Regarding lifestyle habits, understand that it is impossible to obtain or maintain health without them, even if you have the best, most up-to-date and/or most expensive professionals, treatments and supplements at your disposal. Either you do your part and improve your habits, or you will discover that there are no health results without them in the worst possible way, or when it is eventually “too late”.
Find out what they are, their importance and how to adopt them:
One of the excuses I hear most often from people who don't really want to adopt good lifestyle habits is that “it's expensive” to maintain them; but this argument is a big lie, which many people tell themselves (thus deceiving themselves): with a few exceptions*, most of the time the main obstacles to overcome are laziness e lack of interest.
✅ Laziness, because changing habits “takes work”, yes, it requires changes in focus/objectives, it requires planning and discipline... In other words, changing the way you've led your life for years or even decades requires effort, and many people are too lazy to invest the necessary time and energy in this. “No pain, no gain” actually means “no effort, no gain”: do you really expect results without effort, especially your efforts to get results for yourself?
Disinterest, because it also takes productive time and energy to search for quality information (websites, social media profiles, articles, magazines, books, etc.) and support**, good professionals to guide you and for you to follow them, but when all this is necessary to know what (and why) to do to be healthy, efforts in this direction are no longer a priority for many... What is a priority*** for you?
The problem is that those who don't provide solutions often just make excuses and end up discovering that we reap what we sow and that those who don't invest time and energy in looking after their health end up having to spend it on treating illnesses. Or, as Confucius puts it:
“There are men who lose their health to save money and then lose their money to regain their health. By thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, so much so that they end up living neither the present nor the future. They live as if they were never going to die and die as if they had never lived...”
If you're not the main stakeholder in your own health, who do you expect to succeed in optimizing it for you? When you don't really want to optimize it, no one can.
Regarding the big lie that “it costs money to maintain healthier lifestyle habits”, let's take a look:
Drink water properly
If you need to remember to drink water every hour, set a clock to wake you up every hour, ask someone to remind you, set alarms on your computer and cell phone*****, wear a different ring or even a ribbon tied to one of your fingers or wrist (or write a reminder on the back of your hand - something that, every time you look at it, reminds you why it's there), put post-its around the house, on your computer screen, in your car or on your desk at work, etc. Carry a bottle of water with you and in the car, have one at work and in the places where you spend the most time, preferably with milliliter markings printed on it, so you can keep track of whether you're meeting the necessary consumption targets (around 200 ml per hour, on average). In the evening, think about where you're going to be the next day and how you're going to make sure you have water available in all of them, which ones you're going to have to take it to and how you're going to get it in sufficient quantity and quality: this is called planning and it avoids a lot of unforeseen problems, annoyances and non-compliance with lifestyle habits.
Now, answer me: have you spent a lot of money on this habit? Or even “some” money? Wasn't the issue here more one of interest, planning, focus and discipline?
Eat properly
If you need to remember to eat every 3 hours (or as your good nutritionist has advised - if you don't have access to one, not even at SUS, at least you can estimate a reasonable basic diet plan if you follow good sources, websites, professionals and the like, on the internet******), set a clock to wake you up every hour, ask someone to remind you, set alarms on your computer and cell phone*****, wear a different ring or even a ribbon tied to one of your fingers or wrist (or write a reminder on the back of your hand - something that, every time you look at it, reminds you why it's there), put post-its around the house, on your computer screen, in your car or on your desk at work, etc. Have practical food options with you and in the car, have them at work and where you spend the most time. In the evening, think about where you'll be the next day and how you'll eat there, which places you'll have to take food to and how you'll get it in sufficient quantity and quality: this is called planning and avoids many unforeseen problems, hassles and non-compliance with lifestyle habits.
And of course there are better foods, with more beneficial properties and therefore more expensive (some are because they are harder to find), but there are always cheaper suggestions that can replace these, often with similar benefits by complementing each other through combinations with other foods - there are very few foods with “irreplaceable” properties or benefits. Here again, it's worth taking good nutritional advice, but I hope the content of this link helps: https://icaro.med.br/dicas-de-alimentos-saudaveis/.
Now, answer me: have you spent a lot of money on this habit? Wasn't the issue here more one of interest, planning, focus and discipline?
Exercise regularly
If you need to remember to exercise regularly (or as your good physical education professional has advised - at least you can get tips on good exercises, how and when to do them if you follow good sources, websites, professionals and the like on the internet******), set a clock to wake you up every hour, ask someone to remind you, set alarms on your computer and cell phone*****, wear a different ring or even a ribbon tied to one of your fingers or wrist (or write a reminder on the back of your hand - something that, every time you look at it, reminds you why it's there), put post-its around the house, on your computer screen, in your car or on your desk at work, etc. In the evening, think about how you're going to make your exercise routine viable the next day: this is called planning and avoids many unforeseen problems, upsets and non-compliance with lifestyle habits.
