Approximately 80% of chronic diseases are driven by lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.

These chronic diseases include:

Cancer
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes
Obesity

The good news is that you can prevent many of these chronic conditions by addressing their root cause: Your Daily Habits.  

If you want to prevent chronic lifestyle diseases — or if you or someone you love has been told that they need to “eat less and exercise more” in order to manage a chronic lifestyle disease, but are not sure where to start, you can start with looking at your daily habits and notice which areas could be be improved.

Prevent Lifestyle Diseases

Adjust your habits using these Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine:

1. Diet
Eat a whole food, plant-based diet, which includes foods that are unrefined and minimally processed. Eating plant-based foods helps reduce diabetes, heart disease and cancer risk.

The Mediterranean diet can be helpful if you have a chronic condition like heart disease or high blood pressure. This diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, fish, olive oil and nuts.

Action Step: Prepare one new plant-based meal a week.

2. Physical activity
Movement is medicine! Experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.

Action Step: Start with a 10-minute walk. Repeat this two or three times and you’ve just gotten in 30 minutes!  If walking is not an option, any physical activity will do. It’s essential to move more and sit less.

3. Sleep
Aim for seven to eight hours of restful sleep each night. Some tips to help:

1. Have a consistent bedtime and wake time, even on the weekends.
2. Be physically active daily.
3. Limit alcohol and caffeine.
4. Put digital devices away 90 minutes before bedtime.
5. Make sure your mattress is comfortable.
    

4. Stress relief
Chronic stress can lead to inflammation, which is linked to many chronic diseases and is even implicated in weight gain. Try mindfulness, meditation, gratitude and reiki to relieve stress and improve your physical and mental health.

We tend to self-medicate with food or mindless activities, but there are healthier ways to relieve our stress, worries and concerns.

Mindfulness: When you’re mindful, you are resting your attention on whatever is happening in the present moment. It’s a great way to cope with stress and relax.

Meditation: If you’re new to the practice, 4×4 breathing, or box breathing, is a great place to start. Here’s how it works.

Gratitude: Practicing gratitude is a good antidote for stress as well. This simple practice helps boost production of serotonin and dopamine- the “feel good” hormones. The more we think positive, grateful thoughts, the healthier and happier we feel.

Reiki: Reiki provides relief of mental and emotional distress. This is one of the reasons Reiki is recommended for stress reduction.

5. Social connectedness
Social connectedness keeps you emotionally and physically healthy. We learned with Covid that even virtual connections can be transformative.

Why is it so hard to make healthy lifestyle changes?

There are a few reasons it can be hard to get a handle on our habits, including:

Unhealthy options: A drive down the street reveals the convenient truth: cheap, unhealthy fast-food options are everywhere you look. This can make it hard to make good choices.

Marketing messages: Marketing can sabotage good lifestyle habits. We can be swayed by people enjoying pizza and junk food in advertisements. It can also be difficult when a food is marketed as healthy (Raisin Bran or flavored yogurts, for example), when, in fact, it is not because of added sugars or unhealthy fats.

An instant gratification culture: It can take weeks to months to make something a habit — and sometimes longer to see the benefits of those changes. When implementing healthy lifestyle changes, we have to be patient. Quick fixes are NOT sustainable.

How to maintain healthy lifestyle habits long-term

Take small steps:

Choose achievable goals. Start meditating for five minutes three times a week and continue adding more days and minutes as you are making progress.

Set realistic expectations:  If you haven’t walked 5 miles, don’t set a goal to run a marathon next month! 

Have a positive mindset: Avoid being critical of yourself. Embrace the saying, “progress not perfection.”

Be an informed consumer: Learn the science behind opinions. Seek information from professional medical associations, such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

I know habit change is not always easy, but when you work with a Board Certified Health and WellBeing Coach, you get the support and accountability you need to stay on track – –  as well as evidence-based education to help you make informed choices for your unique goals and challenges.

Ready to take the first step to improved health? Contact me for a FREE Discovery Call to see how working with Coaching for Healthy Living can support you on your road to better health.