The five habits of health

Do you want to feel great and avoid disease?

Then stop listening to your doctor.

Read on and discover the five habits of health.

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This post is part of RethinkingTruth’s “How to achieve health” Series and it reveals the the five habits of health.

Health, as we define it, is “the  fundamental capability humans require to perceive, feel, and act effectively”.

Consequently, we believe health is one of the four most important things in life.

But, how do we become healthy?

Your doctor doesn’t have a clue

To know how to become healthy I recommend that you run into your living room, pick up your phone and call your doctor.

Your doctor will know right?

Had it only been that easy.

In my experience doctors know little about how to become healthy. In fact, helping people become healthy isn’t their area of expertise. Confused?

You damn right should be!

Doctors have a wealth of knowledge, they really want to make a positive impact and they are generally effective at treating acute health issues such as infections, cancer and so forth.

Unfortunately, these same doctors are doing a terrible job at preventing people from getting sick in the first place.

Peter Attia, a doctor and former management consultant I admire, tells the story of how he let down one of his patients in this emotional Ted-talk.

If such an exceptional guy as Peter was giving patients poor advice for years you can only imagine what kind of advice you’re currently getting from your doctor!

The five habits of health

Instead of listening to your well-intending but poorly able doctor, take charge of your own health and start living the five habits outlined below.

#1: Eat right

“Eat right” is about making smart eating and drinking choices.

I’ve outlined the importance of eating right and what to eat in this post.

If you want to make some big changes immediately I recommend reading the two-week eating experiment.

#2: Sleep tight

“Sleep tight” is about making sure you sleep 7-9 hours every night and that those hours are of great sleep quality.

I’ve outlined the importance of sleep and how to sleep tight in this post.

You might also want to check out this post for a great TED-talk about sleep by Oxford Professor Russell Foster or this post for a short TED-talk by Huffington Post founder Arriana Huffington.

#3: Stress less

“Stress less” is about reducing the stress-intensity and stress-frequency in your life.

I have yet to address this topic fully but this post will get you started.

One of the next posts here at RethinkingTruth is about stress so stay tuned.

#4: Exercise smart

“Exercise smart” is about doing the right type physical movement for the right time at the right intensity.

I have yet to address this topic fully but let me share some great news with you immediately: To become healthy requires less than one hour of exercise per week.

If you don’t want to wait for my post on how to exercise smart I recommend reading this superb book by Doug McGouff.

#5: Think wisely

“Think wisely” is about installing effective beliefs and making sure you’re conscious of what kind of thoughts you allow in your mind.

I have yet to address this topic fully but a great way to start improving in this area is to learn how to think.

That’s it. The five habits of health.

Armed with this knowledge you’re able to become healthy and to teach your doctor a few things too.

But wait, there’s one more thing…

Other factors that affect your health

If you live the five habits of health you’ll feel great and avoid disease.

However, there are other factors that affect your health too. I won’t address them in detail but it’s important that you’re aware of them. They are listed below in no particular order:

• Genetic factors
• Situational factors (crime, extreme sports etc.)
• The air and how your breathe
• Sun exposure
• Environmental toxins
• Treatment quality
• Radiation/electromagnetic risks
• Other factors (for example pleasure ++)

What I want you to do next

Now you know the five habits of health.

However, knowing isn’t the same as doing. Therefore, I recommend that you do the following:

1. Read the “Eat yourself to a better life” post
2. Read about the four simple and delicious dishes below. It will take you about 10 minutes.
   • What I eat: A healthy, delicious and easy-to-make breakfast
   • The secret of how to make super-tasty low-carb pizza, without grains and gluten!
   • How to make the ultimate super-food for dinner
   • What I eat for dinner: Salmon with mushrooms & spinach in 12 minutes
3. Go shopping. Buy the ingredients you need to at least two of the recipes above.
4. Stop reading what the media has to say about eating; they have no idea what they’re writing about.

Finally, I want to apologise to all doctors out there

This post isn’t meant as an attack on you or your profession. The reason I’ve used you as somewhat of a scapegoat is to motivate people to take charge of their own health.

I know you have deep knowledge in treating patients and I know you care about improving peoples lives.

However, I do believe the current medical education and practice focus too much on treatment rather than on prevention.

And, I do believe that a medical system which in many countries incentivises 10-15 minute long patient visits makes it hard to help people change their lives.

Finally, I know that there’s much we don’t know about how to become healthy. I don’t by this post claim to understand al the factors that drive health, but I do believe that living the five habits outlined above will make a significant positive impact on people’s health.

Summary

What health is

Health, as we define it, is “the  fundamental capability humans require to perceive, feel, and act effectively“.

The five habits of health

• Eat right
• Sleep tight
• Stress less
• Exercise smart
• Think wisely

Note: I’ve borrowed the above pictures from here: Exercise, Brain, Heart, Stress, Baby, Doctor.

Now I want to hear from you

How well are you doing for each of the five habits? Do you believe any other habits are of greater importance to health?