In order to ensure a smooth life one should make lifestyle changes. Teenager years are one of the most crucial stages of a person’s life. It is the choices you make as a teenager that shape the pathway to your future. While teenage years are fun and enjoyable, it should be balanced with other things.
Navigating as a teen can be challenging both emotionally and physically. However, despite these challenges one should have a strong mindset and be mindful about the choices they make in life.
Today’s generation is often addicted to electronic devices which has a long term harmful effect. While electronic devices have many benefits and teach us a lot of things, they are very addictive in nature and cause several physical and mental health issues.
Hence, it is important to make lifestyle changes in order keep your mind and body healthy.
Let’s take a look at how to have a balanced lifestyle.
Lifestyle Changes For Both Teenage Boys And Girls
Making healthy lifestyle changes is important for both girls and boys because having an unhealthy lifestyle affects each one. Having an unhealthy lifestyle can cause several health issues and hence here are some ways to bring lifestyle changes:
Diet
If a teenager was given an option between pizza and a salad, most of them would pick pizza. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying junk food once in a while, it is important to remember to be mindful about our eating habits.
Diet plays an important role in our life, it provides our body with essential nutrients and energy which is important to survive. Teenagers are still in a growing phase in their life hence, it is essential to have balanced meals.
Keeping a healthy diet doesn’t necessarily mean having salad but it consists of having a balance of vegetables, carbs, proteins and fats.
Studies have shown that 8-13% of women have PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) which is a disorder which disrupts the menstrual cycle and is quite common nowadays. However, if you compare it to the previous times it was not as common. This is mainly due to the lifestyle diet choices we make in today’s time. Moreover, consuming food high in sugar is one of the primary causes for it.
Hence, it is important to learn about having balanced meals, having small portions, and drinking enough water.
Suggested reads: 10 Simple Lifestyle Changes for a Healthier You
Exercise
Exercising regularly is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It helps keep the body and mind in a healthy state as when someone exercises their heart rate rises which causes the blood to pump more blood, thus increasing cardiovascular health.
It is important to find a routine that you enjoy. While some may enjoy running, others may enjoy walking, practicing yoga, or going to gym. Despite what sport you choose, it is important to keep your body active and stay physically fit.
Staying healthy is important as it helps to prevent diseases such as obesity, heart attack, diabetes etc. Moreover, staying regularly exercising also helps with stress management.
Sleep
Having a minimum 8 hours of sleep is extremely crucial for growth. Often, teenagers sleep late at night either texting their friends, getting their homework done or simply scrolling through social media. However, this is not ideal as it disrupts your body sleep patterns.
It is important to have a fixed sleep schedule as it allows your mind and body to rest. In order to ensure that you fix your sleep schedule, switch off the internet, and keep your phone away. Maybe for the first few days it may be difficult to get back into routine.
However, you can try different techniques like counting or taking deep breaths while keeping your eyes closed as it helps you relax. Some people also suggest taking a hot water shower before going to bed, or drinking a glass for milk before going to sleep.
Additionally, avoid sleeping during the day. While taking short power naps are okay. Sleeping for a long time or at odd hours may cause you to stay awake during the night.
Stress
Teenagers have to deal with a lot of stressful changes, in such an age there are many hormonal changes which leaves teens confused. Additionally, teens also have to deal with academic and peer pressure.
The high amount of stress causes both mental and physical problems for a teenager. Managing stress is important to implement lifestyle changes for both guys and girls. Hence, it is important to manage stress. One can do so by practicing meditation, this helps to keep the mind calm and also relaxes the body.
Time Management
Time is precious, and it doesn’t wait for anyone. Once you lose time, you can never get it back. Hence, time management is an important lesson that one should learn in their early teenage years. Failing to learn it can cause difficulty managing responsibilities as an adult.
Some teenagers find it difficult to manage time because of their busy academic schedule, while others are often so glued to their phone that they tend to forget tasks, or simply procrastinate them.
In order to learn time management, one must be able to set priorities to their tasks and allow them to balance time between work, leisure activity, and personal time. One should consider making a time table and allot dedicated time to different activities.
This will allow them to have time for different activities and also allow them to have personal time in which they can do what they enjoy be it practicing hobbies, hanging out with friends, or simply binge watching shows.
Personal Hygiene
Maintaining personal hygiene is utmost important as it prevents one from various diseases. Hence, a teenager must ensure to maintain good personal hygiene. For example – girls should especially take care of hygiene during their menstrual cycle, and boys should ensure to shower regularly, trim their nails and practice good oral hygiene.
It is important to make a routine of regular hygiene as it allows one to build a healthy habit. Following personal hygiene is extremely important for having lifestyle changes. It allows one to remain clean and stay away from any possible infection or rashes.
Also read: Hygiene: pre-teens and teenagers
