Living a healthier life doesn’t have to require a complicated lifestyle overhaul overnight. In fact, it’s often best to make a few small changes over time.
The reason is that small changes, put consistently into practice, are often more sustainable than one big change. If you put together enough small changes that you can keep each day, they will add up to a single great change: better health.
Living a healthier life doesn’t require perfection, just that you try a bit each day to build better habits. Before you know it, your body and mental health may have even changed completely.
It’s also important to remember what better health really is: it’s feeling better. It’s feeling good in your day to day life. It’s increased energy levels, better sleep, and overall well being. Better health doesn’t just mean more years to spend with your family, it means better years to spend with your family.
Below, we’ll share six small tips from doctors to live a healthier life that, over time, can make a big difference in how you feel. These are some of the most effective, evidence-based health tips doctors recommend to help you live better, longer, and with more energy each day.
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Why Doctor-Guided Advice Matters
Before we start, we want to make a small note on why a doctor’s advice matters. As doctors, we rely on evidence, not fads. Our tips are grounded in real patient care and scientific research. We see the long-term impacts of small lifestyle changes, and why it’s worth starting now.
Everything you see below is backed by real science and many years of patient care. With just a few small changes over time, we’ve seen people improve their health to a massive degree. You should always consult your doctor before engaging in any new health regimen, but these tips are part of a larger roadmap to health you can trust.
1. Eat With Purpose: Nutritional Habits That Support Longevity
Focus on Whole, Plant-Forward Foods
When deciding what to eat, focus on whole, plant-forward foods. What do we mean by whole foods? Try to only eat things your grandmother would recognize as food. Minimize processed foods and prioritize vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains.
It’s also important to avoid fad diets. Weight, and fat in particular, are gained by ingesting more calories than your body can lose. It is lost by burning more calories than you eat. The equation is that simple, and despite the claims of fad diets, this is the only equation that matters.
Unless directed by a doctor, strive to eat a balanced diet full of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein.
Hydration and Mindful Eating
You also want to drink quite a bit of water per day. Just under four liters for men, and just under three liters for women. One of the simplest, cheapest, and greatest benefits to health you can make is by switching from sugary soda to water. Don’t drink your calories. Drinking more water can also help with food cravings.
Remember, dehydration can leave you feeling lethargic. Drink water not just for health but for alertness as well.
One great way to make the transition from drinking soda or pop to drinking water easier is to drink sparkling water. This is popular in Europe, can be purchased in bottles, or made at home with a machine. You can also add a slice of lemon or lime, and it will taste very similar to sugary drinks without the associated health risks.
Limit Sugar and Sodium — Without Going Extreme
Finally, when choosing food and drink, limit sugar and sodium, without overdoing it. It’s fine to have dessert every once in a while, or to occasionally snack on potato chips. The key is moderation.
Moderation is what protects your heart, kidneys, and blood pressure, not ultra restrictive diets. The reason why ultra specific diets often fail is because they are unsustainable. We all need comfort or fun from food once in a while.
By eating in moderation and not overdoing things, you’ll likely have better outcomes over time. As always, make sure to follow your doctor’s orders for your unique situation.
2. Move Your Body: Physical Activity for Every Age
The “30 Minutes a Day” Rule
As a good rule of thumb, you should move your body at least 30 minutes a day, every day. This can include vigorous walking, swimming, lifting weights, or even dancing. The most important thing to note is that consistency counts. Even taking a 30-minute walk each and every day can and will improve your health over a sedentary lifestyle.
For those with no or little exercise routine, you can pledge right now to just take a 30-minute walk each day. Even for those who regularly work out, hitting 10,000 steps each day is crucial to health. By taking this one simple step, nearly everyone can improve their health over time.
Build Strength, Not Just Cardio
For those who are more advanced, strength training is just as important as heart and lung health. Exercises that stress the cardiovascular system are called aerobic, and exercises that stress the muscles are anaerobic. A healthy workout routine includes both. Increasing muscle mass helps increase metabolism, can help with balance, and helps to avoid injuries.
There are many ways to build muscle mass, but two of the best are lifting weights and calisthenics or body weight exercises. If you’re able, even just doing a few pushups or a couple of bodyweight squats a day can get you started.
Avoid Sedentary Traps
Oftentimes, desk workers are prone to sedentary lives and can find it difficult to find the time to exercise. This is understandable. The best way to overcome this is to build movement into your everyday life. Ride your bike to work, for example, or take frequent breaks to walk. One of the best solutions is to get an under-desk treadmill and a standing desk.
