10 healthy lifestyle tips for busy people
We’ve all got a rough idea of how to keep healthy in general; eat your greens, make sure you always have your 5-a-day, exercise regularly, and drink lots of water. But sometimes, even keeping on top of the basics can be difficult when you’re busy.
We know life can get in the way but don’t let being busy stop you from keeping healthy habits.
1. Make use of your life insurance benefits
One of the biggest advantages of life insurance these days is that you can get so many health and wellbeing benefits with your cover*.
At Busy Bee, we work with the UK’s top life insurance companies and the benefits you can get with these insurers can make all the difference to your life. Some of the top providers offer incredible free benefits, such as:
- Access to 24/7 virtual GP appointments (an absolute game changer if you work unsociable hours and need to speak to a doctor ASAP)
- Second medical opinions (if you have been diagnosed with an illness and you’re unsure of your diagnosis or treatment plan, you can speak to an expert)
- Mental health support (not only could you speak to a mental health specialist online but you could also receive up to four therapy sessions a year)
- Personal nurses (experienced nurses who can offer support for long term physical and mental illness, trauma, bereavement and disability)
2. Prioritise sleep
Sleep has a huge impact on your overall health, so making sure you get enough of it is so important.
Having a sleep deficiency is linked to so many chronic health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, increased risk of hypertension, stroke, heart attack, obesity, and depression (just to name a few). To try and beat your sleeplessness, why not try:
- Limit your screen time before bed
- Don’t go to sleep at a certain time when you’re not tired, just because you feel like you need to
- Try and sleep in a cold room, it can help you fall asleep faster and means you won’t wake up in the night overheating
- Avoid heavy meals before bed
- Exercise helps you sleep better, just try not to work-out within 3 hours of your bedtime
If you’re still struggling with your sleep, it could be a sign of an underlying physical or mental health condition. If you have a life insurance policy in place, you could use your free additional benefits to speak to a doctor online for free.
3. Have you got a fitness watch?
Who needs a shiny Rolex when you can have a watch that tells the time, tracks your workouts, sleep patterns, and plays music (just to name a few)? Yes, we’re talking about fitness watches and they’re a great way to motivate you to keep active.
When you’re always busy and on the move, it’s easy to rack up your steps without even releasing, so fitness watches are a great way to keep track of your movement.
Vitality is one of the UK’s leading life insurance providers and their life insurance benefits are mostly fitness related and act as a ‘reward’ for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you need any more incentives to keep a healthy lifestyle, Vitality’s life insurance benefits offer so many incentives to keep fit, such as:
- **Get an Apple Watch SE from just £7 a month up front, earn points by keeping active (the more points you earn, the less you pay for your watch)
- Up to 36% off a range of FitBit devices
- Up to 50% off selected gym memberships
- Get up to 81% off health screenings with Bluecrest
- Up to 40% off a range of Garmin watches
4. Mental health is just as important your physical health
It's easy to neglect your mental health and it doesn’t help that there’s a stigma surrounding it, with many people seeing it as less important than your physical health. Nowadays, so many of the UK’s leading life insurance providers offer free mental health support with your policy. The benefits can include but are not limited to:
- Four therapy sessions a year
- Support from personal nurses, for a range of mental health problems
- Help and support from qualified therapists if you’re struggling with issues like trauma, anxiety and depression
- 12 month free subscription to Headspace***
According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, nearly a quarter of mental health patients (23%) wait more than 12 weeks to start treatment, so having access to these life insurance mental health benefits could make all the difference if you’re struggling.
5. Quit smoking but not just for your health
Smoking is still rife in the UK with around 6.6 million of us reaching for nicotine daily as our vice. But did you know that quitting smoking could actually make your life insurance premiums cheaper?
If you already have a life insurance policy in place and have quit smoking over 12 months ago, you can get in touch with us and we can look and see if we can reduce the costs for your policy. So if you needed more of an incentive to quit, ditching the cigs could result in you paying less for your policy.
