How to develop healthy habits, 5 minutes at a time
Cultivating wellness takes time, but you can get started today with these five moves.
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If you’ve ever worked on improving your health—whether by getting in better physical shape, renovating your diet, or optimizing your sleep habits—you know that the best results involve developing solid, lasting habits. That kind of work takes commitment, but the good news is that you don’t need to devote hours each day to it.
“It’s not that you can say, I’m going to take these three days and get myself healthy,” says Keith Roach, MD, associate professor in clinical medicine in the division of general medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. “That won’t work. What makes you healthy and keeps you healthy are the everyday activities that you do.”
Here are five changes you can make, in just a few minutes each day, to feel healthier and boost your long-term well-being.
Sources: Saint-Maurice PF + 7
- Saint-Maurice PF, Graubard BI, Troiano RP, et al. Estimated Number of Deaths Prevented Through Increased Physical Activity Among US Adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2022;182(3):349–352.
- Jakicic JM, Kraus WE, Powell KE, et al. Association between Bout Duration of Physical Activity and Health: Systematic Review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(6):1213-1219.
- Lavie Carl J, Ozemek Cemal, Carbone Salvatore, et al. Sedentary Behavior, Exercise, and Cardiovascular Health. Circulation Research. 2019;124:799–815.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. Washington, DC; 2019.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Know Your Risk for Heart Disease. Page last reviewed December 9, 2019.
- Stamatakis E, Gale J, Bauman A, et al. Sitting Time, Physical Activity, and Risk of Mortality in Adults [published correction appears in J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Jun 4;73(21):2789]. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;73(16):2062-2072.
- Carbone S, Ozemek C, Lavie CJ. Sedentary Behaviors, Physical Inactivity, and Cardiovascular Health: We Better Start Moving!. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2020;4(6):627-629.
- Wang DD, Li Y, Bhupathiraju SN, et al. Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality: Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies of US Men and Women and a Meta-Analysis of 26 Cohort Studies. Circulation. 2021;143(17):1642-1654.
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