You may already know how important it is to get proper preventive healthcare, such as annual doctor visits and vaccines. But did you know that formal preventive care is only the beginning? Living your best, most fulfilled life means incorporating preventive health and healthy lifestyle practices into all your routines. Here’s what you need to know.
What does preventive health really mean?
Regarding your health, prevention means doing what you can to reduce your risks for injuries or illnesses, from pulled hamstrings to serious chronic diseases. Doctors do their part by providing vaccines, screening tests, and any medications or other treatments you might need. But you also need to do your part by making proactive choices every day to maintain and improve your health.
Lifestyle medicine
Lifestyle medicine is founded on the idea that a preventive lifestyle can help ward off innumerable medical conditions. There are six core pillars:
- Healthy diet
- Regular exercise
- Stress relief
- Restful sleep
- Limited alcohol and no tobacco
- Strong social connections
Developing healthy preventive routines means incorporating these pillars into your daily life. But it’s important to do it in a sustainable way. Fad diets and highly restrictive lifestyle choices are rarely healthy and are doomed to fail. Instead, the goal is to make small but significant incremental changes you can maintain throughout your life.
Tips for building preventive health and healthy lifestyle routines
Everyone is an individual. You have your own personal starting point, goals, and current lifestyle. It’s best to work with a doctor or other healthcare professional to set reasonable, achievable milestones appropriate for your body. But some general tips can help you develop routines that stick:
- Be realistic. If you’ve been spending most of your time on the couch, you won’t be able to run a marathon six months from now. But you may be able to walk a mile a few weeks from now and run a marathon in a year or two. Start small and build over time as your body adapts.
- Focus on what you like. Build your routines around the activities you genuinely enjoy. For example, you might hate running on a treadmill but love walking around farmers markets and art fairs. Find ways to more frequently incorporate healthy habits that are a natural fit for you.
- Redefine self-care. Self-care is crucial for prevention, but internet influencers have made it look like you’re only doing self-care if you sit in a bubble bath surrounded by candles. If that’s your jam, great! But self-care simply means making time for the things that truly bring your joy. It could be hiking or playing video games or going to the theater. Figure out what deeply relaxes you and make that your self-care routine.
- Plan ahead. Put your new preventive routines on your calendar. Make a batch of healthy meals on the weekend so you can just heat something up on a busy night. Schedule a weekly night out with your friends rather than leaving it open-ended.
Living a preventive lifestyle means taking active steps to boost your overall health. But it doesn’t mean forcing yourself to do things you dislike. Create small changes that are focused on things you already enjoy and give yourself plenty of time to reach your larger goals.