Seven Ways to Improve Your Health

We all know that to improve our health, we should drink lots of water, eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise, but little is defined beyond that. How much water should we drink? How many fruits and vegetables are in a serving, and what counts as exercise? If you’re wondering where to begin to improve your health, start with the six simple tips below.

Drink more than eight glasses (64 oz.) of water. Humans need a lot of water to function. If you weigh more than 130 pounds or exercise regularly (two and a half hours per week), you need more than eight glasses of water per day. To figure out the right amount of water for you, divide your body weight in two and drink that number in ounces of water per day. For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds, drink 100 ounces, or about 13 8-ounce glasses of water. Remember that most drinking glasses actually hold 12 ounces.

Aim to eat two cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables per day. You’ve probably heard to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day, but how much equals a serving? Headquartered in D.C., the USDA based serving sizes on the portion sizes people eat, ease of use and nutritional content of fruits and vegetables. For most fruits and vegetables, one half cup or one whole orange, apple, peach, tomato, banana or ear of corn equals a serving. One serving of fruit or vegetable juice is four ounces.

You don’t have to buy all organic produce. Pesticides can’t penetrate through the thick skin of some fruits and vegetables. According to the Environmental Working Group, these 12 fruits and vegetables are the most highly contaminated with pesticides: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes (imported), carrots and pears. So go organic on those, and stick with non-organic for the rest.

Find a calorie consumption amount that’s easy for you to maintain. Sure, you can consume 1,200 calories per day for a few months and lose weight, but as soon as you move up to a reasonable amount – say 1,600 calories per day – you’ll start to gain it back. Instead, imagine your ideal weight and multiply it by ten. That’s the number of calories you need to eat every day to both lose and maintain your weight. If you exercise, be sure to allow extra calories for those you burned off so you don’t overeat the next day.

It’s not the number of times you go to the gym; it’s how you exercise. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least two hours and 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking or swimming) or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity (such as running or cycling) per week, preferably spread throughout the week, and two strength training sessions per week. Ideally, aim for 30 minutes of activity per day, but if you can’t work that in, an hour of cardio twice a week plus two strength-training sessions will suffice. Or, split those two hours into six 20-minute sessions. Also, keep in mind you’re exercising to ward off adult diseases, not just to lose weight. Your efforts might keep you from getting cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Drink chocolate milk after a hard workout. No, don’t drink chocolate milk immediately after you workout; wait until your stomach settles. Here’s why: water replaces just sweat loss, but low-fat chocolate milk provides carbohydrates, protein, calcium and a little salt and sugar, which perfectly replenish tired muscles after a long bike ride, swim or run. Essentially, chocolate milk is water, plus a whole lot more.