It is a proven fact that teenagers eat more junk food than is good for them. However if you are a parent, nagging at them about nutrition does nothing to keep your relationship on an even keel. In fact it may have the opposite effect. It is also an unfortunate sign of the times that most of your teenager’s favorite actors and entertainers will most likely be stick thin. So how do you go about getting them to eat nourishing meals that will keep them healthy?

Firstly, try to ensure they start the day right with a good breakfast. Skipping breakfast means they won’t function at their best during the day. As we all know, the brain needs food to help the mind function as well as keep the body moving. You may find a win if you point out that skipping breakfast slows down the metabolism and along with an abundance of take-out food, could lead to weight gain. Ensure you set a good example by having a healthy breakfast yourself.

Discuss dietary matters with your teenager without resorting to nagging. A few well chosen books and teen magazines that stress the importance of correct nutrition will have more of an effect on their outlook and you can also talk about recipes and meals they might like to help prepare.

Ensure that they have a packed lunch and lots of nutritious snacks to get them through the day and hopefully they won’t feel the need to rush to the nearest take-out. Let them choose the contents of their packed lunch. In this way they will be more likely to eat it rather than just tossing it into the nearest trash can.

Have family meals at night around the dinner table away from the television and computers. At weekends, insist that your teenager attend at least some of the family meals. Not only is this a good time for social interaction (especially if your teenager has reached the sullen stage) but it also endorses good nutritional habits.

One of the most important things you can explain to your teenager is that they should minimize their intake of refined sugars and soft drinks. These products are designed to induce cravings so that more and more of the substance is required. Try to encourage them to drink fresh fruit juices which are more refreshing and thirst quenching than cola. Water is an important part of nutrition, especially when you consider that more than half the human body is composed of water.

Find out what foods your teenager does like. You may be surprised to learn that they like roast chicken and vegetables, a healthy casserole with dumplings or a nice nourishing soup. There are many ways to ensure they are eating healthy, nutritious meals, it may just take a little time and effort on your part.

Teenagers today are generally quite knowledgeable about nutrition as they often learn about healthy eating in school. So hopefully there won’t be too many traumas in your household around food and if you are concerned about their dietary intake you may consider encouraging them to take supplementary all purpose vitamins.

The teenage years can be frustrating for parents, especially when it seems that all those childhood years spent instilling good values and eating habits have accounted for nothing. Just remember that in most cases once they reach adulthood they will return to the values and eating habits taught to them as a child.

“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health“. – Hippocrates

We were told by many experts that the secret of the healthy body lies in healthy eating habits and regular exercise. However, the thing which we were not told usually is that drinking water is also essential for the healthy body.

Do you know, the 72% of our body weight is of water, another 8% is of some combinations of chemical compounds, and the 20% of the body weight is of bones and solid tissues. Every cell present requires an amount of water to regulate the functions. Furthermore, you will be surprised to know that our brain that helps us to think and regulate the function of our body is approximately 80% water, the blood flowing through our veins and arteries is 83% of water, and as well muscles of our body is 70% water. In addition, a study shows that the energy level in the human body is widely related to the consumption of water. A 5% drop of body fluids could result in 25-30% of energy, and a 15% drop of body fluid can cause death.

Two thirds of all humans does not drink enough water and suffer from many problems like dehydration, constipation and headaches. In some urinary infection, a patient is told to drink plenty of water to eliminate the infectious bacteria’s from the urinary tract.

To know how much water you daily need for your body and ultimately to keep yourself healthy, you should take your body weight (in pounds) and divide that with half. The result you will get shows you that how much ounces of water is required by your body. For Example, if your body weight is 160 pounds then you should make sure to drink 80 ounces of water daily. At the time of exercise, make sure to drink 8 ounces of water in every 20-minute interval. If you drink alcohol then also make sure to drink similar quantity of water.

For some people who don’t like the taste of water more often, they can add lemon to the water, to make it bit tasty. But, don’t make it too much sour, add for the taste. Watermelon, cranberry juice, and tomato are the eatables that are enriched in water contents.  One should make it a habit to drink an adequate amount of water for their better health.

The term quality of life is used to evaluate the common well-being of a person’s and societies. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of living, which means how much money one has in his pockets. Instead, it means the quality of life a person is leading, which not only includes wealth and employment but also the environment, physical and mental health, education, creativity and leisure time and social interaction.

In today’s world people are just judged by their money value and their standard. In order to achieve the desired standard set by the society many of us tend to run in the rat race of getting successful. Getting successful never means that you forget about the life, it never includes that you forget how your life is shaping up. In order to get successful people tend to lose or avoid many of the beautiful moments in their lives, especially with family and friends.

In the process of achieving better quality of life one should concentrate on his physical and mental health. One should go out for morning walk or yoga that can be very beneficial it helps in relaxation of mind and body. If the mind is fresh a person can work much better all day long. For mental health one should always try to think positive even in difficult situations it helps to find a right solution to every problem. A person can also plan a holiday or a weekend with family it can help making a strong bond. Sharing few beautiful moments with your loved ones can make a huge difference in improving quality of life. It not only removes stress but a new energy is pumped in the body.