Here again, it's worth having the good guidance of a personal trainer (or teacher in the field), but I hope the content of this link helps: https://icaro.med.br/quanto-exercicio-fisico-voce-realmente-precisa/
Now, answer me: have you spent a lot of money on this habit? Wasn't the issue here more one of interest, planning, focus and discipline?
✅ Sleeping properly
You don't spend money on sleep, right? The most you have to do is set a reminder of the right time to go to sleep (and the time you want to wake up) and make sure you have the best possible conditions for good, really productive sleep, which only you can provide - this link should help with that: https://icaro.med.br/quer-melhorar-seu-sono-dicas-uteis/
There are even cell phone apps that help you get better sleep, manage it properly, assess what you can improve and even wake up better (preventing you from being woken up in deep sleep, for example) - they're very cheap and some are even free and widely available.
✅ Breathing well
You don't have to spend money on breathing either: just pay attention to your breathing, inhale and exhale deeply frequently. Set a clock to wake you up every hour, ask someone to remind you, set alarms on your computer and cell phone*****, wear a different ring or even a ribbon tied to one of your fingers or wrist (or write a reminder on the back of your hand - something that, every time you look at it, reminds you why it's there), put post-its around the house, on your computer screen, in your car or on your desk at work, etc.
This link will help you breathe better - breathing well is something you should do instantly every time you remember, since you can go weeks without eating, days without drinking water, but only a few minutes without air: https://icaro.med.br/respiracao-combustivel-respirar/
✅ Managing stress
Except for those who need psychological or even psychiatric support, your stress occurs in your body and mind, as it is your reaction to any unbalanced factor. Basically speaking, stress is your body and mind trying to regain their balance, before you evolve into anxiety, depression, exhaustion and even worse consequences. In other words, managing it and even resolving it is much more a question of you and yourself, looking for strategies to better manage stress and applying them regularly (this link should help): https://icaro.med.br/stress/ - The many strategies that have already been suggested for you to better plan and remember to apply can be useful here. Planning to be able to fit the necessary tasks into your day, to remember to have regular moments of leisure and meditation, and to have fewer hassles (which cause stress) both because of unforeseen events and because of important things that you missed out on because you weren't properly organized.
Now, answer me, after reading the texts in the link above: have you spent a lot of money on this habit? Or did you spend “some” money? Wasn't the issue here more one of interest, planning, focus and discipline?
✅ Avoiding poisoning, regularly exposing yourself to the sun, being more positive, taking care of your mind and spirit are also behaviors that you need to incorporate into your routine on a regular basis, but which depend only on you and your will, and which cost you nothing to put into practice. You may need reminders to include them in your daily routine, but, as with any habit, when you repeat them often enough, they become automatic behaviors that you simply remember to do without much conscious effort, thus reaping the benefits with less time and energy invested - and better results.
Of course, for all of these habits, you can (and should, if you can afford it) invest financial resources and benefit from good guidance and accompaniment for their better insertion into your daily life, via books, courses, lectures, good professionals. But, as I've already said, those who don't have a lot of money to invest can still have all the very good healthy habits in their lives, if they are interested and willing to invest the time and energy to learn and carry out at least the basics needed to do so. Reread this text and the content of the links mentioned and put into practice what is necessary - it will be worth it!
After all, it doesn't cost much to have good lifestyle habits... Many people use this as a “lame excuse” for not making the effort to adopt and maintain them: don't be another one to fall ill because of this mistake, which is still so common!
Observations (referring to the asterisks throughout the text):
* Exceptions: cases of extreme poverty, acute stress caused by an external factor (e.g. the death of a loved one), serious incapacitating illness, etc.
** Nowadays, anyone who can't get face-to-face contact with good health professionals, if they have access to the internet, has no excuse not to at least search through the websites and social networks of thousands of good professionals around the world. Many of them use part of their time on a regular basis to post relevant, quality content that is genuinely useful and can be applied to your day-to-day life - you just have to look carefully. But the ideal is still face-to-face coaching with good professionals: tips to help you choose them right here: https://icaro.med.br/escolha-bons-profissionais-saude-acompanhar-dicas/
*** Understand the concept of priority in your life... Or what you should take into account: https://icaro.med.br/sao-prioridades-sucesso-felicidade-vida/ e https://icaro.med.br/falta-de-tempo-ou-falta-de-planejamento/
**** This excerpt is from the opening of my first book, from 2009, “Qualidade de Vida, Qualidade É Vida”, available here for free download: http://icaro.med.br/artigos/livro-2009-download-gratuito.html/
***** There are several free programs and applications for computers and cell phones that can help you with these fundamental daily reminders.
****** I'm not suggesting that anyone “dispense with” the IDEAL monitoring by good health professionals! I'm just suggesting that “those who don't have a dog should hunt with a cat”, since “the best is the greatest enemy of the good” - for example, those who live far from good professionals or don't have the money to see them, can study a lot of good material and at least gradually change what they eat, how they eat, based on quality information, until they are really able to have face-to-face consultations and follow-ups.
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