It’s essential for everyone to make their health a priority. There are times where we brush off signs of our health not ideal because we don’t have time to deal with it, or we simply don’t want to deal with it. The further we let this cycle go on, the more we put ourselves at risk for bad health.
The same thing can be said about our homes. The longer we deny that our home impacts our health and happiness, the more we delay the plan we can make to improve both. There are small, but meaningful, steps we can take each day to improve these aspects of our lives. Not sure where to get started in the process? Here are ten tips to better your health and your home, and how doing these things can help you live a longer, happier life.
Go to the Doctor Regularly
An important tactic to better your health is to go to the doctor regularly. Going to the doctor helps you monitor your health and identify any issues that come up. You may feel fine and go on with your daily life, but something could be festering beneath the surface. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health.
It’s recommended that you visit the doctor at least once a year for a checkup. Depending on what your doctor finds, you may be asked to visit more often or to go visit a specialist. It can be easy to brush off doctor’s appointments or constantly reschedule them, but if you keep doing this, your health could be seriously impacted. If you’re nervous about going to the doctor, talk to your doctor about it. They may relieve your anxiety and give you a rundown about what they’ll cover in your appointment.
If you’re experiencing symptoms you’ve never experienced before, talk to your doctor right away, even if it’s been a while since your last visit. Colds can develop anywhere from one to three days after someone comes into contact with the virus. However, symptoms may develop sooner. Sure, it could just be a cold, but it’s better to be on the safe side. The sooner you can identify where those symptoms are coming from, the better your chances of treating it with ease and the more you can better your health.
Don’t Skip Your Dentist Appointments
If you want to better your health, you have to regularly go to the dentist as well. Oral health is directly tied to overall health. If your oral health is less than ideal, your overall health could be suffering, too. To make sure you’re the healthiest you can be, don’t skip the dentist and go to your regularly scheduled appointments.
It’s recommended that people visit the dentist twice a year for a checkup and cleaning. Going to these checkups allows your dentist to check for tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral health problems. Tooth decay and gum diseases, such as periodontal disease, are often symptoms of larger health issues like heart disease and diabetes. If your oral issues are caught early, you could catch more serious health conditions early, too.
If your teeth need work done, your dentist may recommend a few cosmetic dentists for you to visit. These dentists can help you get straight teeth and work on other cosmetic issues. While these issues may seem superficial, they could have an impact on your oral health. If you aren’t sure whether the cosmetic procedure is necessary or not, consult your regular dentist.
Have a Consistent Exercise Routine
Consistently exercising is a great strategy to utilize to better your health. Consistent exercise keeps your body in shape and helps regulate your body’s functions. Exercising keeps your muscles lean, builds stamina, and makes your bones stronger. Regular exercise also strengthens your lungs and increases blood flow throughout the body, which raises oxygen levels. Exercise also helps lower blood pressure and can relieve stress.
It’s recommended that adults exercise at least three times per week, and there are multiple ways you can get this exercise in. To get cardio in, you can walk, jog, run, ride a bike, jump rope, or use the elliptical machine at the gym. You can also utilize strength training and lift weights at the gym. There are also classes you can take to get your exercise in, like yoga, pilates, and Zumba.
You have to pick an exercise routine that works best for you and your health goals. What works for your friends and family may not work best for you, and that’s okay. Your focus should be on an exercise routine that you feel comfortable with and keeps you healthy.
Get Plenty of Sleep
The amount of sleep you get each night has an impact on your health. If you want to better your health, you have to make sure you get plenty of sleep each night. It’s recommended that adults get between seven and eight hours of sleep per night. If you get less than that amount each night, it may be impacting your health more than you realize.
A lack of sleep can cause high blood pressure, heart attacks, depression, and diabetes. It can also cause mood swings and fogginess. In extreme cases, it can cause hallucinations and start to impact your appearance. If you aren’t getting enough sleep each night, talk to your doctor about what you can do to change it. Your doctor may recommend you turn off your electronics at least an hour before bed, or they may advise other strategies to help you fall asleep at night. If they can’t help, they may recommend you go to a sleep specialist.
Have a Stress Management Strategy
Stress can have a huge impact on your health. There are a number of things that could cause stress in your life. You may have to plan an unforeseen funeral service, or perhaps your children need orthodontic services that you aren’t sure you can pay for. While these situations are stressful, you need to have a stress management strategy to help you through it.
