What Are Some Tips for Healthy Living? Ask the Experts

I really need some tips for healthy living. The New Year is in full swing, and like I said earlier this week during my 7 Tips for Healthy Cooking, I feel like crap. Perhaps it's not JUST the food I eat. Maybe there are items in my environment that could be affecting my mood, health and wellness.

I've got the food and nutrition part covered, being a former Executive Chef at a large hospital, but I wonder what other tips for healthy living I can incorporate into my daily lifestyle. While I may be an expert on cooking, I'm not an expert on all the other elements that go into a healthy lifestyle.

Luckily, I have a very good friend, Ben Greenfield who IS an expert on these things. Ben is a triathlete, former body builder, and health and nutrition expert. He has taken all the skills he's learned over many years from his training routine and brought them into the household.

Ben and Jessa are a great couple, because she has helped further simplify all the things Ben has learned into a comprehensive plan for creating a healthier life, lifestyle, and smarter children. Yes, healthier and smarter children through controlling your environment. I needed to know more.

So, I called Ben and Jessa on Skype recently to ask them for a few of their tips for healthy living that I might incorporate into my life to increase my energy level, brain power, body function, and reduce toxins in my environment.

The healthy lifestyle expert husband and wife team gave me some great suggestions during this video phone call, and even offered an opportunity to join the Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle to get even more information and support.

Since I've been feeling a bit sluggish and irritable lately, Ben's first suggestion was to examine HOW my body is using the food that I'm supplying to it. He says I might be eating healthy foods, but not enough variety of food to supply essential vitamins that my body needs. A lack of the proper fuel can mean that my "engine" isn't running smoothly.

Ben says that Vitamin B is essential to the way the human body metabolizes fat. It's a cheap and simple way to boost your body's function, as Vitamin B should cost less than $10 a month. Ben spoke about omega-3 and omega-6 elements in food and cooking oils like he was reciting his ABC's. He really knew what he was talking about, but I had no idea what he was saying. Greater research is needed on my part.

Jessa advised that I use coconut oil in my cooking, as this has the right type of Omega's my body may need. Coconut oil is better metabolized by the body, and has a higher smoke-point, making it harder to burn things during sauté. That's a great suggestion I can immediately implement.

When I told Jessa that I have air fresheners in my home, the kind that plug into the wall, she said "get rid of them!" It never dawned on me that my household environment could be contributing to my general health and energy level. "Air fresheners and scented candles can coat the nasal passages, and cause allergic reactions," she warned.

"Clean with white vinegar instead of bleach" was another easily accomplished tip for healthy living from Jessa. White vinegar absorbs odors, is non-toxic, and has a better "clean" smell than the hospital scent of bleach. Jessa also has great recipes for home made cleaning products and disinfectants that will save your household budget and reduce toxicity levels in your home.

"The trick is making changes that are cheap, do-able, practical, and appropriate for your lifestyle", says Ben. "You don't need to buy expensive supplements or turn your home into an expensive iPod health-information device."

"You can take charge and make your body and your home a healthier place to be, you just have to know where to start," was the final and perhaps best advice Ben Greenfield gave me during the call. He made me feel better by knowing I have the power to change these things and help myself to feel better.

As our time came to an end, I felt guilty because I "stole" so many great tips for healthy living from Ben and Jessa. This is what they do for a living. They help thousands of people all over the world to be healthier, more vibrant, get sick less, and improve the lives of their children as well. They are not "hippies", they're just like you and me. However, they've been living a healthy lifestyle for many years and will share their approach with you.