Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, even in tough economic times, is a necessity and not a luxury as I will demonstrate in this essay. When you are physically, mentally and spiritually healthy, you only get positive reinforcements from a healthy lifestyle. Feeling good, having more energy, having a nicely toned body and muscles, and most important of all being healthy, makes it worthwhile. Therefore I feel that a healthy lifestyle is a necessity and not a luxury. Almost everyone has a different outlook on what a healthy lifestyle really is.
When the budget starts to halter your jovial spending every month and you have to tighten your belt to the last position, it is not the best idea to cut your budget for the most important part of your life, your health. To maintain a healthy lifestyle is not easy and most certainly not cheap at all. A healthy lifestyle as I look at it has three main components namely: physically, mentally/emotionally and spiritually. In order to live a truly healthy lifestyle you must find a good balance between these three aspects.
Doing just 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise only three times a week, can do a myriad number of good things to your health. Physical activity can extend your years of life and drastically reduce the likelihood of getting health related problems. Exercise is not the only important aspect of being healthy, just as important, is a healthy diet. As early as 337 B. C, Hippocrates stated, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. ” From (The Colombia Encyclopaedia 2008) it states, “A poorly nourished child will fail to grow properly; a poorly nourished adult will have a decreased resistance to infection and disease.
” Your body needs a certain amount of vitamins and minerals daily to keep it functioning properly, in order to keep sickness away. If people do not start eating and living healthier lives, sickness and chronic disease will only increase and continue to occur. Frightingly, 45% of all Americans have at least one chronic illness and 26% of the population has two or more conditions due to poor nutrition and unhealthy foods (AACC, 2009). Once you reach a good balance between exercise and healthy eating habits, you will feel much better physically and even mentally.
Having someone that cares about you is important in having a healthy lifestyle. A good functional relationship will help you through hard and difficult times and keep you in a mentally healthy state. In 2001 a screamingly high 30 622 people committed suicide due to a unhealthy mentally state (Suicide. Org). It is therefore a necessity to have that someone special on your side through fun, fantastic times and through the difficult times to share in your mental health.
Your relationships, morals and religion all have an effect on your spiritual wellbeing. Your religious practises have an effect on how you live which affects your spiritual health. A relationship with someone who supports your believes and views will keep you in a spiritual healthy state. I believe that a healthy lifestyle, physically, mentally and spiritually, can change the world. Therefore I would say that a healthy lifestyle is an absolute necessity and not a luxury as chronic illnesses, suicides and murders increase daily.