Healthy Lifestyle

• Drinking Enough Water

  Water keeps every part of your body working properly. It helps your body flush wastes and stay at the right temperature. It can help prevent kidney stones and constipation. You lose water throughout the day—through your breath, sweat, urine, and...

• Atrial Fibrillation: Living Well

  Learn how to have a healthy, active lifestyle with atrial fibrillation.

• Finding Non-Food Ways to Reward Yourself

  Celebrate your successes with non-food rewards.

• 5 Tips to Keep Your Healthy Lifestyle Change Going

  Learn five tips to help you keep a healthy lifestyle change going.

• How to Eat Healthy When You're Home All The Time

  Learn tips for eating healthy when you're home all the time.

• Prediabetes: Which Path Will You Take?

  Learn how prediabetes motivated one woman to change her habits.

• Healthy Weight: Find Your Inspiration

  What makes you want to reach a healthy weight?

• Coronary Artery Disease: Getting Back on Track

  See how to get back to taking care of your heart.

• Preventing Coronary Artery Disease in Women: First Steps

  See how three women found ways to fit heart-healthy habits into their busy lives.

• Sleep Importance

  Learn why good sleep matters to your health.

• Change a Habit by Setting Goals

  If you've decided to change a habit—whether it's quitting smoking, lowering your blood pressure, becoming more active, or doing something else to improve your health—congratulations! Making that decision is the first step toward making a change. 1. Have your own reason Your reason for wanting to change a...

• Healthy Eating: Helping Your Child Learn Healthy Eating Habits

  Childhood is the best time to learn the healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Healthy eating can help your child feel good, stay at or reach a healthy weight, and have lots of energy for school and play. In fact, healthy eating can help your whole family live better. Return to topic: Healthy Eating for Children...

• Fitness: Teaching Your Child to Stay Active

  Physical activity is essential for lifelong health and well-being. A child can't be healthy if he or she isn't playing actively or exercising most days of the week. One of the very best things you can do for your children's health is to help make physical activity a habit—something that will be a natural part of their...

• Healthy Habits for Kids

  Habits are hard to break. That's why the sooner in life we build good, healthy habits, the easier it is to keep them and stay as healthy as possible. And when good habits are in place, it's easier to resist bad ones. The most important thing to...

• Lifestyle Changes That May Help Prevent Cancer

  Experts believe that one-third to one-half of all cancers can be prevented. That's because there are certain things about our lifestyles—our daily habits—that can make us more likely to get cancer. Here are some steps you can take today to help...

• Drinking and Your Health

  Alcohol can be a safe and enjoyable part of life. If you choose to drink alcohol, the key is to keep your drinking at low to moderate levels. People who drink too much are hurting their health. Heavy drinking can cause all kinds of problems, from stomach and sexual problems to stroke and liver disease. It can also...

• Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy

  Even though you're not pregnant yet, you might already be thinking about which room to turn into the baby's room and how to decorate it. And you might be making lists of all the baby clothes and supplies that you'll need. But it's also a good time to take some steps to help yourself have a happy pregnancy and a healthy...

• Cardiac Rehabilitation: Lifestyle Changes

  A cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) program can help you make lifestyle changes. In cardiac rehabilitation (rehab), a team of health professionals provides education and support to help you make new, healthy habits. Quitting smoking is the best thing...

• Healthy Habits to Prevent or Reduce Problems From Osteoporosis

  You can slow the onset of osteoporosis or reduce its impact if you form habits that build and strengthen your bones. It is best if you start healthy habits early in life, but it's never too late. Habits that build and strengthen bones include:...

• Healthy Aging

  What is healthy aging? Getting older is a natural part of life. How you will feel as you get older depends on many things, including what health problems run in your family and the choices you make. If you take good care of your body and learn positive ways to deal with stress now, you can slow down or even prevent...

• Enjoying Life When You Have Heart Failure

  People who have heart failure can be active and enjoy life. Daily activities. If you have heart failure, you may find that your symptoms make it difficult to do things like cook, clean, bathe, or shop. You can deal with these limitations in various ways. For example, you can rearrange your kitchen to make...

