Wellness is more of a healthy lifestyle, rather than the absence of disease. Complete wellness includes important aspects such as mental and emotional health as well as physical fitness. Significant contributors to wellness include exercise and proper nutrition. Incorporating personal goals into each of these areas is highly beneficial in both the short and long-term. Here are the ways that these two aspects influence your personal wellness and contribute to an overall healthier lifestyle.
Exercise therapy helps with weight maintenance and weight loss, while decreasing the chances of developing conditions like Type II Diabetes. Studies show that individuals who exercise regularly have a decreased risk of developing colon and breast cancer. New research proposes that this may also extend to lung and endometrial cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend 150 minutes (2.5 hours) or more of moderate aerobic exercise per week to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The benefits don’t stop there. In fact, research has shown that individuals who exercise regularly have a greater ability to manage arthritic pain and are less likely to suffer hip fractures. Achieving fitness can be a challenge, but in doing so you are more likely to live a longer, happier life.
While exercise is an important step on the road to wellness, you’ll need enough energy to perform it regularly. Our bodies rely on the nutrients we consume to fuel our movement and keep our internal body systems such as the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and nervous systems functioning. Proper nutrition can enhance your immune system, making you less susceptible to illnesses like routine colds. It can also inhibit chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, depression, and heart disease from developing. Consuming healthy food in appropriate amounts can have many benefits such as a sharpened memory, improved mood, and weight maintenance. Nutrition is all about understanding that what you put into your body has a direct effect on your overall wellness.
Regular exercise and eating a healthy diet contributes to a healthy lifestyle, but here are a few other suggestions that also help in achieving wellness:
- Get a good night’s sleep of 7-8 hours per night.
- Spend quality time with family, friends, and even pets.
- Try meditating or writing in a journal to relieve stress.
- Establish an individualized eating plan with a nutritionist.
Creating and achieving goals will help you to be successful on your path toward complete wellness. What’s most important is that wellness is different for everyone, so choose goals that are interesting to you and just do it!
For more information and tips on exercise therapy, feel free to reach out to your local Foothills Sports Medicine clinic.