Every step or every way you adopt can make your life worth living. It not only improves your quality of life but also improves your way of looking at things. In addition, with the above things you need to have patience, because it takes time to get the desired result. One should also be determined and follow the things that lead to quality life.

The first mantra of wellness is to eat healthy to stay healthy. The foods available around us can diminish our hunger but the same could be unhealthy and can have an ill effect on our body. So, to stay away from unhealthiness the foremost and important thing is to know what you’re eating and does it really suits your body, does the food you eat has any contain that can affect your body in negative aspect.

While shopping for the food items, or if you are having a meal in a restaurant than you certainly have to ask and look for the food labels. A food label tells us many things about what we are eating and having. For instance, %daily values, calorie information, nutrition facts on a food label tell us about how much fat, unsaturated fat, cholesterol, etc., are content in the food we are eating or buying. This information is helpful in many aspects.

Our body requires calories, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins for the proper growth and also for functioning properly. Absence or excessive of some of the requirements of food ingredients can lead to  so many problems, such as, diabetes, obesity, weakness, etc. Our body requires a balance and healthy diet in order to stay healthy and to keep functioning properly.

Determine how much calories your body requires.

The calculation of calorie requirements varies from a person to a person. It depends on the body characteristics such as, gender, height, age and activity levels. With the help of this accurate formula, you can calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

English BMR Formula
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

Metric BMR Formula
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) – ( 6.8 x age in years )
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

Where:  W = Weight, H = Height, Age = Years

The above equations will help you to figure out how much calories is required at an ideal state but for daily activities you need to multiply your BMR by an activity factor that more closely fits with your lifestyle.

• None or very little activity = BMR x 1.2
• Average or light activity for about 2 days in a week = BMR x 1.375
• Moderate activities 4 days in a week = BMR x 1.5
• Higher activities, exercises and sports more that 6 days in a week = BMR x 1.7
• Higher level of activities = up to 2 x BMR

In the hectic pace of life, we often deal with many kinds of stress like a noise, crowd, a bad relationships, meeting, and project deadlines. These stresses can generate headaches, heart palpitations, gloominess, frustration, and it could be worse if it affects our sleeping habits. Most of the people don’t know that these stress can hinder with the metabolic activities of our body, which could lead to diseases like diabetes, blood pressure problem and much more.

In the ancient days, it was believed that Yoga is the only medical way to cure the diseases; it was also believed that yoga can initially help a person to stay healthy, and it helps in regulating metabolic activities of our body. Yoga is basically a meditative practice that enables a person to attain a harmony of mind and relaxation of the body.

Yoga has a lot to offer as we approach 21st centuries. It gives us the means to complement medical technology with the holistic system of health care that addresses the problems of the mind and spirit, as well as those of the body.

Yoga just not only helps in reducing the causes of diseases. Yoga aims to treat illness by improving health on all levels simultaneously and by restoring inner harmony. Yoga contains elements that address problems at every level; asanas yoga is a type of practice, in yoga that helps in relaxing and toning a muscle and massages your internal organ, pranayama is another form of yoga that controls breathing and regulates prana (According to yoga experts, prana is responsible for the heart beating and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell through the circulatory system), relaxation and meditation that helps to calm your mind and emotion culturing to heal your spirit.

The different types of yoga practice augment each other and are more effective when done together. When you do the asanas and stretch your muscles, muscular tension is released and you are more able to relax. Likewise, when you relax the mind and release suppressed emotions you tend to become less tense on a physical level. Regular practice of yoga can restore your natural balance and positive good health to all parts of your life.

Good health is the soundness of body, mind and soul. When your body, mind and soul will be is stay in good condition than the optimization of body increases. Good health helps a person to be creative, active and also helps to be efficient for the task or work.  The good health can be achieved by having the adequate amount of sleep, eating well and workouts.

Adequate sleep

As per the experts, it is believed that a human body requires 7-8 hours of proper sleep to get a recharge from the hectic life, stress and strains. Proper sleep is required by a body to manage many activities in our body, such as digestive system, immune system, muscle relaxation, etc.  The person who experiences bad sleep or less sleep is prone to get many diseases like insomnia, and other sleep deprived disease. If you will be awake or get less sleep then it can affect your memorizing power, and also it will affect the working efficiency of your body. Sometimes sleeping deficiency can lead to accidents too because of dizziness and sleep deprived symptoms.

Eat well

It’s a well known fact that human body requires food for the proper functions of the body. However, the most important thing is to provide our body with healthy foods. An unhealthy food can have a poor effect on the effect. Some people eat fast and junk foods to save their time, but they do not know that these foods can harm their body. Unhealthy food can accumulate fat in our body that could result in many hazardous and chronic diseases. So it’s important to be aware about what you are eating and what additional protein, vitamin, fiber, iron, calcium, etc. is required for the proper growth and development of our body.

Workouts and morning walks

Workout is not necessary about hitting a gym and trying to get a perfect shape of the body. A workout is related to regulating your muscles and blood to stay active and healthy for throughout a day. People who exercise regularly are tended to have healthier life than others. By doing proper workout or morning walks you refresh your selves and prepare your body to stay active.