讓你更健康快樂的九件小事

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.作爲一名健康欄目編輯，我時刻關注着有關健康的各類信息。在《赫芬頓郵報》交流期間，我們有幸與健康專家進行了交流，瞭解了一些在日常生活中簡單有效的保持身心健康的小妙招。隨着時間的推移，你慢慢掌握一些生活方式，它們大張旗鼓的標榜着健康。這些被全球公認的好的生活方式，看似簡單、直接，人們若能遵循它們，生活則會變得更加幸福、健康。事實上，這其中的很多都是“說比做容易”，但其實這些生活方式的前提都非常簡單。在此，我要分享幾條個人認爲非常不錯的生活方式。

1. 保持充足睡眠

睡眠有充分地理由被認爲是人類健康的第三大支柱。越來越多的研究證實，睡眠不足會帶來相當大的健康隱患，相反的，保持充足睡眠對於控制體重、保持心情和增強免疫力都有着至關重要的作用。想要每晚獲得良好充足的睡眠，最簡單有效的做法就是爲自己設定一個“上牀時間”，儘管你可以原諒自己在偶爾的幾個夜晚沒有遵守這個時間（儘管我常常告誡自己要在午夜前上牀睡覺，但現實往往不如人意，一不小心就到了凌晨1點），但你依然要時刻提醒自己，堅持在“上牀時間”準點睡覺。

2. 瞭解並培養情商

心理學家丹尼爾.戈爾曼曾對赫芬頓郵報如此定義情商：情商是個體所表現出的自信，能夠努力實現自己的目標，並有較強的適應能力和靈活性；你彈性大，能夠很快從壓力中恢復。情商包含了5個部分，即社會能力、同情心、能動性、自我意識和自控能力。可喜的是，這5項能力都是可以通過後天培養的。你需要時刻對外界事物保持好奇心，充分了解自己的優勢和弱勢，並清楚哪些是可以改進的，此外，還需不斷提升注意力。

3. 停下來休息一會兒

關於這一點，我依然在堅持在做。我是生活節奏超快的那類人——就是你瞭解的那類人，走路快、吃飯快、說話也快。而這種生活方式也容易讓人失去耐心、變得浮躁，那種停下來聞一聞路邊玫瑰香的事情，過去的我從來都是不屑一顧的。然而，當我學會放慢速度來感受和欣賞身邊事物時，一切都是那麼美好，而我的生活也變得更健康了。

4. 儘可能少吃糖

我曾是個甜品控，無論紙杯蛋糕、冰激凌還是布朗尼，只要放在我的面前，那是絕沒有剩下的。長大後，我每餐都會喝一些果汁（因爲乳糖不耐受，我只能用果汁取代牛奶）。然而，當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常食用的非甜點類食物中的，我意識到必須放棄這些甜食和添加了糖的食物了。我儘可能的從小的方面開始做起，我慢慢的訓練自己不往咖啡里加糖，只喝加了牛奶的咖啡（現在，加了糖的咖啡對我而言都太甜了）；用餐時，我也放棄了果汁和蘇打水，只喝白水（事實上，在我的冰箱裏，除了水，你找不到任何其他飲料了）。我不去店裏購買蛋糕、餅乾，這樣就避免了晚上10點我還在家裏吃點心。不要誤會了，其實我依然會偶爾吃上一片蛋糕或一些冰激凌，但這些只是對自己的小小獎勵，我清楚的明白這並不代表我每天都要給自己來些獎勵。

5. 找到一項你真正喜愛的運動

我一點都不否認我討厭跑步，但是我依然會去運動，除了跑步人們還有許多可以選擇的運動方式。研究顯示，我們如何定義健身——“有趣的事”或“鍛鍊”，將影響我們的進食量。對我而言，最好的運動是排球；對你而言，可以是跳舞、游泳或騎自行車。不要以爲你不喜歡諸如跑步、健身房這些傳統運動方式，所以你對運動不在行。行了，完全沒這回事！

6. 適時放下手機

這是另一條我堅持實行的生活方式。很多時候你都在發短信或瀏覽社交網絡，還有很多時候你“在似不在”，因爲你的眼睛始終牢牢盯着你的手機屏幕。前不久我也做過這樣的囧事，當我和好友出去晚餐時，我始終低頭用手機回覆那些工作郵件，當我擡起頭時，看見好友正安靜的等待着我結束和手機的“約會”。和朋友用餐時不斷的看手機不只是對用餐的打擾，確切的說，非常的粗魯、不禮貌。所以，是時候放下你的手機了。

7. 多喝水

我們將《健康生活》欄目的高級健康健身編輯沙拉.克萊爾成爲“水專家”，因爲她手裏時刻都拽着一瓶水，如果有任何與水有關的問題，她都能給你答案，即使不能，她也能告訴你誰能回答你的問題。與她共事多年，我一直試着聽從她的建議。喝水不僅能帶來飽腹感，預防你時刻想要大快朵頤（並導致過量進食），同時也避免了飲用含糖飲料。當你喝水了，你就不會想去喝蘇打水或果汁了。

8. 親自下廚

沙拉看起來是非常健康的食物，然而，當餐廳裏端上來的沙拉覆滿了含糖沙拉醬和黃油小麪包時，它就不那麼健康了。其他食物也同樣如此，無論是餐廳裏的菜餚，或陳列在食品店冷櫃裏的食物。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裏添加多少鹽。

9. 放寬心，別多慮

寫這一條真是讓我大開眼界了。作爲A型人，我也屬多慮人羣，常常想要做好萬全之策。但事實是，擔憂並非行動。擔憂只在你自己的腦海中形成一系列最糟糕情況的設想，而這些情況通常很少，甚至根本不會發生。事實上，你該關注當下，保持前瞻性，只考慮那些最有可能發生的情況，並相信自己有能力處理好這些突發情況。