Health in Your 20s
The health-related decisions we take during our 20s are very crucial in determining our health as we age thereafter. Having a healthy lifestyle in that decade of our life helps decrease risk for heart diseases dramatically. Also, according to a research, a substantial amount of weight we gain in life get accumulated during this period. But, its not easy for a young adult to dedicate time for health because, they spend most of their time at work or other personal obligations.
To make life easier, here are 20 ways to keep you healthy in your 20s
1. Ditch Smoking: As your teenage comes to culmination, so should your smoking habit. If you never had this habit, don’t bother giving it a try. This habit is well known for increasing the odds of getting lung cancer by multifold.
2. Stabilize your relationship with alcohol: The drinking habit you inculcate in your 20s would probably stay with you throughout. So, if you’re inclined towards consumption of booze, do it minimally. Excess consumption of alcohol paves way to liver diseases.
3. Fall in love with cooking: Learn to cook healthy and tasty food in a fun way. Experiment with healthy ingredients and make low-calorie dishes along the line of your taste. After all, cooking is one of the most fun activities.
4. Trim down your time with the gadgets: The work and social environment in our 20s demand excessive usage of smartphones, laptops and other gadgets. Too much screen time does bigtime damage to your sleep cycle by tricking you into staying awake. The blue lights emitted by these gadgets get the job done by suppressing the hormone regulates our sleep – Melatonin.
5. Befriend your veggies: Its time to get rid of that frown we have when we have to eat veggies. Eat a lot of plant food, especially green vegetables and fruits. Green leafy vegetables are a great source of vitamins, minerals and fibres. They reduce risks of cancer and enhance heart health.
6. Curtail sugar intake: Added sugar might expose you to obesity and diabetes which might increase chances of heart ailments. So, cut back on sugar by avoiding sugared soft drinks, candies, canned fruits etc…
7. Abstain from extreme dieting: Indulging in extreme dieting in your 20s might help us reduce your weight for a short time. But, as we age, it causes rebound weight gain, metabolism problems and fatal medical conditions.so never let your body enter the starvation mode.
8. Increase your workout time, not intensity: Regular exercise enhances your heart health and keeps your weight in check. But, overdosing on exercise could backfire. The risk for injuries in your muscles and bone joints might increase which can have an alarming effect in the long run.
9. Sleep 8 hours a day: The time you sleep is the resting for your mind and body. Lack of enough sleep causes lower work productivity and in the long run, it leads to obesity and deteriorating immunity. Also, oversleeping is just as bad as inadequate sleep. Its known to case premature ageing in the long run.
So, sleeping for more then or less than 7 to 8 hours should be avoided.
10. Formulate a feasible workout schedule: We all make our career the priority in our 20s due to which, we don’t give much attention to our workout schedule. Find a workout that you actually love so that you don’t really miss out on it often. Experiment with various forms like running, yoga, pilates etc… and choose the most feasible one.
11. Check your weight often: Own a weighing scale and weigh yourself regularly. Losing 3 pounds is much easier than losing 20 in a go. So, if you keep a regular check on your weight, you can prevent the rapid accumulation of weight in your 20s.
12. Get to know your family’s health history: The more you learn about your family’s health, the better prepared you will be to deal with the health issues you might face down the road. Diseases like diabetes and leukaemia are more likely to hit you if your family’s history has a trace of it.
13. Pamper yourself: It’s absolutely necessary to take a break from your busy schedule and treat yourself with a vacation or a spa appointment or a date. These little things rejuvenate your soul and gives positive energy to your body.
14. Be healthy, mentally also: If you’re dealing with even a trivial psychological issue, don’t hesitate to seek help. Your day-to-day happiness is very important for your overall well-being. This is particularly important in your 20s because, you’ll have ample number of things to disturb your mental health.
15. Take care of your skin and hair: Skin health in your 20s have a direct connection to how well we age. This is the period in which you spent most of your time outside, exposing your skin and hair to the sun and pollution. These affect your skin, causing acne, sunburns, rashes etc and also damage your hair. So, wash your face frequently, protect yourself from the sun, avoid using heat on your hair, get your hair trimmed regularly and don’t use heavy chemicals on both your hair and skin.
16. Drink lots of water: It helps in losing weight, keeping your hair and skin healthy and also improves the overall metabolism of your body. So, make it a rule to drink at least 2 litres of water every day.
17. Have regular Health check-ups: Keeping an eye on your health status is very important in your 20s. The onset of most of the health issues might occur in this decade of your life. These regular check-ups will ensure that any disease is identified before it’s too late.
18. Give your environment a healthy makeover: Get rid of any junk or sugary treats from your workplace as well as home. Replace all those candies and cookies with a bowl of fruits. Let your environment motivate you to be healthy.
19. Avoid supplements: Try as much as possible to acquire the necessary vitamins and minerals from your diet.
In certain cases, the doctor might advice you to take multivitamins. But its always better not to rely upon pills and eat healthy from the start.
20. Do what you love: Lastly, find a job that gives you happiness and satisfaction. Doing what you love will give you an optimistic attitude towards your life and yourself. This way, you’ll love growing older.
Written By: Priyadarshini S. Srinivasan
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