• Healthy Eating: Overcoming Barriers to Change

  Replacing a bad habit with a good habit takes time and patience. It requires several steps, from setting your goals to getting support. One of the important steps is figuring out what your barriers are. What has stopped you from changing your eating...

• Fitness: Staying Active When You Have Young Children

  Discusses challenges of being a new parent and continuing to exercise. Covers amount of exercise needed for health and why it's important. Also offers tips on how to fit exercise into daily routine at home, at parks or playgrounds, and gyms.

• Fitness: Choosing Activities That Are Right for You

  Presents series of questions/answers regarding being active. Covers topics such as sticking with exercise programs, importance of knowing your preferences, your attitudes toward exercising, as well as choosing the best activity for you.

• Rethinking Drinking: Alcohol and Managing Your Weight

  Learn about calories in alcohol, and decide how alcohol fits into your weight management plan.

• Drinking More During the Pandemic?

  This topic helps readers assess whether they may have a drinking problem.

• Alcohol: The Space It Takes Up in Your Life

  Learn the signs of possible risky use of alcohol and think about the role alcohol plays in your life.

• Alcohol: Time for a Change?

  Hear how others found the motivation to change their relationship to alcohol.

• Diabetes and Alcohol

  How does alcohol affect diabetes? When you have diabetes, you need to be careful with alcohol. If you take medicine for diabetes, drinking alcohol may cause low blood sugar. Too much alcohol can also affect your ability to know when your blood sugar is low and to treat it. Drinking alcohol can make you feel...

• Drinking and Your Health

  Alcohol can be a safe and enjoyable part of life. If you choose to drink alcohol, the key is to keep your drinking at low to moderate levels. People who drink too much are hurting their health. Heavy drinking can cause all kinds of problems, from stomach and sexual problems to stroke and liver disease. It can also...

• Coronary Artery Disease and Alcohol

  Low to moderate alcohol use (no more than 2 drinks a day for men, 1 drink a day for women) might lower the risk of coronary artery disease. If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. But if you do not drink alcohol, do not start drinking to try to lower your risk of heart disease. You have many other options that can...

• Form for Identifying Reasons to Cut Down On or Stop Alcohol Use

  If changing your alcohol use is a goal, then knowing what you'll gain by cutting back on or not drinking can help keep you motivated. Take a moment to fill out the form. Be honest. You may find that you have good reasons to cut back or quit-whatever your goal is. Put a check next to the statements that you agree with...

• Ideas to Help You Cut Back On or Stop Using Alcohol

  If you think you might have alcohol use disorder, talk with your doctor before trying to stop drinking. If you have alcohol use disorder, you should stop drinking, not just cut back. If you are physically dependent, you might develop severe withdrawal symptoms if you stop drinking on your own. Whether you have...

• Alcohol Increases the Risk of Cold Injury

  Drinking alcohol may increase the risk of injury from cold exposure. Alcohol: Changes your body's ability to regulate body temperature. Changes your judgment. For example, a person may not put on more clothing when it is needed if his or her judgment is changed by alcohol. Can cause blood vessels in the skin to get...

• Assess Your Substance Use

  The following questions are about your use of alcohol and other drugs. Count the number of "yes" answers you have. How you figure your results is provided at the end of the questions. During the past 6 months: 1. Have you used alcohol or other drugs (such as wine, beer, hard liquor, pot, coke, heroin or...

• Saying No to Alcohol and Drugs

  Alcohol is part of many traditions and is often served at parties and other functions. And although many drugs are illegal or legal only with a prescription, people may offer them to you. If you're in a situation where someone is offering you alcohol or drugs, try this: Look the person in the eye. In a firm voice...

• Quick Tips: Cutting Back On Drinking

  Experts say that for the best health, men should have no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a day. And women should have no more than 1 drink a day. Tips about changing your habits Know your reasons. Write down your reasons for wanting to cut back (for example, to lower blood pressure or to lose...