You’ve probabaly heard the saying ‘health is wealth’ countless times before, but that’s because it’s true. You need to be in optimal health to succeed in other aspects of your life. Achieving this requires some effort from you. Here are 14 ways to make your health a priority.

1. Find Your Passion

Getting to the point where you decide to make your health a priority is relatively easy. However, if you’re always dreading the time you’ve set aside for, let’s say, exercising, it can get hard. Trying to find the motivation to do something you don’t have a passion for will only put you a couple of steps back in your journey towards achieving your health goals.

There are several things to do within the realm of wellness. You can choose between aerobic exercises or lifting weights. Perhaps hiking, yoga, or swimming is a better fit. Explore all your options before settling on a fitness routine, diet, or other wellness program.

2. Prioritize Yourself

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably come across the term self-care in your daily interactions, whether online or in person. However, it’s not a priority for most people, particularly women. They may have given it some thought, but doing it is another matter.

Think about it, though, crossing every item on your list of fitness goals won’t matter if you’re always depressed, exhausted, and sick. To be able to make your health a priority, you need to start putting yourself first. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about anyone or anything else.

It’s about unapologetically prioritizing self-care in your life. The result will be a healthier version of you, both physically and mentally. You’ll also be able to better love and care for others.

3. Make Self-Care Part of Your Daily Schedule

You won’t magically find the time to eat healthy, exercise, and get more sleep. It’ll only become a part of your life when you intentionally make time for it. When creating your schedule, fit in meditation, meal planning, workouts, visits to wellness centers, and most importantly, sleep. A little planning will go a long way toward ensuring you have the time to pursue your health goals, as well as your other commitments.

4. Don’t Make Changes, Create Habits

Changing your fitness routine, diet, or taking the stairs rather than the elevator for one day is easy. Making those changes become a part of your daily routine is the hard part. When thinking of ways to make your health a priority, choose things you enjoy doing and can do over and over again without getting bored.

If you hate running, you can find another cardio exercise you like, such as Zumba or swimming. If kale makes you gag, there are healthy foods that are tasty, which you can include in your diet plan. Maybe walking your dog is part of the day you look forward to, in which case, consider walking them longer. The key is to find activities you enjoy and look forward to doing daily and stick to them.

5. Adjust Your Environment

You are a product of your environment, which includes the people around you, the places you visit, and the food you eat. If your kitchen is always disorganized, the odds of you wanting to cook in it are low. If you’re stocked up on crackers and chips, you likely scoff at the thought of snacking on carrot sticks.

The food you keep in your home will significantly impact your eating habits. If you love ice cream and keep it in your freezer all the time, you’ll end up eating it far too frequently. If you’re spending $15 on chocolate and cheesy crackers every week, you’re not setting yourself up for success.

It doesn’t mean you should never eat them again, but if you’re always buying sugary snacks when doing your weekly shopping, your efforts to make your health a priority will prove futile. On the other hand, every time you buy nutrient-rich food supplies from the grocery store, you invest in your health. Note down your trigger foods and avoid them as much as possible.

6. Set Realistic Goals

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can make your health a priority in a week. If you keep telling yourself you’ll start dieting on Monday, but you never do, stop. It’ll only mess with your motivation.

For long-lasting results, you need to take it slow. If you want to start packing lunch but you’ve never done it before, start with two days per week. You don’t need to commit to all five at once.

If you want to start hitting the gym but have never done it before, enrolling in an eight-week, five-day-a-week boot camp isn’t a good idea. Don’t worry, and it’s ok. Even small changes are still changes. You just need to be consistent to make them a part of your habits.

Don’t be too harsh on yourself, work on small manageable goals and celebrate when you achieve them. Stop saying you’ll work out daily for 30 days or lose 10 pounds in a month; you’ll only be setting yourself up for disappointment. If you want to be successful in your efforts of trying to make your health a priority, focus on small sustainable changes that are easy to maintain, such as enrolling in a food nutrition learning center. For help with this, consider working with a reputable fitness trainer service.

7. Realize You Only Have One Body

Unlike in video games, you only get one body in life. You only get one set of joints and organs, one cardiovascular system, one brain, etc. Who’s going to take care of it if not you?

Don’t expect someone else to prioritize your health if you’re not taking the steps yourself. If you want to, you can find all the excuses in the world, but the sooner you realize you’re in control of your health journey, the better. Don’t be too hard on yourself; it’s not military training. However, remember that this isn’t your practice life; it’s your only one.

8. Read Food Labels

It may not be your first instinct when shopping, but getting into the habit of checking the labels of the foods you buy will go a long way toward helping you make your health a priority. Pay attention to their MSG, trans fats, artificial flavoring/coloring, protein, preservatives, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and fat content. You should also keep a close eye on your serving portions to avoid consuming more calories than your body needs.

