讓你更健康快樂(lè)的九件小事

As a health editor, I spend the majority of my day poring over content related to, well, health. At HuffPost, we're lucky to talk to experts on a daily basis about how to live our best lives, both mentally and physically. Over time, you start to pick up on some things. Themes begin to emerge loudly and clearly. It becomes obvious what is considered a universal "good." These things are often relatively straightforward, and it's clear that life would be happier and healthier if we would just do them. Sure, some of these are easier said than done, but their premises are often simple. I wanted to share a few of my favorites:

1. Have a bedtime. Sleep is considered the third pillar of health, and for good reason. Research is only making it increasingly clear that not getting enough of the stuff can have serious health effects. Meanwhile, getting enough sleep is good for everything ranging from weight, to mood, to even the immune system. One of the simplest things you can do to ensure you get enough sleep each night is to set a bedtime. Forgive yourself if you can't meet it every night (I tell myself I need to be in bed by midnight, but life gets in the way, and all of a sudden it's 1:30 a.m.), but make a point to try to stick to it.

2. Understand what emotional intelligence is -- and make a point to cultivate it. To have emotional intelligence means to be "confident, good at working towards your goals, adaptable and flexible. You recover quickly from stress and you're resilient," psychologist Daniel Goleman previously told HuffPost. It's made up of five parts: social skills, empathy, motivation, self-awareness and self-regulation. And fortunately, these are all traits you can cultivate. Be curious about things beyond yourself. Know what you're good at and where you can stand to improve. Try to improve your ability to pay attention.

3. Take a minute. This is something I'm admittedly still working on. I'm an objectively fast person -- fast at walking, fast at eating, fast at talking, you get the gist. This also makes me very impatient, and also sometimes very unobservant -- stopping to smell the roses has never been my strong suit. But slowing down to appreciate life and all its little moments builds gratitude -- and that's a very healthy thing.

4. Cut out sugar where you can. I used to be a dessert fiend. Cupcakes, ice cream, brownies, if you put it in front of me, I would most definitely eat it. And growing up, I drank some sort of juice at every single meal (being mildly lactose intolerant meant instead of milk, it was OJ at breakfast, OJ at lunch, and OJ at dinner). But the more I learned about how too much sugar affects the body -- and how it manages to sneak into all the non-dessert-like foods I also eat -- the more I realized I had to wean myself off the sweet stuff. So I started small. Instead of dumping sugar into coffee, I slowly trained myself to go milk-only. (Now, coffee with sugar just seems too sweet.) Instead of drinking juice and soda with meals, I opt for water (and on that note, I don't keep any beverages besides water in my fridge at home). I don't buy cakes or cookies from the store, so I'm not tempted to eat them at 10 p.m. when I'm in my apartment. Don't get me wrong, I'll still indulge in a slice of birthday cake or some ice cream. But those are treats, and I've realized that treats are not meant to be eaten all day every day.

5. Find an exercise you actually enjoy. It's not exactly a secret how much I opposite-of-like running. I'll still do it, because #health, but there are certainly other ways I'd rather get my fitness in. And that's completely OK. Research has even shown that whether we think of fitness as "fun" or "exercise" affects how much we end up eating. For me, exercise is a pill best swallowed as volleyball. For you, it may be dancing, or swimming, or riding your bike. Don't think that just because you don't like "conventional" exercise -- running, going to the gym, etc. -- you're "bad at exercise." No such thing!

6. Know when to stay off your phone. This is another one of those things I'm still trying to be better at. There are times for Instagramming and texting, and there are times where it's truly obvious you're not present because your eyes are glued to your screen. I had one of those moments a few days ago, when I was out to dinner -- I was so focused on answering some work emails, that when I finally looked up, I realized my dinner companions were silent, and had been waiting for me to get off my phone. It was a disruption and a distraction, and frankly, quite rude. Let's all make a point to end the madness.

7. Drink more water. Here at Healthy Living, we've dubbed Health and Fitness Senior Editor Sarah Klein the "hydration expert" -- she is always seen with a water bottle in hand, and if there's ever a hydration question, she either knows the answer, or knows the expert to ask. In my years of working with her, I've tried to follow her lead. Not only does drinking water keep you feeling full -- so you're not ravenously hungry (and overeating as a result) -- it is also a way to not drink sugary beverages. When you're drinking water, you're not drinking soda or sugary juice.

