Tricks for getting healthy without trying hard

Doing exactly the right thing can seem impossible. These quick methods come close.

Cardiovascular Activity

The ideal: Do 30 minutes most days of the week. The surgeon general advises this near-daily regimen will help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, raise HDL (good) cholesterol, and improve cardio health, reducing the risk for diabetes and heart disease.

The next best thing: Take three 10-minute walks each day. Short bursts have real health benefits, says Cris Slentz, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, North Carolina. Assuming the intensity is identical to that of a 30-minute workout, you’ll burn the same number of calories and get the heart-health benefits.

A few ideas:

- Devote 10 minutes of your lunch hour to a brisk walk.
- Climb a few flights of stairs several times a day instead of using the elevator.
- Offer to take a friend’s (energetic) dog for a walk.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

The ideal: Have five to nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. Eat such a bounty and you’ll get a full array of nutrients, as well as plenty of fiber, says Claudia Gonzalez, a registered dietitian in Miami.

The next best thing: They may not be farmers’ market–worthy, but sneak in servings this way:

- Try vitamin-rich dried fruits and single-serving packs of applesauce (applesauce has less fiber than fresh apples but still contains some vitamin C).
- Using frozen berries, whip up a fruit smoothie, which can hold up to three servings of fruit.
- Try canned. Vegetable and bean soups are good sources of fiber and can be as nutritionally rich as fresh produce, says Gonzalez. Go ahead and take a multivitamin if you’re still falling short. It may cover key nutrients. Find out how much of each nutrient you really need.


Fish

The ideal: Eat it twice a week. Fatty fish, like salmon, trout, and sardines, are packed with DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found in many studies to reduce the risk of heart disease and boost the immune system.

The next best thing: Add flaxseed or fish oil to your diet. Here are two easy ways:

- Sprinkle one to two tablespoons of flaxseed on salads or oatmeal, says Tracy Gaudet, M.D., a women’s-health expert and the director of Duke Integrative Medicine, in Durham, North Carolina. For optimum absorption of nutrients, the seeds need to be broken, so if you have only whole flaxseed, run it through a coffee grinder for a few seconds.
- Talk to your doctor about fish-oil supplements. The American Heart Association suggests 1,000 milligrams of omega-3s a day for certain people at risk for heart disease.


Sleep

The ideal: Get at least seven hours each night. Skimping on sleep can have a major impact on your health. A 2007 study at the University of Warwick, in England, found that women who slept fewer than five hours a night were twice as likely to suffer from hypertension as women who got seven hours of sleep. Previous studies have linked lack of sleep to weight gain and a weakened immune system.

The next best thing: If you’ve been short on sleep, take a nap. A recent study found that people who took a short daily nap had a lower rate of dying from heart disease than did those who never snoozed during the day.

Two suggestions:

- Lie down for a 20-minute siesta in the afternoon to revive yourself.
- Take a quick catnap when you get home from work to counteract the effects of lost sleep.

Expand Sexy Abs Without Crunches!

Bathing suits the season a bit far, but it means that the ideal time to begin to develop flat, sexy stomach you swear you work for each year. Even if you hate crunches, you'll love the following easy, is not moving equipment. Some of these steps in your exercise routine three times a week (a weakening of their sensitivity to a minimum), and then after two weeks, making them all together in one session. So do not be surprised if you found surfing the Internet for bikinis, is preparing to unleash your sleek new ABS surfside.

Plank pose
The balance on the fingers of the forearms and legs (or hands) for up to one minute, pulling the navel to the spine and maintaining direct ago.

Standing Bike
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands clasped over his head and elbows pointed sides. Align left leg as you lift your right leg, knee bent, thigh parallel to the floor. Maintaining the knee lifted and stable, rotate the torso toward the right. Back in the beginning. Repeat on the other side for one person. At 10 representatives.

Side-winder
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands clasped over his head and elbows pointed sides. Lift your right leg to the side, knee bent, thigh parallel to the floor. Saving knee removed, tilt the torso on the right side, resulting in the elbow and knee in relation to each other. Representative Lee 10; switch sides, repeat.

Swings
Stand with feet shoulder width of each other, knees slightly bent, hands on hips. Lift your right leg, knee bent, thigh parallel to the floor legs bent. Align the right foot, heels clicking on the word, as you meat torso backwards. Back to the tribe to cancel, and repeat five times. Switch sides and repeat.

Forward bending
Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms overhead with palms facing in. Lift the right leg, knee bent, thigh parallel to the floor. Maintaining the knee overturned and hands raised, to bring the torso and the knee in relation to each other as close as you can. Back to the top, switch sides and repeat for one person. At 10 representatives.

By Lucy Danziger, SELF Editor-in-Chief