How to Maintain Your Health

Emphasize fruits and veggies. A healthy diet is one that's full of vitamins, nutrients, and color (well, in addition to being balanced). And the easiest way to do this is through piling on the fruits and veggies.^[1] They're nutrient dense but not calorically dense -- meaning you can eat bunches and bunches without destroying your waistline, and it's good for you. And, of course, the fresher, the better!

Most all fruits and veggies are good for you, but some are better for you than others, arguably. If you really want to zero in on mother nature's power, you'll add kale, spinach, carrots, celery, cranberries, blueberries, and pineapple to next week's grocery cart.^[2]That's every color of the rainbow, too!
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Add in lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains. As good as fruits and veggies are, you need some other stuff in there to mix it up and stay balanced. When you go for meat, dairy, or pasta, make sure you choose lean meats, low-fat dairy, and whole grain pasta. That generally translates to white meat (without skin), low-fat or non-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt and brown pasta, quinoa, and oats.
- When it comes to grains, the browner, the better. White grains shouldn't really be in your diet. If it's white, it's been processed and all the nutrients have been taken out. Then it's just empty carbs.
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  Cut out processed junk. If it's in a package, odds are it's not super good for you. And if it's in a package that doesn't go old for years, that goes double. Turns out the FDA doesn't even regulate all the stuff that goes into them and your body doesn't regulate the additives, either! They're not even recognized as food-like things. Your body just stores them away, not knowing what to do with them. Gross.
  - The FDA doesn't regulate all labels, either. Words and phrases like all natural, "free-range", additive free, and "pure" are just claims companies can make without retribution. So if you're buying something packaged that makes a claim that seems unfeasible...it's possible it is.
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    Drink up the H2O. If you're looking for a miracle on Earth, water is the closest you'll probably get. Stay hydrated and just about every part of you will stay healthy -- your skin, your hair and nails, your organs, and even your mind. And you can lose weight, too!
    
    Part of the reason behind the weight loss is that drinking water keeps you full, but drinking cold water also ups your metabolism. In fact, drinking cold water (17 ounces, to be precise) can up your metabolism by up to 30% for 10-40 minutes. So get icy with your workout, and you could burn even more calories
    
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    Concentrate on healthy fats. We've already touched on it with cooking, but there's even more to explore: fats are necessary (especially for your hair to be shiny, your nails to be healthy, and your digestive system working as normal), but unsaturated fats are much, much better for you than saturated ones (that includes trans fats). Sources of good fats? Olive oil, avocado, and nuts.^[4] All in moderation, of course.
    
    These shouldn't be used in addition to the food you normally eat -- they should be used as substitutes. Instead of grabbing that candy bar, go for a handful of almonds. They're still filling, but your body can process the unsaturated fats much more efficiently
    
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    Exercise. There is no way around it: having a sedentary lifestyle is just about the best way to drive your body into the ground. You have to stay active in order to stay healthy. If you don't use your brain, you lose it -- and the same goes with your muscles! So whether you want to run 5ks for breakfast or you just walk the dog every night, do something. Your body craves it.
    
    The CDC recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity, including some cardio and some strength-building activities.^[5] That's 2 and a half hours, by the way. 2.5 hours out of 168. That's reasonable, right? And the more vigorous your exercise, the less you need.
    
    If you're overweight or obese, the only way you don't know that losing weight is in your best interest is if you've been living under a rock that doesn't get Wi-Fi Even losing 10 pounds can make significant improvements to your health.