8. Cook food yourself. Sure, on the surface, a salad is healthy. But when a restaurant loads it down with sugary salad dressing and croutons, it can be anything but. The same goes for any other food, whether it's ordered at a restaurant or found in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. What's become abundantly clear to me, is that the best way to truly know what you're eating is to just make it yourself. Your eyes may be widened at how much salt you're eating, for instance, when you're the one measuring the teaspoons into your dish.

9. Stop worrying so much. Writing this piece about worrying was an eye-opener for me. As a Type A person, I also tend to be a worrier -- always wanting to be prepared for the worst, with a Plan A, B and C for action. But here's a revelation: Worrying isn't actually action. Worrying is just getting in your own head, creating a spiral of worst-case scenarios (that often don't even end up happening) that is very rarely productive. Instead, focus on the present. Maintain perspective in a worrying situation, considering what's actually likely to happen. Have confidence that you willbe able to make it through.

作為一名健康欄目編輯，我時(shí)刻關(guān)注著有關(guān)健康的各類信息。在《赫芬頓郵報(bào)》交流期間，我們有幸與健康專家進(jìn)行了交流，了解了一些在日常生活中簡(jiǎn)單有效的保持身心健康的小妙招。隨著時(shí)間的推移，你慢慢掌握一些生活方式，它們大張旗鼓的標(biāo)榜著健康。這些被全球公認(rèn)的好的生活方式，看似簡(jiǎn)單、直接，人們?nèi)裟茏裱鼈?，生活則會(huì)變得更加幸福、健康。事實(shí)上，這其中的很多都是“說(shuō)比做容易”，但其實(shí)這些生活方式的前提都非常簡(jiǎn)單。在此，我要分享幾條個(gè)人認(rèn)為非常不錯(cuò)的生活方式。

1. 保持充足睡眠

睡眠有充分地理由被認(rèn)為是人類健康的第三大支柱。越來(lái)越多的研究證實(shí)，睡眠不足會(huì)帶來(lái)相當(dāng)大的健康隱患，相反的，保持充足睡眠對(duì)于控制體重、保持心情和增強(qiáng)免疫力都有著至關(guān)重要的作用。想要每晚獲得良好充足的睡眠，最簡(jiǎn)單有效的做法就是為自己設(shè)定一個(gè)“上床時(shí)間”，盡管你可以原諒自己在偶爾的幾個(gè)夜晚沒(méi)有遵守這個(gè)時(shí)間(盡管我常常告誡自己要在午夜前上床睡覺(jué)，但現(xiàn)實(shí)往往不如人意，一不小心就到了凌晨1點(diǎn))，但你依然要時(shí)刻提醒自己，堅(jiān)持在“上床時(shí)間”準(zhǔn)點(diǎn)睡覺(jué)。

2. 了解并培養(yǎng)情商

心理學(xué)家丹尼爾.戈?duì)柭鴮?duì)赫芬頓郵報(bào)如此定義情商：情商是個(gè)體所表現(xiàn)出的自信，能夠努力實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的目標(biāo)，并有較強(qiáng)的適應(yīng)能力和靈活性;你彈性大，能夠很快從壓力中恢復(fù)。情商包含了5個(gè)部分，即社會(huì)能力、同情心、能動(dòng)性、自我意識(shí)和自控能力。可喜的是，這5項(xiàng)能力都是可以通過(guò)后天培養(yǎng)的。你需要時(shí)刻對(duì)外界事物保持好奇心，充分了解自己的優(yōu)勢(shì)和弱勢(shì)，并清楚哪些是可以改進(jìn)的，此外，還需不斷提升注意力。

3. 停下來(lái)休息一會(huì)兒

關(guān)于這一點(diǎn)，我依然在堅(jiān)持在做。我是生活節(jié)奏超快的那類人——就是你了解的那類人，走路快、吃飯快、說(shuō)話也快。而這種生活方式也容易讓人失去耐心、變得浮躁，那種停下來(lái)聞一聞路邊玫瑰香的事情，過(guò)去的我從來(lái)都是不屑一顧的。然而，當(dāng)我學(xué)會(huì)放慢速度來(lái)感受和欣賞身邊事物時(shí)，一切都是那么美好，而我的生活也變得更健康了。

