Cultivating healthy life skills can help boost your overall well-being and your quality of life. Practicing healthy life skills means placing value on those behaviors that support your health and performing them consistently enough to derive significant health benefits. There are many skills that would be considered healthy life skills, but several standouts, based on their ability to keep you and your family healthy, are knowing how to grocery shop, knowing how to cook your food, and setting and maintaining a consistent health-promoting regimen.
Knowing How to Grocery Shop
Knowing how to grocery shop sounds like a simple skill to master, but it’s more nuanced than you might initially think. Choosing stores with the healthiest options is a good place to start. Stores that offer organic foods and local produce typically are your best options for finding food that will support your immediate and long-term health. It’s important that you read the labels on packaged or processed goods to see what, if any, additives are included. Shopping only on the outside of the grocery store also is an effective way for you to find healthy foods for yourself and your family. The inside aisles of many grocery stores, even some health food stores, are filled with sugar-laden and processed foods. Many health food stores, such as Whole Foods Market, offer culinary education classes or grocery store tours to help you learn to select the healthiest possible foods.
Knowing How to Cook
Knowing how to cook, and having the motivation to cook, is an essential health skill to develop. According to a May 5, 2004 article by Liz Szabo on USAToday.com, it’s important for your health to spend more time cooking in your own kitchen than eating out at restaurants. The more you eat at home, the more you can control the ingredients and foods that you’re consuming. When you eat at a restaurant, it’s easier for you to consume foods that may not support your good health, including foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients. As the pace of life continues to increase, more Americans are choosing to eat out instead of cooking their own food, which means that the obesity epidemic is likely to continue unless drastic changes in our collective eating habits occur. If you struggle with cooking at home, consider taking cooking classes to help make food creation seem more attainable.
Being Able to Keep a Regular Schedule
Your ability to plan and keep a regular health-promoting schedule, which includes getting appropriate amounts of sleep, nutritious food and exercise, is one of the most important healthy life skills you can master. Getting enough sleep, nutrients and exercise is a challenging task that requires extraordinary discipline, especially if you work full-time and have a family to care for. But if you’re able to remain consistent in your efforts, the rewards will be worth your time and dedication. According to EverydayHealth.com, without a consistent health and lifestyle approach, especially proper sleep habits, your stress levels increase and your body can’t function as efficiently as it should, leaving you susceptible to disease and illness.
