Nowadays, every time we visit a Physician, a dietician or in a Gym, we are asked to lead a healthy lifestyle. I keep wondering what they actually means by 'healthy lifestyle'. Lifestyle, as we know attributes to our routine life both at home and workplace. So perhaps a healthy lifestyle would mean leading a life with healthy habits that would attribute to both physical and psychological wellbeing. Maintaining a lifestyle with healthy eating habits, enough physical activity, handling our day to day stress with ease and curtailing from bad habits like smoking, drinking alcohol or drug abuse can help to reach our path of healthy living. But why is healthy lifestyle so important. In today's times, very often at an early age, we hear people around us suffer from heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, cancer and so on. And the worst part is that most of these illnesses are not short lived but perhaps lifelong. So, indeed maintaining healthy lifestyle has become the utmost important thing in today's times.

Everyday whatever we do is driven by our old habits. So it is rather a big challenge to us to change our old habits if they seem to be unhealthy. In our daily routine, we need to make changes slowly which would help us lead a healthy life. We need to inculcate certain simple habits in our everyday life like doing a bit of physical exercise as soon as we get up in the morning, introducing more fruits and greens in our diet, drinking enough water and living stress free as far as possible. In our workplace, moving more often whenever required, using staircase instead of lift, carrying our own lunch box instead of eating out and switching on to more clear fluid intake instead of carbonated or caffeinated drinks can surely make a big difference in our life. Regular exercise and healthy eating can not only make us feel good and fitter but can make us mentally high. Sound mental health helps us to ease our routine stress and tensions. There are certain bad habits like smoking or drinking alcohol would take sometime for curtailing. Instead of cutting down abruptly, we can start slowly by reducing the frequency and dose of intake. For this, we can take the support of our friends and family whom we can rely upon. Loosing weight in an incorrect way by skipping meals or not eating food at all and doing too heavy exercise can do no good to our body. Instead it can prove to be very harmful for both physical and mental health. Loosing weight is important not only for looking good but for being fit and healthy.

Regular eating of wholesome cereals, fruits and vegetables with enough fluids in a balance way is beneficial. Being physically active throughout the day and doing regular exercise like walking, jogging or yoga are very helpful. Every individual depending on the basal metabolic index has a normal weight range. So maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help to achieve this target. We need to love our body first. Eating right actually means eating good nutritional food which would provide nutrition and nurture our body cells. Nutritional diet is one which is low fat, balanced quantity of carbohydrate, protein ,vitamins and minerals which help us to fight aging but also against diseases and strengthen our immunity. Together with physical health, maintaining good mental health by regular exercise and relaxation is essential. A stressed out mind becomes irritable, temperamental, tired and unable to think clearly. Hence, a stressed individual can easily become sick and also cannot perform well in the workplace. After a hectic day schedule, spending time with family, friends to unwind, a bit of meditation, yoga and a sound sleep at night would help to achieve mental relaxation. In the weekends, doing activities we like as going for an outing with family, doing swimming or playing with our children or reading a book would give us our mental relaxation. We don't need to go to a spa for a mental relaxation and spend a hefty sum.

Healthy lifestyle is equally important for all age groups. Habits like smoking or drinking alcohol are risk factors of various diseases including heart diseases, cancers, and cirrhosis and kidney failures. Menopausal women very often suffer from obesity, cancers, osteoporosis and depression. Childhood obesity has been seen very often nowadays. An unhealthy child would always be sickly and cannot do well in studies or extra curriculum activities. An under nutritional child will never have a proper physical and mental growth. So, a health lifestyle should begin at home. Healthy parents can only make their children healthy. Hence a healthy lifestyle can not only make us fight against diseases but also increase our life span.

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