3. Sleep Is Medicine: Getting Rest That Heals
Why Seven to Nine Hours Matter
Sleep has a wide-ranging and massive impact on more than you might expect. You probably already know that it impacts mental clarity and alertness during the day, but did you know it also impacts heart health, immunity, and metabolism? Better sleep can improve all of these factors. Aim to get seven to nine hours a night.
Doctor-Backed Sleep Hygiene Tips
A few simple habits can improve your sleep quality. Don’t look at any screens an hour before bedtime. This includes your phone. Sleep in a darkened room, and consider getting blackout curtains for your bedroom. Ultimately, routine is key. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on the weekends.
4. Mental Health Is Health: Protecting Your Emotional Wellbeing
Acknowledge, Don’t Minimize
Stress, anxiety, and burnout all have physical consequences and deserve attention. The first step is acknowledging these problems as the problems they are: threats to your health. We understand mental health is tied to physical reality and not all outward circumstances can be changed, but by at least naming the problem, it can begin to be understood and eventually, overcome.
Habits That Support Resilience
There are a number of habits that support resilience and good mental hygiene. These include mindfulness, gratitude, therapy, and social connection. These are all low-barrier ways to protect mental health. If you think you don’t need therapy, you probably do. Therapy is not for the broken or the crazy; it’s for everyone. It’s akin to brushing your teeth for your mind.
Exercise Is Mental Health
Perhaps the most underutilized antidepressant today is exercise. Just as mental health impacts physical health, physical health impacts the mental. Even just a short walk can improve your mood, and with a regime of regular exercise, it is possible to significantly improve some mental challenges, like depression. Try noting your mood before and after participating in exercise.
5. Prevention in Practice: Regular Screenings and Early Detection
Know Your Numbers
One of the best things you can do for your health is to get regular preventative screenings to make sure you’re on the right track, by the numbers. The key check ups include blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and BMI. These should be done often and on a regular basis.
CT Scans and Early Disease Detection
Advanced imaging, such as low-dose CT scans, are wonderful for catching silent killers, like cancer or heart disease. They can be used to screen for many cancers and diseases, including lung disease from smoking. Catching diseases such as these early is key for treatment. The earlier they can be caught, the better outcomes are possible.
Schedule a screening today to be there for your family for years.
Don’t Wait for Symptoms
Early detection isn’t based on fear, it’s based on empowerment. Knowing now can help keep you around to care for your family for many years to come. Knowledge is power, and it’s no different when it comes to your health. Detecting problems early is the strong, healthy choice for those you love.
6. Managing Stress: From Fight-Or-Flight to Feel-Better Daily Habits
Understand the Health Impact of Chronic Stress
Stress can quietly wear down your health in ways you might not expect. Chronic stress drives body inflammation, heart issues, gut disruption, and much more.
Chronic stress occurs when your body stays in a prolonged state of alertness. Unlike acute stress, which is short-term, chronic stress doesn’t give your body time to recover.
Doctor-Recommended Stress Reducers
While for some, reducing stress can be a lifetime endeavor, there are a few practices that can help to reduce stress, and the long-term effects. Some practices you may want to learn more about include:
- Deep breathing techniques
- Nature walks and walking in general
- Tech boundaries, such as limiting screen time or time on social media
- Exercise for mental health
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Social connection (be careful with alcohol)
Remember, small shifts make big results. Even taking 15 minutes a day to meditate, or start a new walking routine, can make enormous differences in a life when stacked up over time.
A Healthier Lifestyle Is Yours in Just a Few Small Changes a Day
Living a healthier life isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress, grounded in science and compassion. A few small changes a day can mean the difference between feeling awful and feeling great — not to mention the years it can add to your life.
If you want to make two simple changes today that can help transform your body and mind over time, trade drinking soda or pop for water, and take a 30-minute walk each day. While there are other more strenuous exercises and further dietary changes you can make, making just these two changes can improve your health immensely.
Remember, small, doctor-approved habits today can prevent major health issues tomorrow. Prevention is always better than the cure. In almost every instance, it costs less in money and pain, and can keep you around for your family longer. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
In addition to the changes above, consider regular screenings as part of your health toolkit. Early detection is a form of self-care. For any advanced imaging you may require, give Preventative Diagnostic Center a call today to discuss your options. We’re looking forward to keeping you healthy for years to come.
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Sources:
Healthy Lifestyle: Try These Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude. (2025).
Nutrition and Healthy Eating. (2025).
