To start a healthier year

With the start of a new year, many people set goal for a healthier life. They think, it is a good time to start something good and shade the bad habits that impact negatively on their health. There are a number of small but significant changes stated below that can help people achieve their goal and stay hale and hearty.
Walk every day
One of the best and most convenient forms of exercise is walking. You do not need any special clothes, you do not need to plan ahead and you do not have to work travel anywhere special to do it. Aim to walk briskly, so that you are raising your heart rate, for around 20 minutes a day, more if you can fit it in. There are more benefits to your health than simply physical fitness.  Getting out into the fresh air can relieve stress and make you more mentally alert.
Use the stairs
You may feel you should challenge yourself to a 20-minute daily run. A small change simply using stair instead of lifts and escalators can help then. You can start with your own stairs at home for a spot of exercise, too. You could use the bottom stair as a gym step or make extra trips up and downstairs, going up two steps at a time.
Step up your fibre intake
Eating plenty of dietary fibre in the form of whole grains, wholemeal products, brown rice, pulses, mixed seeds and fibrous fruit and vegetable is not only great for weight control, it also helps regulate your blood-glucose levels and encourages a healthy digestive tract and cardiovascular system.
Sleep more
It is easy to get into a routine of going to bed too late, and some of us prolong our evenings because of the stressful nature of our day jobs. Late nights, though, do result in more stress in the longer term. So, we should eat earlier in the evening and going to bed half an hour or an hour earlier on week-nights.
Watch your carbohydrate
If your diet is based around lots of rice, potatoes and other carbohydrates, try to adjust the balance so that you eat enough fruit and vegetables. Carbs should make up around a third of your daily diet, as should fruit and vegetables, and the best carbs are the unrefined ones like potatoes in their skins and brown rice.
Drink more water
There are lots of benefits to drinking more water.  It keeps your skin hydrated and plumped up, flushes out toxins from your bloodstream and organs, helps to curb overeating and increases mental agility. Research measuring how much water we lose naturally has shown that we should drink about 1.2 litres of fluid every day. This is the equivalent of about six 200ml or eight 150ml glasses.

Source: www.ivillage.co.uk