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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, Graubard BI, Troiano R... + 7
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- 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.
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- 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.
