Why Is It So Important to Live a Healthy Lifestyle?

I was recently speaking with my sister about this concept of common sense laws. This concept where there are many laws in place, but there are also laws that are not in place because the action seems so obviously ridiculous that no one would ever bother to try. Which made me think about questions in the health world that seem so basic that folks don’t bother taking the time to fully answer them. They are “common sense” but because we don’t take the time to answer them, we end up minimizing their importance.

After spending a week in the hospital due to a mysterious bacterial infection, I had time to think about this question: “why is it so important to live a healthy lifestyle?”. I was asked several times if I live a healthy lifestyle, and to be able to confidently say that I do, meant that the doctor’s could trust that the medicine they gave me would work as anticipated.

But there are so many other reasons why a healthy lifestyle is so important. In this blog, I’ll the 5 reasons that I find most impactful in my life as a millennial, working woman.

1. It Makes Your Body More Resilient

Resilience is often something we take for granted. We don’t need physical resilience until we really need physical resilience, and at that point we are wishing we had done more to prepare our bodies for whatever major physical challenge we are being presented with.

In the case of my recent hospital visit, I was not able to eat or drink anything for the better part of 4 days. And yet, I survived and I was able to think and respond to doctor’s questions. I was able to get up and go to the bathroom by myself, and my body was able to give blood when tests were taken and respond to medicine when the IVs were hooked up.

By exercising and fueling my body in a way that presents it with new stimulus on a regular basis, and challenges my body to adapt on a regular basis, my body is able to respond to these major life events quickly and in a way to ultimately benefits me in the long-run.

Many friends and family have made the joke that not eating is some kind of weight-loss hack. I understand their intentions, but I also want to make it very clear that my body didn’t wither away due to that time in hospital. My body understood where resources needed to go, and the energy I needed to fight the infection.

For me, it was a throat infection, but for other folks this can be physical injuries like sprains or broken bones that are able to heal more quickly because the body has been trained to rebuild when there’s a breakdown. It could mean when more serious illnesses happen, and the body has to respond to harsh treatment, that the body responds well to those treatments.

Living a healthy lifestyle gives your body regular opportunities to be tested, to adapt, and to rise to the challenges you give it so that when more serious health events occur, it is prepared to support you and protect you.

2. It makes more of life accessible to you

Before I really get into this point, I want to first acknowledge that most of life is not built to be accessible to everyone. Accessibility is a something I am very passionate about, so I want everyone to know that I am not about to make a point that being a certain size makes the world easier to navigate. Although this is true, it is not something I want to perpetuate and I’d rather see governments and companies make spaces more accessible to all bodies and levels of physical ability.

The accessibility that I am referring to is more on an energetic and experience level. When you live a healthy lifestyle, you’re often going out and trying different workout classes, you’re supporting a friend’s after-work yoga classes, you’re experiencing that new restaurant with an interesting menu, you’re out there truly making the most of everything that’s available to you.

To help clarify the point, when folks choose not to live a healthy lifestyle, they are typically less mobile. After all, by simply getting out for a walk, you are doing something good for your body that contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Not only are they less mobile, but there’s typically less exploration with food, choosing to go with what is quick, easy, and highly processed. Not to mention, by neglecting things like sleep and mindfulness, they likely have a less than pleasant demeanor due to low energy, lack of restful sleep, and personal reflection.

For some folks this is a perfectly fine existence, but in my opinion, a healthy lifestyle opens the doors to so many more fulfilling experiences in life.

There have been many occasions where I have had a busy morning at the gym, made great food, hung out with friends, and finished the evening by going out where I realized that I could not have done this if I didn’t have a good night sleep, or a calm and focused mindset, or simply the stamina to be out all day with people! I mean, I could have, but it wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

Again, practicing daily healthy lifestyle practices pays off in sometimes small, and noticeable ways, but know that your ability access everything that life has to offer, from social connections, to activities and experiences, is made more enjoyable because you made healthy lifestyle choices.

3. It makes achieving life goals easier

This particular benefit really depends on the type of life goals you are setting for yourself, but for the sake of this blog let’s consider life goals that relate to your career, your relationships, and your lifestyle.

