12 Things You Should Do Every Day To Stay Healthy

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Earlier I wrote about 11 positive things to do everyday that help you become a more positive person and feel happier overall. I personally aim to include all of those things in my daily routine and usually succeed (not always, of course, nobody is perfect). Thanks to that list, I can see my life in a more positive light and therefore attract more good things into it.

In this post, I went further than just a positive mindset and curated a more focused list of 12 things you should do every day to stay healthy.

Maintaining good health makes it easier for you to follow your dreams, be productive, and generally enjoy your life. Nobody can be fully happy when something hurts, right?

Being healthy includes both physical and mental wellbeing, therefore I divided all these 12 things to do into two categories (click to jump to the dedicated part of the article):

Things you should do every day for a healthy body
Things you should do every day for mental health

I understand that 12 things might sound a bit overwhelming if you have to add them on top of your already-too-long to-do list.

But don’t worry! It’s much easier than it sounds.

The thing is, most of these won’t even count as a separate task as soon as you get used to doing it every day. And right now I’ll share with you a few ways to make your healthcare routine easier to manage. Let’s see!

Making it easier: 4 hacks to fit all 12 things into your day effortlessly

You can choose a bunch of things from this list and create a new morning routine for yourself. Let’s call it your happiness routine! Repeat the sequence every morning until it becomes a natural part of your day, something you just do, like brushing your teeth for example.
You can do some of these things in the background while doing other things (for example, repeating positive affirmations or thinking about things you are grateful for).
You can combine two or more things in one activity. For example, a walk in nature with a friend can cover 5 or more things from this list, if you get creative and have some fun!
You can make each of these things your own!
- If it’s exercise, choose an activity that you actually enjoy. (I’ll always choose pilates or stretching over a cardio sesh, what about you?)
- If it’s guided meditation, find a guide with a soothing voice that helps you relax and unwind in the process. There are plenty of different meditation resources out there so you can easily find a topic, narrator and pace that suits you. Gaia is a common place to start if you are new to meditation as it has plenty of different topics and teachers.
- If it’s reading a book, choose one that you might genuinely enjoy. Don’t force yourself into reading an utterly boring classic just because someone said it’s a must-read. Don’t be ashamed if you prefer novels. (I personally love the works of Nicholas Sparks and Jojo Moyes, and don’t see anything wrong with it!)

After all, we only live once, why not enjoy it as much as we can?

With that said, let’s start with a bunch of things to do every day to maintain a healthy body!

Things you should do every day for a healthy body

We usually don’t think too much about staying healthy until we get sick. Only then do we start digging into the ways to prevent illnesses in the future because nobody likes to feel bad. And the worse you feel, the more you start to care about your health.

Almost nothing else can consistently ruin your days and plans the way sickness does.

Thankfully, there are some relatively simple things you can include in your daily routine to make sure you feel as good as possible every single day.

Because isn’t it better to wake up in the morning excited, energized, and ready to work toward your goals?

You might have noticed that I talk about positive affirmations quite a lot around this blog. You even might have seen my list of affirmations for a healthy body, as I truly believe they can help you heal faster.

However, a positive mindset doesn’t work if you don’t support it with your actions. If you decide that you are gonna be a healthy person from now on but then continue with unhealthy habits, you just confuse your brain and nothing will ever change.

You can repeat affirmations for a healthy body all you want, but you can’t trick your brain if it knows how much junk food you just ate or how little sleep you got this week.

Synchronize your wishes with your doings, and you’ll soon notice a positive difference in your body!

Here are your 5 things to do every day to stay physically healthy:

1. Sleep really well

It’s not news for anyone that sleep is critical for our survival.

Countless studies show that good sleeping habits are important for all aspects of our life: from mental health and emotional regulation to being alert behind the wheel, the ability to handle stress, and so much more.

As an adult, make sure to fit in 7 to 8 hours of continuous sleep every night. And at least try to minimize the screentime directly before bed. Better read a book or listen to it to rest your eyes and prepare for sleep.

By the way, instead of making excuses why you can’t get enough sleep, look for solutions!

For example, get a sleeping mask and earplugs to hide from light and noise, turn on nature sounds to fall asleep easier, or drink some herbal tea before bed if you struggle with insomnia.

As for the morning, a sunrise alarm clock is a wonderful invention to wake you up naturally. And I always recommend starting your day with a motivational quote to set the mood, but that’s optional!

You May Also Like: 70 Positive Bedtime Affirmations For Confidence And Success

2. Exercise

Depending on your lifestyle, you may need a different amount of regular exercise. For example, if you walk to work or are active during the day, you will probably be okay if you don’t work out.

