Six key recommendations for a healthy lifestyle “The Boring Message of a Balanced Life."
- Daniel Cvrk
- Jan 30
- 7 min read
Here are my top six key recommendations to improve health.
1. Be physically active
Being physically active can help you manage weight, strengthen bones and muscles, increase coordination and balance, and improve stamina. Your ability to perform everyday activities significantly impacts your longevity, well-being, and happiness.
Regular physical activity helps manage depression and anxiety (1) and other health issues, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, arthritis etc.
Guidelines:
Resistance training
- minimum of twice a week
- 45-60 minutes session
- Moderate intensity
Weight-bearing activities, aka resistance training, are essential to include in your life as has been shown to improve strength, muscle mass, balance and coordination, which has a significant impact on our physical functioning, mobility, independence and overall well-being and quality of life. (2)
Daily non-exercise activities
- Minimum of 8000 steps a day
- Implement habits to increase your non-exercise activities
o Take stairs instead of elevator/escalator
o Park further away from the shops to get extra steps in
o Take phone calls standing or while walking
If you have a sedentary job, I recommend walking wherever possible. First thing in the morning for 20 minutes, lunchtime or early afternoon for 20 minutes, and evening for 20 minutes. You can either split into three walks or get in about 60 minutes daily on your feet. Sixty minutes of walking is around 8000 steps a day.
Exercise and physical activities
- Minimum of three times a week
- 45 minutes
- Moderate intensity
Aim to be active most days – aim to do something you enjoy.
- Surfing, swimming, water polo
- Brisk walking, jogging, trail running, hiking
- Playing sports – tennis, soccer, touch rugby, basketball, badminton etc.
- Dancing, aerobic classes
- Cycling, skating, roller balding, ice skating
- Yard work such as mowing, sweeping
Example of a weekly training plan
Monday: Cycling
Tuesday: Resistance Training
Wednesday: Minimum of 8000 steps
Thursday: Playing Badminton
Friday: Resistance Training
Saturday: Hike
Sunday: Minimum of 8000 steps
2. Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods and prioritise protein intake mainly from natural sources
Prepare most of your meals at home with fresh ingredients, including food from different food groups and with a variety of macronutrients and micronutrients. Use cooking methods such as steam, baking, grilling, and boiling but avoid deep fry.
Protein Intake
“Current evidence indicates intakes in the range of at least 1.2 to 1.6 g/(kg・day) of high-quality protein is a more ideal target for achieving optimal health outcomes in adults.” - Phillips, Stephanie Chevalier, and Heather J. Leidy. Current Australian guidelines are 0.8g of protein/(kg – per day).
Carbohydrate Intake
Don’t fear carbohydrates, as most fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods contain fibre. An adequate amount of fibre is essential for our health. It helps maintain bowel health, and you are adding low-energy-dense food. It is recommended to have 25-30g of fibre in the diet.
Fat Intake
Fats are essential macronutrients for human health. Fats help to maintain a healthy immune system, help absorb specific vitamins, and hormone production. Dietary fat will have an impact on libido, mood and energy production. The research on the daily dietary fat intake is lacking, but the recommendation is to get between 0.5-1.2g/kg, or 20%-40% of total daily calories should come from fat.
Create a consistent dietary pattern that will allow you to eat in energy balance as often as possible to maintain a healthy weight. “Energy balance is defined as the state achieved when the energy intake equals energy expenditure.”(7). Simply speaking, try to keep your weight optimal most of the time.
Limit added sugars, processed foods and alcohol intake, and avoid smoking and drugs.
Food to include:
Protein
a. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs,
b. Milk, yogurt
c. Lentils, chickpeas, beans,
d. Nuts and seeds
Carbohydrates
a. Rice, oats, couscous
b. Lentils, chickpeas, beans
c. Vegetables and Fruit
Fats
a. Seafood
b. Eggs, yogurt, cheese
c. Avocado, Olive oil
d. Seeds and nuts
Fibre
a. Fruit and vegetable
b. Oats, Quinoa, Brown rice
c. Beans, chickpeas, lentils
Drink plenty of water
Try to consume most of the fluids from non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic beverages, or get some through food. (Food such as watermelon, cucumber, lettuce, celery, radish, zucchini, tomatoes, green bells, spinach, strawberries, milk, peaches, carrot, oranges, apples etc. are rich in water content.)
Caffeine and alcohol will trigger the body to expel water through urine.
How much water should we drink?
Your urine should be clear or near clear, as shown on the Urine colour chart above the red line. Anything below will indicate that you need water.
A good rule is that we need 30ml per 1kg of body weight. That means if I weigh 70kg, I should drink 2.1 Litres a day without exercise. If I am going to exercise, an additional 300ml to 600ml will be required before and during training. The amount will depend on how strenuous the activity is.