Common career goals include climbing the ladder in a corporate job, or pursuing your own business ventures and building something impactful. In the end, you’re looking to achieve a higher level of success.

This always requires focus and hard work.

A healthy lifestyle – complete with great sleep, mindfulness, physical activity, and a fulfilling and nourishing diet – supports a healthy brain, balanced mood, and a body with the energy to get shit done!

As women, we really understand how changing emotional states throughout the month can impact our overall motivation. Which is why I recommend cycle syncing your life so that your healthy lifestyle habits can support not only your natural hormonal cycles, but so you can also stay on track towards all the other goals you have set for yourself.

The same goes for relationships. This is such a nuanced topic, but for myself I am looking for a partner who has various qualities, such as being driven and kind and someone who takes care of themselves. In my mind, if I am looking for those things, I also want to be able to bring this to the table.

When I meet someone, I feel confident that I am bringing a pretty well-rounded individual who is going on that date well-rested, who has exercised for my physical well-being, and who has had some beautiful, nourishing food during the day, so I have the energy and focus to be charming and lovely when I meet with them.

And finally, lifestyle goals in this context relate to things like travel or experience goals. The spillover effect from making healthy choices on a regular basis and choosing to care for yourself every day will build the mindset and habits that will help you achieve these other milestone goals.

4. It sets you up for a longer life

This is likely the most common reason you’ll get when you ask why living a healthy lifestyle is so important. Make the investments in your health today so you can live a longer, more active life in the future.

It’s hard for us to do today when everything is about the immediate moment. What is the trend today? What’s the best song this week? What’s the in the news this morning? Everything in our lives has been designed to have us so hyperfocused on the present moment, that we have fallen out of practice of preparing for the future.

Not only that, but the consequences of unhealthy lifestyle choices are not typically felt until many, many years later.

But it is still important to drive this point home. I look at my two grandmothers. Both were relatively active in their lives, but my maternal grandmother has been going out for an hour-long morning walk with her friend for her whole adult life (as far as I know). She has had a knee replacement, but she is in her mid 80’s now and has beaten breast cancer 3x, survived a stroke, and is still living a busy and active lifestyle.

My paternal grandmother is going to be 90 this summer, and although she also maintained a relatively healthy lifestyle, she was less active than my grandmother in her later years. She has not had any health complications like cancer or a stroke, however she did break her hip from a fall. Now she is still mobile, but her activity is limited and she gets tired much faster.

If staying active and maintaining your autonomy is something that you value and will value in your later years, than it is so important to make that your lifestyle as early as possible. Make those habits so solid that it is truly just part of your life and living any other way would be out of the ordinary for you.

5. It’s important to show yourself that you care about yourself

The final reason why I believe living a healthy lifestyle is so important is something that I learned from Tan France on Queer Eye. When we take care of ourselves, it shows us that we care about ourselves. This is so important for self-esteem and confidence.

As a people pleaser who is always happy to help my friends and lift them up, I definitely spent many years of my life forgetting to turn that energy back on myself and make sure that I felt lifted up and supported and love by the one person who spends the most time with me (me!).

Healthy lifestyle choices are becoming less convenient and more difficult to make. The world wants everything to be convenient and fast and hyper-processed. We are always on the lookout for the magic pill. But none of these offer that true sense of long-term accomplishment and pride where you can say you put in the work and you feel great because of it. Taking the time to invest in your resilience and wellbeing may not give you an immediate boost, but over the long-term, you can experience that positive feeling every day when you are living a healthy lifestyle.

Final Thoughts

I was feeling really inspired to write about this this week because of my time in the hospital. I have been consistently going to the gym and working on my diet, sleep and mindset – and I still got very sick. There was a moment where I thought, well what’s the point of putting in all this work when I still end up getting sick? But then I realized that getting sick happens, but it is the body’s response to getting sick that really shows why all the healthy lifestyle choices I made before getting sick matter.

I made sure to wake up every day and thank my body for being there and for helping me fight this infection. She’s been there through everything and adapted to every challenge I’ve given her, and when I needed her most – she showed up and helped me recover from the infection.

These may be lessons that folks need to learn at their own pace, but if you were looking for a reminder or something to keep you going with your healthy lifestyle changes and choices, I hope this blog helps you.