Stress management is incredibly important if you want to better your health. Stress can lead to health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. Stress can also cause you to lose sleep at night and become irritable in your daily life. When left unchecked and unmanaged, stress can wreak havoc on your physical and mental health.
There are multiple ways you can manage your stress effectively. You can exercise, do yoga, meditate, or go hiking. You could also do things like paint, draw, or write. These are cathartic activities that help you identify what your stressor is and help you deal with it in a productive way. If you’re having issues dealing with your stress, you can talk to your doctor or a licensed mental health professional.
Evaluate Your Environment
A key way to better your health and your home is to evaluate the environment you live in. There could be environmental factors harming your home and health under your nose. For instance, there could be mold growing in your home that’s making it hard to breathe. Or, your waste removal services may be faulty and causing waste to leak into your home.
Evaluate your home and make sure there’s nothing there that’s negatively impacting your health. Check everything from the attic to the residential heating system to the foundation for signs of any abnormalities that could impact your health. If you aren’t sure if something is an issue, contact a professional to help you do an inspection.
Check Your Home’s Air Quality
Your home’s air quality could have a big impact on your health and your home’s overall function. If you want to better your health and your home overall, check your home’s air quality to make sure it’s clean and rid of any toxins. Traces of asbestos, mercury, or benzene could be in the air, or there could be traces of gases such as hydrogen chloride. If left unchecked, inhaling these toxins can lead to breathing difficulties and even the development of lung cancer.
If your home’s air quality contains toxins, look at your HVAC system right away. If your system is faulty, look for someone who can install HVAC systems and get a new one right away. You should also check your air for traces of radon. If left untreated, inhaling radon can cause lung cancer. Testing the air is the only way to tell if there’s too much radon in the air, so be sure to test your air at least every two years.
Make Necessary Repairs
Your home is your space. It should be the place where you feel the happiest and most comfortable. If your home isn’t in the best shape, it could impact your mental health. If you want to better your health and better your home at the same time, you could fix up your house.
Making even the smallest repairs could help make your house feel more like your home. If your interior could use a fresh coat of paint, take a weekend to paint the rooms and see what you like. If your garage door isn’t opening correctly, try repairing it so that it works with residential garage door openers. The smallest thing that starts to work again can make you feel better, and the more repairs you do, the better you’ll make your home. You can also enlist the help of your friends and family to partake in some DIY projects that can spruce up your home and lift your spirits.
Expand Your Space
If you feel like your home is too small, it could impact your mental health. You could feel claustrophobic or anxious about the fact that your stuff feels cramped in one small space. If you feel like you need more room, you could look into expanding your home.
There are many ways you can expand your home. You could add on an extra bedroom, or knock down a few walls to expand your living room. You could also expand your garage or build a new storage space in case you need to store things for new hobbies. For instance, if you take up fishing, you could need more space to store a couple of fishing boats. Or, if you start to make wooden furniture, you’ll need a place to work on your projects.
Expanding your space can make you feel like you’re living in a brand new space. Expanding your home can also make it more valuable if you decide to sell it one day. The key is to expand your home to a point that you feel comfortable with.
Add Fun Features to Your Home
Another thing you can do to better your home is to add fun features to it. If you make your home a fun place to be, it can become more valuable and make you feel happier. You work hard to maintain your home, so you should take the time to make it a place you can have fun.
Think about the things you like to do for fun. Do you like to swim? If so, look into above ground pools and how you can install one of your own. If you like to relax, you could build your own indoor spa or install a hot tub in your backyard. If you like to exercise, you could build a home gym. Or, if you like to entertain and play games, you could build a custom game room for you and your guests.
Not only will your fun new home features make you feel happy in your home, but they’ll also add value to your home. Homes with features like a pool and a home gym can add a lot of equity to your home and help it sell for a higher price.
Your home and your health are more connected than you think. If you want to better your health, you should also focus on improving your home. On top of eating right, exercising, and going to the doctor, you should look for ways to make your home feel more comfortable and enjoyable for you. If you aren’t sure what projects to take on, you can always ask friends and family what features they most enjoy about their home. The happier you feel in your house, the happier you’ll feel overall.