Continuous water loss over time will speed up aging and increase health issues such as constipation, dry and itchy skin, acne, and headaches. (6)
3. Sleep
Sleep is essential for optimal health. Regular sleep disturbance can affect your life negatively, from difficulty making decisions, concentration and memory problems, fatigue and lethargy to reduced immunity, frequent colds, increased risk of heart disease and other health problems. Adults should sleep 7-9.5 hours regularly. (3)
Ways to improve the quality of your sleep:
a. Avoid caffeine beverages later in the day (4)
b. Avoid alcohol before bed
c. Exercise daily
d. Create a sleep routine
o Let's say that you must get up at 6 am, and your goal is to sleep 8 hours, which means that you should be asleep by 10 pm. If you have a problem falling asleep, I would start the bedtime routine at 8 pm. Starting at 8 pm, all electronics should be turned off. If you like to read from an iPad/Tablet, ensure that the blue light filter is on and Wi-Fi is off because we do not want to receive any notifications. We do not want to have the temptation to check social media apps and emails or receive any messages. Starting at 9 pm, we want to calm down; you can read a book or listen to relaxing music. If your body is ready to sleep, just let it sleep. If not, wait until 10 pm and then it is book down and lights off. It might not work the first, second or tenth day, but eventually, it will. We want to get our bodies into a natural rhythm, and the best way to do it is by setting up a strict bedtime routine.
e. Reduce stress before bed
o Plan your following day. Write down what issues and tasks you have to tackle
o Have a hot shower or bath
o Meditate or use the deep breathing technique
o Gratitude journal.
4. Spending time outdoors - Sun Exposure – Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a micronutrient that is needed for optimal health. The primary source of vitamin D is direct sunlight exposure. However, vitamin D is not the only thing beneficial to our bodies from direct sunlight exposure. Exposure to sunlight increases the release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is known for its positive effect on mood and happiness.
Depending on what continent you live in, generally, 5-15 minutes of direct sunlight three-time a week on your bare skin, including arms, legs and face, will be enough. Vitamin D from the sun can be stored in our bodies for a long time. However, many people need to store more to get them through winter. Thankfully, we can rely on more than just sunlight. Vitamin D can be obtained from dietary supplements or food sources.
Food rich in Vitamin D (5):
- Fatty fish – Salmon, Sardines
- Eggs
- Beef Liver
- Mushrooms
- Food fortified with vitamin D – cow´s milk, soy milk, orange juice, oatmeal and cereals
It’s not only about sun exposure or vitamin D; it; is also about being outdoors without the screentime, stress and everyday rush. Spending time outdoors may boost your physical and mental health leading to better quality sleep, a stronger immune system and reduced stress. A study from 2019 suggests that around 120 mins a week can boost health and well-being. (8)
5. Connect – create a lasting bond with friends and family
Having a supportive network of friends and family and creating lasting bonds will enhance your mental and physical well-being. It is essential to support ourselves with people that will support us and comfort us in both distress and joy. Create a tight circle of people you can trust and fall back in difficult times.
Love and belonging are among the levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, including friendship, intimacy, family, and a sense of connection. It is an essential part of optimal health.
There should always be a time and place to grab a beer with a mate.
6. Routine
Routine is something you can fall back in times of demotivation. If you know that you scheduled a workout in your diary on Mondays at 6 am for an hour, then you know that this is what you are doing that day. A routine can significantly improve your health and well-being and prevent you from being in a poor physical and mental state. The worry of not being able to do everything and get it all done will go away with a set routine. If you schedule grocery shopping and meal prep, you won’t have to be worried about making unhealthy decisions and eating much fast food.
A set routine is an excellent stress reduction method which would probably bring me to number 7 – Stress Management. I guess all of the above will lead to less stress.
Here you go, my six critical recommendations for optimal health in no particular order. There needs to be balance in order to be healthy physically and mentally.
References:
1. Rebar AL, Stanton R, Geard D, Short C, Duncan MJ, Vandelanotte C. A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations. Health Psychol Rev. 2015;9(3):366-78. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2015.1022901. Epub 2015 Jul 3. PMID: 25739893.
2. Fragala, Maren S.1; Cadore, Eduardo L.2; Dorgo, Sandor3; Izquierdo, Mikel4; Kraemer, William J.5; Peterson, Mark D.6; Ryan, Eric D.7. Resistance Training for Older Adults: Position Statement From the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: August 2019 - Volume 33 - Issue 8 - p 2019-2052 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003230
3. Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, Bliwise DL, Buxton OM, Buysse D, Dinges DF, Gangwisch J, Grandner MA, Kushida C, Malhotra RK, Martin JL, Patel SR, Quan SF, Tasali E. Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep. 2015 Jun 1;38(6):843-4. doi: 10.5665/sleep.4716. PMID: 26039963; PMCID: PMC4434546.
4. Drake C, Roehrs T, Shambroom J, Roth T. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. J Clin Sleep Med. 2013 Nov 15;9(11):1195-200. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.3170. PMID: 24235903; PMCID: PMC3805807.
8. White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and well-being. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3
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