4. 盡可能少吃糖

我曾是個(gè)甜品控，無(wú)論紙杯蛋糕、冰激凌還是布朗尼，只要放在我的面前，那是絕沒(méi)有剩下的。長(zhǎng)大后，我每餐都會(huì)喝一些果汁(因?yàn)槿樘遣荒褪?，我只能用果汁取代牛?。然而，當(dāng)我不斷了解到糖是如何威脅身體健康的、又是如何滲透到那些我們經(jīng)常食用的非甜點(diǎn)類食物中的，我意識(shí)到必須放棄這些甜食和添加了糖的食物了。我盡可能的從小的方面開始做起，我慢慢的訓(xùn)練自己不往咖啡里加糖，只喝加了牛奶的咖啡(現(xiàn)在，加了糖的咖啡對(duì)我而言都太甜了);用餐時(shí)，我也放棄了果汁和蘇打水，只喝白水(事實(shí)上，在我的冰箱里，除了水，你找不到任何其他飲料了)。我不去店里購(gòu)買蛋糕、餅干，這樣就避免了晚上10點(diǎn)我還在家里吃點(diǎn)心。不要誤會(huì)了，其實(shí)我依然會(huì)偶爾吃上一片蛋糕或一些冰激凌，但這些只是對(duì)自己的小小獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，我清楚的明白這并不代表我每天都要給自己來(lái)些獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

5. 找到一項(xiàng)你真正喜愛(ài)的運(yùn)動(dòng)

我一點(diǎn)都不否認(rèn)我討厭跑步，但是我依然會(huì)去運(yùn)動(dòng)，除了跑步人們還有許多可以選擇的運(yùn)動(dòng)方式。研究顯示，我們?nèi)绾味x健身——“有趣的事”或“鍛煉”，將影響我們的進(jìn)食量。對(duì)我而言，最好的運(yùn)動(dòng)是排球;對(duì)你而言，可以是跳舞、游泳或騎自行車。不要以為你不喜歡諸如跑步、健身房這些傳統(tǒng)運(yùn)動(dòng)方式，所以你對(duì)運(yùn)動(dòng)不在行。行了，完全沒(méi)這回事!

6. 適時(shí)放下手機(jī)

這是另一條我堅(jiān)持實(shí)行的生活方式。很多時(shí)候你都在發(fā)短信或?yàn)g覽社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)，還有很多時(shí)候你“在似不在”，因?yàn)槟愕难劬κ冀K牢牢盯著你的手機(jī)屏幕。前不久我也做過(guò)這樣的囧事，當(dāng)我和好友出去晚餐時(shí)，我始終低頭用手機(jī)回復(fù)那些工作郵件，當(dāng)我抬起頭時(shí)，看見(jiàn)好友正安靜的等待著我結(jié)束和手機(jī)的“約會(huì)”。和朋友用餐時(shí)不斷的看手機(jī)不只是對(duì)用餐的打擾，確切的說(shuō)，非常的粗魯、不禮貌。所以，是時(shí)候放下你的手機(jī)了。

7. 多喝水

我們將《健康生活》欄目的高級(jí)健康健身編輯沙拉.克萊爾成為“水專家”，因?yàn)樗掷飼r(shí)刻都拽著一瓶水，如果有任何與水有關(guān)的問(wèn)題，她都能給你答案，即使不能，她也能告訴你誰(shuí)能回答你的問(wèn)題。與她共事多年，我一直試著聽從她的建議。喝水不僅能帶來(lái)飽腹感，預(yù)防你時(shí)刻想要大快朵頤(并導(dǎo)致過(guò)量進(jìn)食)，同時(shí)也避免了飲用含糖飲料。當(dāng)你喝水了，你就不會(huì)想去喝蘇打水或果汁了。

8. 親自下廚

沙拉看起來(lái)是非常健康的食物，然而，當(dāng)餐廳里端上來(lái)的沙拉覆滿了含糖沙拉醬和黃油小面包時(shí)，它就不那么健康了。其他食物也同樣如此，無(wú)論是餐廳里的菜肴，或陳列在食品店冷柜里的食物。我非常清楚的知道，想要了解自己吃下去的食物，唯一的方法就是自己下廚。你一定會(huì)睜大眼睛看清自己究竟吃下去了多少鹽，正如你需要好好掂量你該往一道菜里添加多少鹽。

9. 放寬心，別多慮

寫這一條真是讓我大開眼界了。作為A型人，我也屬多慮人群，常常想要做好萬(wàn)全之策。但事實(shí)是，擔(dān)憂并非行動(dòng)。擔(dān)憂只在你自己的腦海中形成一系列最糟糕情況的設(shè)想，而這些情況通常很少，甚至根本不會(huì)發(fā)生。事實(shí)上，你該關(guān)注當(dāng)下，保持前瞻性，只考慮那些最有可能發(fā)生的情況，并相信自己有能力處理好這些突發(fā)情況。