How healthy are you? Part 4

When you feel like a snack, what do you typically eat?

Snacking is an area where people often lose sight of their diet. Determining what you are snacking on can reveal a lot about how healthy your habits are. If you realized that when you want a snack you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips, a candy bar or maybe a bowl of ice cream, you probably need to make an adjustment. Fruits and vegetables are great snack items, some nuts is a good option as well. Snacking is almost an unconscious act by a lot of people so it takes some real discipline to make a change in this area. I recommend starting small, so if you eat a snack every day, try to make it something healthy twice a week. Once you have that down you can progress with your ultimate goal being to make those not so healthy snacks an occasional indulgence rather than a daily routine.

Do you smoke?

This one needs little discussion. I am assuming by now everyone knows that smoking is terrible for your health. If you smoke I strongly recommend you quit, but if you don’t want to quit then I don’t have any advice for you.

How much Alcohol do you drink?

Some studies have pointed to health benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcohol but I have yet to read anything that would make me recommend you start drinking. If you don’t drink at all I think that’s great and you should stick with that. For those that do drink it is best for your health to keep it to moderate levels. Moderate would be no more than one drink a day for adult women and anyone over 65, and 2 drinks for adult men. People under the legal age, pregnant women, and people on certain medications or with certain medical conditions should not drink alcohol at all. In those cases involving medication and medical conditions I recommend you consult with your physician about alcohol consumption.

What do you do to relieve stress?

Everyone experiences stress. It is important to have a way to regularly relieve that stress to minimize the effects it can have on you. You may already be doing something that relieves your stress and that’s great, for those that don’t, pick something and give it a shot. Consider things you like to do for fun or things that you know relax you. Some examples include reading a fiction novel, going for a walk or jog, going to the beach, going out to eat with friends or family, watching a movie, or going to the gym for a good hard workout. The idea with stress relief is to remove yourself from the parts of your daily routine that cause the stress, get those things off your mind, and relieve the tension that those things brought on. It may be hard for you to start doing your stress relieving activities everyday but it would be good to start with at least once or twice a week.