can improve your lifestyle, including your financial situation, by adopting the healthy lifestyle.