But if you are like me and sit behind the desk all day long working from home, it’s crucial to fit in at least some kind of exercising routine every day.

Most importantly, find a way to make it fun for yourself, so it doesn’t feel like a chore.

I’m more of a yoga girl, so you’ll find me on the mat every day doing some asanas or pilates routines. My best friend loves squash and that’s why she is always in great shape. For you, it might be something else completely: from swimming to dancing to rock climbing.

If you don’t know what activities you like yet, go try different lessons from Youtube or Skillshare and find out!

3. Drink enough water

Proper hydration is one of the keys to living a healthy life.

As a fair part of our body is made of water, we need to keep its level balanced at all times!

There are studies that define exactly how much water you need per day depending on your sex, lifestyle, weight, and other factors.

If you know your number but keep forgetting to actually drink your water regularly, there are various tracking apps that can remind you. Some are even made like a game to make hydration a fun process you actually wanna do!

4. Eat healthy

Healthy eating is one of the pillars of maintaining a healthy body.

The food we consume is fuel for our bodies. If it’s regularly provided, good quality, and nourishing, it keeps us in a good healthy working state. If it’s always junk, or randomly put inside without thinking, it won’t give us enough energy to function well. Over time, it can lead to all kinds of internal issues and illnesses.

Our body is a complex machine, and we must take good care of it so it serves us better and as long as possible!

So here are my simple food-related tips that make it easier to stay healthy:

Choose wisely. In most cases, we realize that a salad is better than a donut but still choose the latter. Think about your healthy body the next time you have to choose your fuel! If you think healthy food is always bland and can’t be delicious, think again and look up some recipes!
Make it easy to eat healthy. Have a list when you shop for groceries and stick to it. Or completely erase all the efforts related to eating by ordering meal kits! HelloFresh is a good option to consider.
Don’t skip meals. Fasting is a great thing to incorporate in your life and has many science-backed benefits, but only if you make it a system and stick to it. Let your body adapt to a new way of eating before you can enjoy those benefits. Otherwise, randomly skipping meals just puts your body in a constant stressed state, where it has to turn on emergency mode every time to compensate for a sudden lack of fuel.
Plan your meals. Whether your planning means meal prepping in bulk for a week or just choosing your meals from HelloFresh online, do it! This takes the pressure off your shoulders so you won’t have to make healthy decisions every day, and makes sure you always have good dinner options, even when short on time!

By putting good food in your body, you are thanking it for the good work of keeping you alive and well, and assure it continues to do so. This takes me to the next thing you should do to be healthy, which is…

5. Love your body

Your body does so many more things every moment than you could ever understand! It’s such a complex mechanism made of trillions of cells working in sync, and dozens of complicated internal systems, each of which is critically important to keep you alive.

Find a way to thank your body for all this hard work!

From creating a positive self-image to putting together a nourishing self-care routine, there are various things you can do regularly to appreciate your body as it deserves.

One way to make it fun is subscribing to a wellness box that brings you a bunch of self-care goodies every month. Check the available boxes at CrateJoy!

See All My Self-Care Favorites Here

Things you should do every day for mental health

While everyone knows about the importance of eating healthy and exercising, nobody has been putting much thought into the mental health of an average person until fairly recently.

The World Mental Health Day was only invented in the 90s, and many developing countries don’t yet have any way of spreading that awareness.

However, mental health is as much important for your overall wellbeing as physical health. Same as illnesses and injuries prevent you from functioning to the fullest, being in a bad mental state stops you from enjoying your life.

Of course, therapy is a great way to deal with your internal demons. Especially now in the 2020s, when we have easy access to online services like Talkspace and can jump on a call with a suitable therapist in a matter of seconds. There is nothing wrong with asking for support, it’s actually a sign of strength.

But for an average person without serious mental issues or deep childhood traumas, taking care of your own mental health might be enough to live a good joyful life.

Here are some things you can do daily to keep your mind in a good place:

6. Repeat positive affirmations

I would say that positive self-talk is the first step to building strong mental health.

According to various studies, we think over 60 000 thoughts in a single day, 80% of which are negative and about 95% are repeated thoughts that just circulate in our head on a loop.

This means that it’s really important to do a conscious effort to eliminate, or at least balance, all that negative self-talk by introducing new positive thinking patterns.

Positive affirmations are simply positive messages that you repeatedly send to your brain until they start to feel natural. By repeating this process daily, you can overwrite some of the hard-wired negative patterns that have been carved in your brain forever (sometimes since childhood!), and start living a more positive life.

Here on UtterlyPositive.com, I have a ton of positive affirmations for all kinds of topics! Here are some lists that might be helpful on your journey to good mental health and a more positive you:

7. Clear your mind and just breathe

How often do you pay attention to your breath?

