If you don’t look or feel your best try these 5 tips to help get yourself turned around!

1. Get enough sleep every night. It is very important for the body to recharge and rest for at least 7-9 hours a night. Getting a proper nights sleep makes you more alert, benefits your memory and problem solving skills, gives you more energy, and helps you stay healthy and less likely to get sick. When you don’t get enough sleep you are more likely to be irritable or even become depressed. Your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or being overweight goes up and you mess with your hormones that build muscle mass and repair cells. Also, did you know that hormones released when you sleep affect how the body uses energy? It turns out that the less you sleep the more likely you are to desire foods high in calories and carbohydrates! So get your 7-9 hours each night, and awake full of energy, in a constant good mood, and healthy overall body!

2. Eat fruits and vegetables every day. Fruits and vegetables are so important to our diet. They contain many valuable vitamins and minerals, are easily digested, high in fiber (which helps in digestion), they help protect against deadly diseases, contain natural sugars, contain antioxidants and phytochemicals. Eating fruit also helps with weight management, since they are high in fiber they make you feel full and they contain almost no fat or cholesterol (with the exception of coconuts, olives, and avocados). So they make great choices for snacks. Eating just 2 1/2 cups of fruit and veggies a day can reduce your risk of getting cancer by up to 20%, which is the number one killer in the U.S. today. So drop the junk food and help your body out by giving it what it needs, fruits and vegetables DAILY.

3. Exercise and stay active. Regular exercise strengthens the bones and muscles. It also helps reduce the risk of many diseases, boosts self esteem, increases energy and metabolism. Try to exercise at least 3 times /week for 30-60 minutes. When you aren’t exercising do those little things–walk the dog, ride a bike, play sports–anything to get you up and moving. Exercising and staying active will keep you youthful too! You’ll look better in appearance and ward off stress + anxiety, which in turn allows you to also feel better about yourself.

4. Minimize stresses as much as possible. Stress is very bad for our body and has many harmful side effects. Too much stress can lead to heart problems, high blood pressure, weight gain, insomnia, shorter life spans, headaches and social isolation. Stress is inevitable for all of us, we all have jobs with deadlines, family and relationship problems and the list goes on and on–but what can we do to reduce stress? For starters, stop overbooking or over scheduling yourself! If you make too many appointments or attempts to accomplish too much in one day, stress nearly always wins. Get a good nights sleep so you are less irritable and allow yourself some time to relax everyday. Set aside some personal time each day where you can just sit back and clear your mind. Minimizing and avoiding stress makes you extremely healthier!

5. Eat right! Not only should you eat fruits and vegetables like we already talked about, but stay away from unhealthy foods that don’t offer positive things for the body. Avoid fast food, it’s loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol which pound your cells into submission. When you constantly put crap into your body, you aren’t feeding yourself proper nutrients required to function healthy! Eat grains, some meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables. We get the nutrients we need to survive from the food that we eat–having a diet that isn’t too diverse and contains mostly unhealthy foods will cause you and your body all sorts of problems. From gaining weight, to becoming more susceptible to disease, you simply won’t operate at your full potential.

Give your body what it needs to operate at its best and it most always will! Practice these 5 things for a healthier you, and that body will be well on its way to looking stellar, performing top-notice, and providing a lengthy, healthy human lifespan!