Health Check up

In Livingston, the fall season brings in crisper and cooler air, falling leaves, pumpkins, apple picking, cider drinking by the fire and preparation for a New Year and healthier family. Wouldn’t you agree, being healthy is important for our wellbeing? So how do you keep yourself and your family healthy at this time of the year?

You see signs in your local drugstores giving flu shots and the medication ails are filling up for the season. How about preventative measures and avoiding all the medications? What are the ways to stay healthy and keep the germs away?

Here are 5 simple healthy habits for you and your family. Experts say it takes 21 days to change a habit:

1. Eat healthily. Most busy parents today are rushing through work, commute, children’s homework and household chores and leave cooking to the fast food restaurants and maybe TV dinners. Our health is affected by the food we eat. The US Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid divides healthy eating into 6 food groups, that is, nuts and seeds, meats and beans, vegetables and fruits, grains (bread, pasta, cereals), milk products and fats.
2. Drink plenty of water. Can you imagine, our body builds up toxic waste every single day and it needs a way to flush out. Without drinking enough water, our body cannot wash out impurities. Most adults need about 8 glasses of water per day.
3. Exercise. Exercise helps the blood circulation system, boost energy and also may prevent heart diseases and help fight autoimmune diseases. Livingston NJ has many gyms for residents where you can work out as a group or have a personal trainer to help draw up an exercise plan for you.
4. Wash your hands and keep hands off your face. Hand washing is so basic yet many of us are not diligent with the habit. Wash hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when water is not available. Hand washing is especially important before eating and during food preparation. Keeping our hands to our face is a habit for most people…can we change that habit?
5. Sleep and rest well. Not enough sleep is known to cause irritability, less focus and the increased health risk like hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. Your ability to fight the flu bug reduces with the lack of sleep too.

Sometimes we don’t need complicated strategies to stay healthy. Most of the time what our older folks tell us is true...like…wash your hands! Our bad habits may not show up with consequences, now but it may show up later in life. Have these habits listed on your refrigerator for all your family members as a checklist.

Robert C. Stern is a local Realtor for Weichert, Realtors in Livingston.