How to Be Healthy in an Unhealthy World

Trying to stay healthy is an admirable endeavor. It can be a pretty tricky live to leave a healthier life especially here in America when its so much easier to just be unhealthy. Being healthy can account for natural remedies for insomnia and anxiety and other things that we go through. We literally are what we eat so if we can eat better, we’ll live better. However, it is so hard to do that. It seems like everything is trying to steer us in the opposite direction of health. Here are a few reasons why it’s so hard to stay healthy in this day and age and Nation and what you can do about it.

1. Fast Food
   Fast food is so readily available. When’s the last time you saw a health food restaurant with a drive through? It’s so accessible and quick to grab, it’s ridiculous. However, the next time you don’t have time to cook dinner or you just don’t feel like it and you have to go through a drive through you have two options:
   1. You can opt for the salad that some fast food places serve out of obligation. You may not feel like leafy greens and you won’t for awhile but you have to force yourself to eat it until you start to like it.
   2. Or you can find a fast food place that will give you a ‘protein burger.’ This is the patty and cheese if you wish, wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. It’s not great but it’s much better than a regular burger and is a great place to start.

Snacks
They’re at the grocery store, the gas station and everywhere you turn; chips, chocolate, white cheddar popcorn. How can you possibly stay healthy with those things being thrown at you every day? Well, smuggled in between those packets is usually a nice healthy bag of trail mix. Try eating that instead of Cheetos next time you get gas. Nuts are high in fat so be careful how much you eat but they’re so much better for you than anything else you could get there. Gas stations are also starting to make yogurt and fruit more readily available so if that’s there, give that a shot to. If your kids are begging you to buy them something the trail mix is probably the closest you’ll get to tricking them into thinking it’s an unhealthy snack.

Gyms
‘Now what’s wrong with gyms?’ You might ask. Nothing! They’re fantastic and you should go every day. However, they’re so expensive. If you aren’t in the habit of working out then paying for a gym seems pointless if you aren’t going to use it. Plus, if you have children then you have to pay an extra fee for child care and so on and so forth. Well, in the beginning you have to prove to yourself that you are going to do some sort of activity every day before you can justify joining a gym. Start by just going out for a walk every day. Even if it’s just taking the kids to the park and letting them play while you walk around the perimeter a few times. You should try and do something small every day. 30 minutes per day is all you need. You could look up some work out videos on YouTube that are free or join up with a friend to go for a jog, once you feel up to it. Swimming is fantastic exercise and your local pool probably won’t be too expensive.

Everything around us is telling us to stay home, eat junk and be lazy but we have to fight that mentality for the sake of ourselves and our children. Being unhealthy can lead to severe health issues including heart disease, diabetes, clogged arteries as well as other conditions. On a day to day basis, being unhealthy can lead to lethargy, depression and a generally frustrated lifestyle. This isn’t even talking about weight either. You could be five foot five inches and 105 pounds and still be incredibly unhealthy if you don’t eat right and exercise. Get out there and take control of your own life. Stop sitting around and makes some changes right now.