When people hear healthy lifestyle, food usually comes to mind. Especially vegetables, fruits, and low-fat yogurt. Healthy or unhealthy, lifestyle is not just about food. You can eat organic food and drink only Fijian water and still die of a heart attack at age 50 if you are stressed.
[Similarly, if you smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, but feel good (and your good genes may come in handy here), you may die of lung cancer, but not until age 70.
Lifestyle is about the overall structure of an individual\’s life. In short, one cannot follow only part of a habit and expect perfect results. It would be like going to the doctor and taking only half of the prescribed antibiotics. It doesn\’t cure you; it only relieves the symptoms.
The biggest “ruin” of a healthy lifestyle these days is stress. Time is so fast and hectic, and we are constantly being bombarded with things we have to catch up on and deadlines to meet. Even if we have to submit a project within a month we are already nervous. Sometimes it\’s good to stop, take a breath, and be present. Being phlegmatic is very useful these days.
Phlegmatic people don\’t really care if they have to turn in a paper within a week or if they can\’t keep up. Either they don\’t care (which is not a compliment), or they prefer to apologize for being late, knowing full well that panicking won\’t make them act faster anyway.
Some people like to say they have a healthy lifestyle, eat at home instead of at fast food restaurants, and have no time for sports or relaxation. I used to think so too. But it\’s not true. If you want to, you can find the time.
Don\’t have time to run? Then at least stop using the elevator and walk the stairs; in a week you\’ll find that it gets easier and you\’ll be stronger, if not for the marathon. Don\’t have time to cook every day? Cook on Sundays and put the cooked food away in the fridge or freezer. It will last two days in the freezer and long enough in the refrigerator. And as for breathing room, you can save an hour. It is not difficult to follow some habits. It\’s just a question of whether you want to.