Eat better, exercise more, relax, sleep more ... are the classics that are repeated year after year in our list of good purposes that we have not heard until satiety in the consultation of the header.But why does it cost us so much to keep healthy habits?Basically because we resist the key factor of this equation, which is the "habit."Namely;Do not leave the gym a few weeks after taking advantage of the full year's offer, maintain a fridge of healthy and varied foods and enjoy cooking them, abandon our favorite series to lieTurning them into a habit will improve our mental health, our food, our physical form and our rest.Several experts explain how to acquire the habits that will take a healthy turn to our lives in each of these four pillars.

How long does it take to acquire a habit

As for the times, an addition to the popular point of 21 days.According to various neurological studies, that is the time that is needed to acquire a new habit, but our specialists require some more time to really settle: between 8 and 10 weeks.Everything depends, of course, on the voluntariness of each one, on the mental state of which, on the conviction of each individual and the type of habit (it is not the same to start eating in a healthy way than to quit smoking).

To eat healthy

We are what we eat.Our humor, rest, physical condition can depend on our diet ... Eating healthy is an learning that requires an effort since sometimes we eat badly by habit, because we have associated food behaviors to concrete facts.For example, get out of work late and resort to a pre -cooked dish for dinner because you don't feel like cooking.You know perfectly that it is not the correct way to feed yourself, but you have not managed to change your habit.Being tired is no excuse: it is more, cooking a healthy and rich dinner is a way to disconnect from work, to connect with the same, to concentrate and relax ...

For the biologist and nutritionist Paula Sáiz de Bustamante, it is important to inform yourself well about nutrition.Now it is easier than ever since much dissemination is made, but it is also easy to fall into instagram profiles without solvency.She recommends acquiring the habit of taking 5 rations of fruits and vegetables per day."We must rule out the concept of super food, there is no such magical food that will make us immortal. But there are diet patterns that can help us live more years, as the Mediterranean diet has demonstrated. I would talk better about super diet, for culture, tradition and place, the objective would be to adhere the more the better the Mediterranean diet. The movements such as 5 a day that promotes the minimum consumption of 5 rations of fruits and vegetables, are welcome, invites to quantify healthy foods and is endorsed by theWHO is not the same to take fruit and vegetables than to take these foods in the recommended amounts. "

Telva No abandones tus buenos propósitos y crea hábitos saludables

According to Cristina Barrous, a nutrition technician and nutritional coach specialized in healthy eating, the keys to acquire new eating habits are: enjoy food, which go in line with our physiological, mental and gustatory needs, feel support in your change decisionand that those habits are adapted to your lifestyle."A new habit if it is not enjoyed, it is not perpetuated, it is important that what we like.Try to adapt your life to your purposes. It is the reason why 95% of diets fail, "he explains.

Not to stop moving

Another of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle is exercise.Too bad that the time it takes to acquire the sports habit is much greater than what it takes to lose it."To achieve a sports habit automatically, between 8 and 10 weeks, always being a key and secret point of the success of achieving motivation. Unfortunately it is easy to lose, because our body easily forgets what we have advanced afterCertain days of making a break and needs our will to restart, "explains Sara Álvarez, founder and creator of the Challenge 48 methodology, who emphasizes, not to lose the illusion with the sport that" once we return to acquire the commitment of aConstantly our body has memory. "

To ensure exercise as a healthy habit, the expert recommends practicing training that you really like, being constant is the date that is and putting challenges that motivate you to improve and overcome."Once you begin to realize that in the day to day you need it and the day you do not feel the same energy and vitality you will realize that you have gained a very beneficial habit for your health," confirms the creatorof challenge 48.

To exercise constantly and beneficially you can sign up for a discipline that you like or just walk.An hour of walking a day is basic for our body to stay fit, but also a force table with flexions, squats, abdominals ... will make you feel less tired, with more energy and with better humor.

To rest properly

More than a habit is a necessity.If you fail to sleep between 7 and 9 hours a day your health will be seriously affected at all levels.Then we can talk about sleep hygiene that consists of reviewing and improving our customs before going to bed to increase sleep quality and the amount of hours you sleep.

From Kneipp, a company specialized in rest, they explain that "there are some habits that have a direct impact on the quality of sleep, such as exposing themselves to blue screens shortly before sleeping, not cleaning bedding and/or the room, extreme temperatures inThe bedroom, not having a correct oral hygiene, eating late or very heavy or even drinking a lot of water during the night. "If we avoid doing all these things and, in addition, we start the routine of going to bed with a relaxing bath or shower with hot water, we are very likely to rest properly.

For mental health

If we take the three previous epigraphs and carry them out we will be doing enough to preserve our mental health.But if we add other habits such as meditation or practice of relaxation and breathing techniques we will learn to better manage our psychological crises.

For our collaborator and columnist Alejandra Vallejo-Nájera, good mental health begins by eliminating stress from our life: "The infallible antiestrés recipe is breathing, immediate effects: inhale and exhale slowly the same amount of oxygen at the same time (The ideal is 5 sg.) By the nose. Once the exercise has been internalized, it always breathes, it is the best way to oxygenate blood and brain. "

We can also establish a criterion of priorities to avoid overwhelming mental overload.Making a table of matters classified from which they can be considered urgent or primordial to which they are optional can help you turn around a hurry day.Many times we observe ourselves in doing things that are not really important and they are a burden, when we really stop doing them, nothing happens, saying is not the best habit for our mental health, so nothing happens if you practice itfrom time to time.

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Habits you can (and you must) start today to feel better

Habits you can (and you must) start today to feel better

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