7 Easy Steps For Better Health

Photo by Darwin Bell on Flickr

I was going to add the sub-head "That I Often Don't Do Because It Seems Too Easy" -- because that's the  truth! What follows is a list of dead-simple additions to one's routine that are hard to do because they're too simple to do. "Drinking more water will make me much healthier? Drinking any water will make me healthier? Lies, lies, and crazy-talk!"

7. Eat Vegetables. 
Seriously, eat some damn vegetables. Not just veggies that have been boiled or fried within an inch of their lives...but add some fresh vegetables in there. I've gone long periods of my life barely eating any vegetables, unless you consider potato chips a valid veggie portion. My skin was literally grey from unhealthiness. And yet as crazy as it may seem that someone would go through life without getting plants in their diet, I've known plenty of people like this. The worst are the ones who insist they are getting enough nutrients from heavy meat-eating so that they don't need vegetables; those must be some really unhappy intestines.

6. Get Fresh Air and Sunlight.
This is particularly aimed at those who work in the Cubicle Nation, though some artists and writers tend to become unhealthily housebound as well. Many of us are blessed to work in progressive offices where every amenity is provided to you, including a wonderful cafeteria filled with countless (and healthy!) food choices. One may be tempted to never leave the building during the 9 to 5. But that's really, really bad -- not only because of the relatively stale air and lack of vitamin D-producing sun rays, but because such a practice seriously reduces your perspective on life. Think about it: you have this wonderful hour to yourself that you could spend doing non-worklike things, and you choose to stay in the Work Zone. That's 5 hours a week you could have used going to the library or eating at a new restaurant or meeting up with friends or dancing in the grass in your bare feet.


5. Eat More Fiber.
This is related to the vegetables, but also encompasses foods like oats, nuts, and beans. Also: "eat more fiber" is my polite way of telling you to poop more. You need to poop more, unless you have irritable bowel syndrome or Montezuma's Revenge or something like that. If you are going for days without pooping, you're carrying around all these toxins in your system. It's really really bad. And you know what is a great way to poop more? EAT MORE FIBER.

4. Avoid Stress.

Ah, I know what you're thinking: "easier said than done!" But we all have been in situations where it would have been pretty easy to walk away from the stress, if we really wanted to. It's a matter of weighing your need to be perfect or right or "secure" against the possibility that your heart will explode one day from the accumulated tension. Or maybe your heart won't explode, but you'll be carrying around this weight you can't get rid of that's connected to your heightened cortisol levels. Or maybe your stressed-out attitude will drive me crazy. Whatever the case, reducing stress is a must.

3. Floss.
I got through an 8-year stretch of not going to the dentist (not recommended, I had no dental insurance at the time) without needing major dental work largely because I flossed every day. Well, I didn't floss every day. I...occasionally flossed. But according to my dentist, even that was enough to help preserve my teeth. Think about it: you eat tuna fish or cake or whatever and a bit of it gets snug stuck between your teeth. You maybe brush, but definitely don't floss. Now that thing is rotting in your mouth, between your tooth and your gumline. How can that possibly be a good thing for you?

2. Move Your Body.
I hate this part. I'm mostly Mind...I don't like to do sports (like stair-climbing, lifting heavy bags, etc.) or anything like that. My favorite activity is reading. So I am not naturally going to move around a lot. My job, in front of a computer, only adds to my sedentary proclivities. But if I don't move, I'm going to gain weight. But more than that, I'm probably going to die. So I move. I take walks during my lunch-break. I take extremely long walks with my husband during the weekends. It's not enough; but it's something. Because I know that even an "easy" thing like walking will increase my survival. And I know how easy it is to avoid doing even that.

1. DRINK MORE WATER!!!!
Why why WHY do I have such resistance to the simple act of drinking water? Christ, it's just putting a cup under the tap and turning the faucet on. Or buying a Poland Spring. And yet, according to statistics the majority of Americans do not drink enough water...some only get their water from drinking soda or coffee. Replenishing fluids is such a key aspect of not just healthy living...but living in general. You can go without food for a while but without water you die rather quickly. And yet I can be surrounded with many opportunities and options for water consumption -- and still "forget" to do so. I can forget this even on the hottest day, sweat pouring from my body. I fail to make the connection between lots of moisture leaving my skin and the need to rehydrate. This is why "Drink More Water" is #1 on my list. Because it's the dumbest and easiest thing to overlook, and is at the same time the most essential for basic existence. Why do we do these things to ourselves? We end up spending so much money on chronic health problems after-the-fact...when there were really simple ways to boost our health.