Almost everyone knows how important it is the life a healthy lifestyle. If you have a busy schedule though, you may find it difficult to find the time for regular exercise and find yourself making bad choices with food by eating junk food and takeaways. However, you can’t afford to be passive when it comes to your health. You need to have a proactive approach.
Following the tips below should get you on the right to living a healthy lifestyle as a man:
Visit Medical Professionals
Whether it’s the doctor, opticians, or dentist, men are notorious for avoiding a visit and they often go longer than they should, ignoring symptoms of concern. You shouldn’t let complacency take a toll on your health. Make sure you schedule a yearly check-up at each of these and stick to your appointment. Your doctor can help to monitor your weight, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and much more. Having problems in these areas can lead to cardiovascular disease. They will be able to advise you and recommend lifestyle changes that may be needed. Your dentist is there to look after the health of your teeth, leaving areas like this for too long can lead to the loss of teeth or serious treatment is needed to prevent further damage. Opticians are usually the one that gets left the most often, eyesight problems can arise gradually and therefore it can take a while to be apparent that there is an issue at all, sometimes people are concerned over the variety of men’s glasses that are available but this has now changed, and there is a huge array to choose from and you can shop here.
Eat Well
You should always make an effort to eat as naturally as possible, processed and packaged foods are often full of salt, sugar, unhealthy fats, calories, and artificial additives. You need to limit your intake of this type of food and instead eat a variety of:
- Wholegrain products like whole-grain bread and brown rice
- Fresh fruit
- Fresh vegetables
- Fiber-rich foods like leafy greens and beans
- Lean meat and poultry like Salmon, skinless chicken and ground beef
When you buy your food to stock up, try to shop the perimeter of the store. This is often where you will find the fresh produce, and spend less time inside the aisles, as this is where the processed food is commonly stocked. If you struggle with diet and nutrition it may be a good idea to speak to a doctor and ask for help with understanding nutrition.
Keep Moving
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men. Completing regular exercise is one of the best ways you can help prevent heart disease and help make your heart strong. It will also help you to improve and maintain good overall physical and mental health and wellbeing. You should aim to achieve at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic, every week, or less if it’s vigorous. Think about putting together a schedule that includes five 30-minute long sessions of aerobic exercise in your weekly routine. The types of exercises that you should be including are walking, swimming, jogging, basketball, cycling, tennis, and other sports. You should ideally be including time for two sessions of muscle-strengthening activities each week too. These include but aren’t limited to rock climbing, yoga, and weight lifting. To help you work out at the right intensity, make sure to determine your heart rate zones then train accordingly. This way you can ensure that you’re neither under- or over-training.
Look After Your Waist Line
For men having a waistline of 40 inches or more could be cause for concern. It can raise your risk of obesity-related diseases such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and strokes. For men, the best action to help lose excess belly fat is to cut calories from your diet and add in more exercise. You should possibly speak to your doctor to help you put together a weight-loss plan that’s both safe and effective.
Use Supplements and Vitamins
You can usually get the vitamins and minerals that you need for good health from eating a well-balanced diet. However, at times you may need to use supplements and vitamins as a booster to what you are getting from your food. It’s essential that you eat a wide variety of vitamin- and mineral-rich foods. Things like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are the best way to do this. Many of these types of food also provide you with heart-healthy fiber and give you a natural antioxidant compound that can help to lower your risk of certain diseases.
Taking supplements and vitamins may seem like something really simple, however, each type can work differently for each person, and they can also have adverse effects if they are used incorrectly. Sometimes taking the wrong supplements together or the incorrect amount can be damaging. Rather than do good. It’s always best to conduct a lot of research before taking any kind of supplement or vitamin, if anything you should speak to a medical professional, they will be able to point you in the right direction and advise what dosage to take.
Stop Unhealthy Habits
One of the worst things you can do to your body is to have unhealthy habits. The top problem that is seen in most is smoking. It is seriously bad for your health. Secondhand smoke is also considered very dangerous. Subjecting your body to smoking and secondhand smoke exposure is known to cause other health conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease. They also pose a risk of being a cause of cancer.
Other bad habits include the use of recreational drugs and consuming alcohol excessively. If you do consume alcohol, you should make sure it’s always in moderation. Men shouldn’t be consuming more than two drinks per day. If you are going to have a drink it’s advisable to stay within the limits as much as possible.
If you’re someone who uses recreational drugs, it’s essential that you stop. They are linked to numerous different health conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Some men choose to use anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass. This is known to lead to quite serious health consequences so should be avoided.
If any of these apply to you, it’s important that you try to stop, if you need help it’s best to seek medical help to do so.
Look After Your Skin
Melanoma is one type of skin cancer. It’s one of the deadliest forms of cancer. You are at a heightened risk if you’re caucasian or over fifty years of age. If you want to lower your risk of developing it, you should take steps to protect yourself from ultraviolet radiation from the sun whenever you’re outside. You should always cover your body with protective clothing, spend time in the shade at the hottest times of the day, and use a protective sunscreen that is SPF30 or above. It’s good practice to check your skin at least once a month, and make sure there are no new moles, changes to existing moles, or any other noticeable changes to the texture or color of your skin.
Get Your Prostate Checked
Second, to skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis for men. If notice any problem urinating, have pain when you urinate, or have blood in your urine then it could be a sign of prostate problems. This is when it’s best to make an appointment with your doctor.
This short guide should help you to understand what it takes to look after your health as a man, do you have any other tips that you can share in the comments section below?