9. Keep Track of Your Numbers

There are some numbers you’ll need to keep track of when you’re trying to make your health a priority. These include bone density, body mass index, HDL, triglycerides, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. Doing so will help you assess your risk of serious conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. If you don’t know your current numbers, ask your healthcare provider to schedule tests for you, how often you should do so, and what the numbers say about your health.

10. Eat Healthy

Be intentional about eating healthier when planning out your weekly menu. Limit your intake of unnecessary sugars, starches, saturated fat, carbohydrates, and empty calories, and add more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, fish, or other types of seafood. You’d be surprised by how much of a difference such simple adjustments in your diet can make in your body weight, health, and how you feel in general.

11. Orthodontic Treatment

If you’re always hiding your smile behind closed lips in social settings because you’re self-conscious about your crooked teeth, visiting an adult orthodontist for a cosmetic dental service may offer a solution for your dental woes. Besides straightening your teeth, boosting your confidence, and improving your appearance, orthodontic treatment also offers several benefits. If you have misaligned or crowded teeth, cleaning them may be difficult.

This can increase your risk of developing gum disease and tooth decay. An adult orthodontist can help improve your teeth’s alignment to make them easier to clean. Orthodontics can also lower your risk of developing diabetes or heart disease.

You may be wondering how your teeth affect your heart. When tartar and plaque accumulate on your gums and around your teeth, the buildup can lead to the onset of gum disease, which is known to cause heart disease. You can also benefit from a lower risk of diabetes because when dental diseases are left untreated, they can cause infections that result in a sudden increase in blood sugar levels.

If your friend, family member, or partner is always complaining about your snoring or you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, you may notice an improvement in your symptoms after undergoing orthodontic treatment. This can be attributed to the fact that your jaw and teeth position may contribute to these problems. So by aligning your teeth to correct your bite, you may be able to reduce your snoring and breathe more easily at night.

As a result, your sleep quality may improve, allowing you to wake up feeling rested and re-energized. Additionally, getting sound sleep each night can improve your mental clarity, making it easier to focus on the tasks you need to accomplish during the day. If you’ve been experiencing unexplainable fatigue, an adult orthodontist may also be able to help.

12. See a Chiropractor

Chiropractic care is a type of complementary medicine that stems from the idea that the body can heal itself. It involves a trained chiropractor performing specific hands-on manipulations which help realign your joints, potentially relieving your pain. These professionals can relieve pain from conditions affecting your muscles, joints, connective tissue, cartilage, and bones.

While chiropractic services primarily focus on the spine, they can also address other body parts depending on what you’re dealing with. This type of treatment is quite similar to physical therapy, and some conditions may benefit from both. The difference is that chiropractors employ hands-on manipulations to relieve symptoms, while physical therapists use stretches and exercises to rehabilitate injuries.

13. Consider Getting Cosmetic Procedures

Cosmetic surgery is an effective way of giving your self-esteem and confidence a boost. Like most people, you likely have a part of yourself that you don’t like; perhaps it’s drooping eyelids, an accumulation of fat around your belly, or a misshapen nose. These ”issues” can significantly affect your mental state, maybe because society doesn’t consider them normal, and they may ruin your chances of meeting the modern beauty standards we’re held against.

Cosmetic procedures such as a botox injection service can help you overcome some of these insecurities, helping you feel more confident and at ease when you’re around other people and enhancing your overall level of happiness. Note that cosmetology isn’t an elixir of happiness and won’t offer a solution for every area of your life that needs attention; a lot goes into living a happy, contented life. Instead, cosmetic surgery can eliminate distressing, ceaseless insecurities that may have been making you a little sadder.

14. Visit a Medical Spa

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in how the medical environment of a patient impacts their health outcomes. Most conventional medical centers are usually busy and full of bright lights, among other stressful triggers. They’re not the most encouraging places to prepare for treatment.

This is why you should consider visiting a medspa. These facilities prioritize your comfort and tailor the environment for relaxation, including everything from the waiting area to the treatment rooms. Some cosmetic procedures can be nerve-wracking, especially for first-time patients. However, the relaxing environment of medical spas will put you at ease before you know it.

Cosmetic med spa treatments offer some of the most effective anti-aging treatments. These include micro-needling, Restylane, and Botox. You can say goodbye to wrinkles, broken capillaries, lines, dark spots, and other age-related skin conditions.

Good health is one of the most important assets you can have. Without it, you won’t be able to achieve much in other aspects of your life, whether it’s financial, career-wise, or in your relationships. There’s no better time to start working on your health goals than now. Use this read as a guide for how to make your health a priority.