With all the chores and endless to-do lists we have every day, we rarely stop to appreciate the automatic process of breathing that never fails us.

Take a moment every day to sit quietly in a calm place and allow yourself to just breathe, to just be.

Just a few minutes of daily meditation can significantly reduce stress levels and even help elevate the symptoms of various illnesses.

If you are new to meditation, Youtube and Gaia are probably the best places to start.

8. Let go of the past

Oftentimes the only thing that’s holding you back from living your best life is the fixation on the past.

(Sometimes it’s best to talk it out with a professional listener.)

Some of the ways your past may be influencing your present:

You might find yourself stuck in a comfort zone, afraid of change, which stops you from following your dreams;
If you got hurt in the past, you might subconsciously prevent yourself from living to the fullest, so you don’t get hurt again;
You might be drawn to the same life patterns, whether it’s dating the wrong type of people, or working at a shitty job;
You are so focused on the good you had in the past that you are missing all the good you currently have.

If you recognize that your past might be the reason you aren’t where you wanna be in your life, you should switch your focus onto the present and figure out what you want. Then do what’s necessary to let go of the past and start enjoying your precious life instead of just existing in it!

You May Also Like: 80 Positive Affirmations for Letting Go Of The Past And Negativity

9. Appreciate what you have

There are so many things we take for granted!

It’s not until you see a man in a wheelchair that you appreciate having healthy legs.

It’s not until you lose something that you realize how much it meant to you.

You often compare yourself with others and feel bad for not having something, without realizing how much you actually have that other people don’t.

If you’ve never stopped to think about all the things in your life to be thankful for, join my free 7-day gratitude challenge with daily exercises to appreciate your life!

By appreciating the little positive things you have, you actually attract more good things and events into your life!

Other gratitude resources you might enjoy:

10. Read positive news

Personally, I don’t watch or read the news. Yes, I might be missing out and not able to take part in a conversation sometimes, but usually, it would be the topic I wouldn’t wanna talk about anyway.

I really aim to surround myself with positive things – and constantly consuming negative information can’t be good for your mental health.

I once heard a comedian defining CNN as Constantly Negative News. I found it very realistic and not really funny.

That’s why the only “news” I consume daily are the ones from globalpositivenewsnetwork.com. Check them out, but be careful! They can make your heart melt and make you smile until your jaw hurts.

11. Find a present moment

Between reminiscing about the past and worrying about the future, we rarely do what’s called “living in the present moment”.

Did you realize we only have one single moment of time that’s actually “the present”?

And 99% of the time we don’t even pay attention to it, letting it become our past straight away.

To appreciate the life you live and enjoy the daily experiences you get, you need to be more mindful about what’s happening around you as well as inside you.

Start by taking notice of your thoughts and sensations during various daily activities, or take a look at my list of mindfulness exercises for adults. And good luck with catching your present moment more often!

Click here to see all mindfulness resources

12. Rest and relax

This is something we usually skip as non-important.

Between work and household, family and friends, hobbies, and social life, we don’t really relax that much during our awake time. And as for me, I often continue to work on my projects or think about solving problems in my dreams, which is a sign that my brain is not resting even when I sleep.

Sounds familiar?

In fact, we almost never include resting in our to-do list unless it’s an actual vacation we are planning. Because who has time to rest anyway, right?

Wrong!

According to research, the process of resting has a direct influence on preventing the most common diseases and improving work performance.

Resting has nothing to do with being lazy. It’s actually part of a self-care routine you should have to stay healthy.

And it can be different for everyone! The idea is to switch from work mode and turn worrying off, by doing something that brings you joy.

Will it be a walk in nature with your dog? A warm relaxing bath with fun bath bombs and scented candles? A movie night with your partner? Or treating yourself with a visit to the nearest massage parlor?

Whatever calms you down and relieves stress, works!

You May Also Like: 20 Positive Affirmations For Anxiety And Stress Management

Final thoughts on things you should do every day to be healthier

This was my list of 12 things to do every day if you want to live better and stay healthy!

Don’t try to suddenly fit them all into your day if your current lifestyle is far from the healthiest. Start by incorporating one or two of the mentioned things into your daily routine and try to stick to it for at least a few weeks. When it becomes an automatic part of your day and you don’t have to think about it much anymore, add another one or two items.

As there are 12 things you should do, you can even commit to making it your healthy year and add one healthy activity each month. Such an easy way to gradually improve your health and life quality!

(Don’t forget to bookmark this page and come back for more healthy habits later.)

I wish you an extremely healthy and happy life full of joy and exciting positive events to remember!