Step One:
Drink water. Not too much, not too little. Dehydration often times appears as hunger. Drinking a glass of water, even as little as 4 ounces every hour you're awake will keep you hydrate and most often lead you away from unhealthy snacks. Water will help flush out unhealthy toxins from your system.
Step Two:
Before eating anything cooked, eat something raw. A piece of fruit, a small salad, a few carrots or any vegetable you like. This not only takes the edge off your hunger but it gets the enzymes going in your body which will help you digest the other food you are going to eat.
Step Three:
Exercise. You know it's true. Even if you hate the thought of it, exercise is vitally important to your best health. It doesn't have to be a big deal. An early morning walk or a few jumping jacks before getting dressed. Grab your spouse, if you have one, and dance to the tune with a lively beat. You've heard it before, park further away; take the stairs; pretend you are the conductor of an orchestra and let those arms fly to stimulating music.
Step Four:
Laugh. Keep finding things to laugh at. Sign up for a 'joke a day' program on the Internet. Hang around people who like to laugh and have fun. Make a habit of laughing at absolutely nothing when you start your car, turn on you PC, open your front door. Trust me, you can fake a laugh and it becomes real. Before you know it, others around you will be laughing without a clue what you are laughing about. Laughter is contagious.
Step Five:
Meditate and/or Pray: Advanced studies show that meditation has health benefits by helping decrease stress. Patients with high blood pressure are often advised by their medical provider to meditate. Praying can give us a feeling of having someone on our side to help us make it through difficult times. You don't have to be religious to pray and you aren't non religious if you meditate. Try both. They work.
Step Six:
Good Relationships: Be it family or friends, best if it's both, have good relationships in your life. We all need people we can enjoy being with, people we can confide in, trust, depend on, and be there for us as we can be there for them. You don't need a huge circle of friends, a few will do, and if you have strained relations with family members, make an effort to de-strain them.
If this had been seven steps to better health I would add, forgive, others as well as yourself.
M. McCauley is a published novelist, author of short stories, health and fitness articles, poems, essays and how to live a better life.
A retired group tour travel expert, she recently published 'Six Steps to FREE Cruises and Tours' e-book.
Be sure to read "Can Spices Heal" at: http://www.squidoo.com/spicehealth - It's another way to have a healthier life.
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