Healthy Lifestyle Habits- Do's For Success

 If a lifestyle change is necessary or on your mind, have you got the willpower to start and stay with it?

This article is about making lifestyle changes to improve health status.  It may be  that you  are just health conscious, may you  are recovering from illness or surgery, may be your at risk for premature death if you don't make a change.

 Whatever the reason, after reading this article you will feel better about making decisions for a lifestyle change.

If  you have health risk factors, find out what they are; some are unavoidable, meaning you could not have prevented them, they are age, gender, hereditary, environment.

Avoidable risk factors are ones such as: unhealthy eating, physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, smoking, harmful use of alcohol, drug abuse and air pollution. They are habits chosen by us  sometime during our life cycle.

One risk factor that falls somewhere in between is existing disease. Certain diseases once developed become a risk for other health problems, when this takes place the person is already physically challenged.

Whatever risk factors are present,  a change in lifestyle will improve health status, improve quality of life and prevent premature deaths.

 Fortunately the avoidable risk factors can control all others so modifying them will go a long way towards to improving overall health.  Focus on them to make your lifestyle change, if any is present start removing them.

Things To Do

• Make a lifestyle change plan of action
• Get to know your risk factors first
• Plan to reduce or eliminate them
• Track your progress
• Keep Records

If existing disease is a risk factor, talk to your physician and tell him/her your plans. It would involve  your health professional.

Get to know what your health risks are because of unavoidable risks factors. For example,  if you are a male what are your chances of developing prostate cancer at age 60. Keep informed on the current data on prostate cancer.

Ladies, may be you have a family history of breast cancer, know the facts about hereditary related to breast cancer.

To all, reduce or eliminate the avoidable risk factors, they control the unavoidable ones. Include it in your plan of auction, they are:

• Smoking
• Overweight/Obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Unhealthy eating
• Air pollution
• Harmful use of alcohol

 There are two health education plans that anyone can use to get started and succeed with lifestyle change, they are both free on subscribing to them.

 There is a weight loss plan which focuses on weight control, click here to view.

 The general health plan coaches you step-by step to reduce avoidable health risk factors,  This is ideal for the person with more than one avoidable risk factors, click here to view.

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Early Balding Linked to Increased Risk For Heart Disease

Men who become bald early in life may be at increased risk for heart disease, but eliminating avoidable risk factors early in life can help them reduce it. This is another good reason for choosing a healthy lifestyle.
 
Researchers of a recent study have linked an increase risk for heart disease with balding before age 50.  

The participants in the study were 40,000 men, middle aged to 60.

For this study, the researchers analyzed data from 6 existing studies that had examined the link between hair loss and cardiovascular disease.

Three studies tracked men's baldness for 11 years, the other three examined the heart health of men who were balding compared to those with a healthy hairline. 

Result 
The result of the first three studies showed that men younger than 55 to 60 who experienced baldness were 44% more at risk for coronary artery disease. The later three studies showed that all men who experience baldness were at increased risk but those who did so before age 50 were 84 % more likely to have some form of heart disease.

Researchers also reported it was too preliminary for men to be concerned about the results and that pursuing a healthy lifestyle is a better decision.
 
Unhealthy eating, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol abuse are avoidable risk factors for heart disease, by focusing on a lifestyle without them men can reduce the risks of heart disease associated with balding.

Read more on this study.


Heart disease is the number 1 cause of deaths globally, but can be prevented choosing a lifestyle without the following risk factors"

• Unhealthy eating
• Lack of physical activity
• Smoking
• Overweight/obesity
• Harmful use of alcohol.   

Men who have a family history of baldness would be wise to choose a healthy lifestyle early in life to offset any chances of heart disease.
 
Our health program uses fives avoidable risk factors to teach men and women how to develop health lifestyles.
Click Here for more on it.

How Strong is Your Willpower?

May be you are determined to lose weight, eat better, be more physically active or live a healthier lifestyle, but how strong is your will power?

According to a report your willpower can be inherited, this means the amount of will power you possess could be in your genes.

Although you may not be genetically inclined to have the willpower necessary to stick with your plans, there are ways to strengthen  it.  Here are ten ways to turn your will power on:

• Practice
• Workup to it
• Watch re-runs
• Think long-term
• Try your memory
• Eat a snack
• Take a nap
• Sip some caffeine
• Cheer on others
• Laugh a lot

Click on the link below to read each in detail.

10 ways to strengthen your willpower | TheSpec.com

I want to add 'Making a Plan'
Making changes to one's  lifestyle should be treated as an important event, make a plan and use it to monitor your progress.

For those planning to lose weight here is a way to improve your chances of success.
Planning For Your Weight Loss Diet.

Preventing A Brain Attack

According to a new study, a low-risk lifestyle can prevent a brain attack by reducing the risk for ischemic stroke by 80%.

Stroke is a cardiovascular disease(CVD) that is preventable by adopting certain lifestyles and ditching others.

The report on the study gave some ways to maintain a low-risk lifestyle, they are:
1-Smoking cessation
2-Women, get off the hormones
3-Eat your vegetables and fruit
 4-Keep blood pressure and cholesterol under control
5-Take aspirin and blood thinners if your doctor orders them

Read about each in more detail.

Smoking and unhealthy eating are key risk factors for non-communicable diseases(NCD's) such as: heart disease, strokes, cancer and other chronic diseases.  There is, therefore, a lot of evidence to support smoking cessation and healthy eating as a ways to reduce strokes.

Healthy eating would include a lot of fruits and vegetables in the diet, this would reduce the risks of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.


I want to add these important actions that will reduce the risk factors that cause cardiovascular disease. They are:
1-Keep physically active
2-Maintain a healthy body weight
3-Avoid second-hand smoke
4- Maintaining clean air


There is a consumer health education program that prepares people to live a healthier lifestyle.
Click here to learn more about it or to start preparing.

Horsemeat Has Healthy Eating Benefits-Study

 Researchers say horsemeat is healthier than other meat, is high in iron, low in saturated fat,  a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids and a good source of omega-3.

Based on this report it is healthier than other meat and similar to fish, making it ideal for  the prevention if iron deficiency anaemia and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The participants of the study were men age 20- 50. They were split into two groups as follows:

1. Group 1 ate 2 x 175 g of horsemeat per week for three months
2. Group 2 ate other meat, but no horse meat for three months

Blood tests were done at the start of the study, at 45 days into the study and at 90 days.

Results- The participants who ate horsemeat had a 6% drop in total cholesterol and a 9.1% in bad cholesterol.

Read  more about this study.

For healthy eating  2 servings of fish per week is recommended.

For healthy eating poly-unsaturated  and mono-unsaturated fats are recommended for our fat and oil requirements. Saturated fat; on the other hand, must be limited because it is associated with high choloesterol and obesity.

For a simple guide to our daily food requirements read my Healthy Eating Guide, it is based on Canada Food Guide.