Bad news for all the vapers out there though, as you’ll still be classed as a smoker in the eyes of the insurer, so if you vape, the same goes for you too.
6. Get the balance right
There is no one size fits all when it comes to eating right, and with fad diets seemingly never-ending, it can be difficult to know what’s right for you and your body.
When you have a life insurance policy with AIG, one of the UK’s leading life insurance providers, you’ll be given access to Smart Health. This all singing dancing app will give you, your other half, and any of your children under the age of 21, access to all of its benefits (including free online GP appointments).
One benefit that could come in handy is Smart Health’s tailored nutrition plans. Expert nutritionists can develop a personalised plan, tailored to your goals and needs. Once you’ve communicated your food oriented goals to one of the experts through a questionnaire, they can develop a tailored weekly menu, give you tips for healthy eating, and recipe ideas to keep you on track.
7. Mindfulness is no joke
In a nutshell, mindfulness is a practice in which you pay attention to the present moment, your own thoughts and feelings, focusing on what’s going on on the outside and what’s going on on the inside.
It’s easy to neglect mindfulness and because it is commonly confused with meditation, people assume you need to sit for hours in silence. But mindfulness is not a time consuming activity and putting aside a small amount of time every evening to practise mindfulness could help to
- Combat stress
- Improve concentration
- Cope better with depression and anxiety
- Enhance sleep
Whether you believe it works or not - why not try it out? You’ve got nothing to lose, plus, it’s free!
8. Squash your screen time
Whether it’s bingeing your favourite TV show at the weekend, scrolling on your phone on your lunch break or staring intently at your office monitor - screens are a part of our everyday lives. But as much as they are a part of our day-to-day life, it’s important to have regular breaks.
Too much screen time has been linked to psychological problems, like anxiety and depression, and health issues such as obesity and poor sleep. So having time away from your screens could benefit you in ways you didn’t even realise. If you find yourself constantly picking up your phone then try out setting a screen limit or put your phone on ‘do not disturb’ mode so that you don’t get distracted by constant notifications.
If you’re struggling with constantly looking at your screen for work, then make sure you’re taking a couple of minutes (at least) every hour to go away from your screen - every little bit helps!
9. One and done
Getting a health check can be eye opening.
Unfortunately, the NHS only provides a free health check every 5 years for those aged between 40-74 who don’t have a pre-existing condition.
When you have a life insurance policy with Aviva, you will receive access to their app, Digicare+, where you will be able to access several tools that can help you with your overall health and wellbeing. One of the benefits that this app can provide you with is a comprehensive health check.
This check will test you for 20 different health markers to assess your risk for diabetes, high cholesterol and gout, and your liver, kidney and bone health. Having access to an annual health check would mean you can stay on top of your health and enjoy life, without any worries.
10. Check yourself
Being busy is understandable but please don’t neglect to check yourself regularly.
There’s no need to check yourself everyday. But health is wealth, so no matter how busy you are, even just scheduling in a quick 10 minute once over all the important bits, every couple of months, means you’d be able to notice any changes that come up (touch wood).
If you’ve made it this far
At Busy Bee, we believe life insurance shouldn’t be complicated which is why we provide free, no-fuss, award-winning, life insurance advice.
We can help you take out a life insurance policy that’s suited to you and your loved ones. We’re proud to say we’re rated excellent on Trustpilot and with over 200 years combined experience in the industry, we know a thing or two about life insurance.
If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, click the button below to get started with your free life insurance quote.
*Provider benefits do not form a contractual part of your Life Insurance policy and can be changed or withdrawn at any time.
**Only with a qualifying policy with Vitality and is subject to their assessment criteria. (https://www.vitality.co.uk/rewards/partners/active-rewards/apple-watch/apple-watch-terms/) ***Headspace reward is available on qualifying plans with Vitality and is subject to their T&C’s