Being healthy is better than being unhealthy. Regular physical activity combined with conscientious lifestyle habits will have a tremendously positive effect on a person’s entire life. People can often compartmentalize healthy living as a supplementary endeavor, something to be considered only after taking care of essential needs. While part of this logic is accurate, it misses how an individual can incorporate healthier choices into their daily habits, so that it does not feel as if one has to modify their behavior to improve their wellbeing. This may seem like a stretch, but the first step in making healthier choices for oneself begins with finding positive changes that first and foremost work with a person’s livelihood; if a person cannot find enjoyment in cooking or has to force themselves to eat a food they do not like, it will be next to impossible for them to make these changes permanent fixtures in their routine. Only by creating a plan unique to their needs and personality can a person make lasting changes to their habits that will benefit their overall wellbeing. But how can a person find healthier lifestyle options that work them? What are some of the areas in which an individual could think about improving their lives? It is useful to divide up a person’s wellbeing into three categories that can help a person better understand the factors that influence their health and wellbeing. These three categories are diet, activity, and mental health. Each of these three aspects of an individual plays a tremendous role in determining how healthy a person will be and will have countless positive effects for that person. These aspects are all intertwined: a person’s diet will impact their ability to perform activities; a person’s participation in activities will benefit their mental health; and a person’s state of mental health will influence their motivation and initiative to carry out positive changes to their eating and exercise habits. By understanding how different aspects of their wellbeing impact one another, an individual can take productive steps to improve their health holistically. Understanding how one’s lifestyle and behavior can impact their health can help a person identify useful strategies for improving their habits and their quality of life overall. Here is some useful information about the three categories of wellbeing and how a person can analyze their habits by breaking them down into these different divisions.
Eating
When people think of making healthy lifestyle choices, more often than not the first thing they think of is improving what they eat. The food that a person consumes has a tremendous influence on their health in several ways. Food provides a person with the fuel they need to have the energy to complete tasks and activities. It cannot be overstated how difficult it is to exercise properly if one has not been keeping a healthy diet. When a person doesn’t maintain their diet and begins consuming unhealthy foods, the amount of energy their body has to put toward any action is greatly reduced. This can result in a person becoming fatigued far more easily than they should and having an increased likelihood of sustaining injuries because a person’s muscles have to work harder when they are not provided with the fuel they require. A poor diet can also have a big effect on a person’s mental wellbeing. When a person eats healthy, it not only reaffirms its benefit by improving one’s physical wellbeing but also can help an individual’s self-esteem, as the cooking process is goal oriented. Cooking takes initiative, determination, and ingenuity and can help a person feel as if they accomplished something positive for themselves. When a person is in the habit of only eating unhealthy food and not taking the time to cook for themselves, it will not only impact their physical health but will also reify a mindset of apathy, which can negatively influence a person’s mental health. By finding a cooking habit that works with their lifestyle, a person can take positive steps to improve both their ability to take part in physical activity and their overall mental health.
Exercise
Exercise and physical activity play big roles in contributing to a person’s overall wellbeing. Like the other two aspects of healthy living, one’s ability to take part in physical activity will both be influenced by an individual’s eating habits and state of mental health and will influence them in turn. A person’s diet will inform how much energy one has to take part in physical activity without discomfort. Likewise, the state of a person’s mental health will have a big influence on the amount of initiative they have to make themselves take part in the activity; sometimes it doesn’t matter if one is physically fit, if they do not feel good about something, be it themselves or some issue in their life, it will be a significant challenge for them to conjure up the motivation to take part in activities. By understanding how each of these aspects impacts each other, an individual can find productive strategies for incorporating positive physical activities into their lifestyle of living in VA housing in Los Angeles.
Mental Health
While eating and physical activity can influence a person’s mental health, the influence it exerts on the other two aspects is far more significant. For it does not matter how well a person eats or how regularly they exercise if they are suffering from mental health issues. Such problems can impact every aspect of a person’s life, and an individual can have a tremendously difficult time trying to get on with their lives when they are dealing with such stresses. It is always helpful to speak to a trusted friend or therapist if one is struggling with mental health issues. People at family military medical support in California can help people find services to treat mental health challenges, and the veteran’s medical center in Los Angeles will have resources about where to find useful mental health services. There is no need to suffer alone and have one’s entire life be impacted by the challenges of life. Look into mental health resources from a VA medical center in Los Angeles to learn more.
