It’s essential to pay attention to your health. Life is busy, but that should never be an excuse for not prioritizing your wellness.
Staying in tune with your well-being promotes a stable lifestyle, reduces risk factors and lowers the chances of medical emergencies.
Men of all ages can benefit from the following tips.
1. Search for a Doctor
For many men, an unhealthy lifestyle derives from the lack of regularly seeing a doctor or health care provider. Finding a doctor is an easy task thanks to resources available online. With a quick search, you can find health care professionals in your area who are accepting new patients.
You want to find and establish trust with your doctor. These health professionals let you know of areas of improvement in your everyday life and catch warning signs of health concerns that could harm you.
2. Visit Your Doctor Regularly
Whether you just found your doctor or already have one, visit them regularly. Getting an annual physical examination is the best way to prevent an illness before it occurs. Stop canceling or postponing your doctor’s appointments.
Things to ask your doctor about include:
- Blood tests
- Supplements
- Blood pressure
- Cholesterol levels
- Alcohol consumption
- Weight management
- Food choices
Always remember your health is a top priority, and visiting your doctor is a great preventive measure for men’s health
3. Learn From Your Doctor and Make a Change
Your doctor is the key to a healthier life. Over time, these professionals know your lifestyle as well as you do. Listen to what your doctor has to say during routine visits, and be sure to make any necessary changes if applicable.
Make it your goal to use doctor visits to get informed about health topics. Also, learn to discuss symptoms with your doctor rather than ignoring them. A proper diagnosis can promote a healthier life even with a health condition.
4. Monitor Your Diet
The foods you eat directly fuel your body. Cutting back on junk foods, sugars and carbohydrates makes a difference when you replace them with fruits and vegetables.
The best way to keep a healthy diet is to give yourself some variety daily. Eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fiber helps you avoid heart disease, diabetes and cancer. A healthy diet can reduce high blood pressure and belly fat.
5. Make Time for Exercise
Getting activity in your day prolongs your overall well-being. Making time for 30 minutes of physical activity during most days of the week increases men’s physical and mental health. Something as simple as an evening walk could be the lifestyle change you need.
Monitoring your progress is exciting and encouraging. There is nothing wrong with starting slow and gradually increasing your workout time and intensity as you improve. Strength training is also a great addition to your daily routine.
You will see the most positive health changes by varying your workouts between aerobic exercise, stretching and strength training. Incorporating all three types can improve heart health, strengthen muscles and maintain flexibility.
6. Get Enough Sleep
Sleeping between seven and nine hours each night keeps you in your best shape. Drinking caffeine instead of getting enough sleep leads to a toxic cycle that can deteriorate your health, so always give yourself time to rest.
7. Analyze Mental Health
If you have a family history of mental illness, alcohol abuse or suicide, speaking to your doctor about warning signs and symptoms is essential. A positive outlook on your life comes from wellness inside and out. Asking for help when needed is the first step toward improving mental health.
8. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Keeping extra weight off reduces your risk of heart attack, heart disease, cardiovascular disease or stroke. By exercising regularly and sticking to portion recommendations, your heart has to work less during the day and while you sleep. You can use body mass index and waist circumference to estimate your weight status.
9. Stop Bad Health Habits
While adding positive changes like exercise and quality sleep to your lifestyle, you should consider current practices damaging your health. Smoking and vaping are the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. This practice can cause heart disease and cancer.
Alcohol and high-risk sexual behaviors can also harm your health. Excessive drinking may lead to cancer and heart issues. Unsafe sexual behaviors like unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners can increase the chances of sexually transmitted infections.
10. Stay Ready for Sex
A lack of erection often points to underlying health issues. When you notice problems getting or keeping an erection more than 25% of the time, you should take note. This symptom may point to emotional problems, diseases or other physical causes like overconsumption of alcohol.
11. Take Care of Your Prostate
The prostate gland grows as you age, leading to urinary symptoms like passing more urine throughout the day or having less urine flow. When you experience these issues, talk to your doctor about lifestyle changes like urinating when you get the urge, drinking fluids steadily throughout the day and exercising regularly.
12. Consider Your Age Group
No matter your age, you should maintain a healthy lifestyle with your eating, sleeping and exercise habits. These habits may look different depending on your age. Men in their 50s or above should focus more on low-impact exercise, while younger men can focus more on strength training.
Depending on your age group, you should also screen for specific medical conditions with your doctor. For example, men in their 20s should screen for high cholesterol and testicular cancer. Older men in their 50s or above should look for those health concerns and additional ones like colon cancer, diabetes, heart disease and thyroid disease.
13. Prioritize Enjoyment
As you focus on healthy habits, remember to prioritize enjoyment by doing something for yourself daily. These activities could include listening to an audiobook, doing yoga or meditating. When you do these things every day, you can experience better mental health and improve recovery from substance use disorders.
