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Healthy Living: The Importance of Healthy Eating and Regular Exercise

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You should always avoid overeating after a workout

The New Year is fast approaching, and it’ll soon be time for the inevitable New Year’s Resolution. One of the most often sworn and most often neglected resolutions is “This year I’m going to lose weight/get fit/be healthy (delete as appropriate)”. The problem with this is that after about two weeks people stop bothering, which is a terrible shame. Given the important roles that both healthy eating and regular exercise play in living a rich and happy life, it’s surprising that so few people do it. Here’s why you should stick to your healthy resolutions in 2013.

You’ll look better

Yes, I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but the fact remains that a bad lifestyle and bad habits take its toll on the body, just as healthy habits improve the way you look. Swapping the chocolate biscuits for fruit will help you to shed the pounds and give you a more trim physique, and going out for a jog or hitting the gym a few times a week will help you to tone up and increase your strength and muscle mass. There is also mounting evidence that links fatty foods with skin problems like acne, so ditching the takeaways in favor of a salad can help you to clear your skin.

You’ll live longer

The secret to a longer life isn’t any magic pill, it’s a healthy diet and regular exercise. Living a healthy lifestyle reduces your levels of cholesterol, improves your circulation, and reduces the risk of illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. There are a number of studies that show the links between obesity and chronic illnesses, so taking that first step and going for a regular jog, or avoiding the pub during lunchtime, all help to keep you fighting fit for longer.

You’ll save money

Living longer is great, but it also has benefits for your wallet. If you have a life insurance policy or if you’re looking at term life insurance quotes, your life expectancy is taken into account when insurers work out how much you pay. A bad lifestyle means a low life expectancy, which in turn means you pay more. You’ve probably guessed it by now that a healthy lifestyle, fuelled by eating healthy and taking regular exercise, increases your life expectancy and means you’re likely to pay a lower premium.

You’ll feel better

It can be a difficult one to grasp; how can regularly subjecting your body to physical exertion, sweat, tiredness, and hunger makes you feel good about yourself? Exercise releases endorphins like dopamine into the brain, giving you a boost of positivity when you work out.  Your increased stamina and endurance will make you feel better about exercising when you see the positive effects of your new lifestyle, and once you start turning heads with your new svelte look, you won’t be able to stop yourself from smiling. A healthy lifestyle also helps to decrease the effects of depression and anxiety, curbing the vicious circle of “eating because you’re unhappy/being unhappy because you eat”.