50 Fun Ways To Stay Healthy

Introduction

Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, being healthy got a bad rap. The well-meaning minority of people who began to realize the health dangers of processed foods and couch-potatoism went to extremes. A healthy diet back then consisted of granola, bean sprouts and tofu, and the healthy way to fitness was to run until your lungs burned, your legs turned to jelly and your heart beat almost out of your chest.

A decade or so later, poultry and fish were acceptable, while red meat and eggs were blamed for the increase of heart disease in the American population. At the same time, all fats were demonized and the health nuts of the day declared a low-fat diet to be the sure way to a long, disease-free diet.

It went from bad to worse, as nutrition research went out of control and came back with ludicrous results. Apples suddenly were poisonous, ketchup was a vegetable and white sugar caused the body no harm.

No wonder people seeking to boost their energy, prevent illness and disease, and maintain a healthy weight are met with confusion at every turn. Even today, while the tables have turned a bit and an apple a day once again is considered helpful in keeping the doctor away, books on nutrition and fitness contradict each other – even books written by the same authors just a few years apart!

If you are one of those confused individuals, I have good news for you: there is hope! The scientific community knows more today than ever about human physiology and biochemistry.

With more and more independent researchers who have nothing to gain by falsifying or grossly misinterpreting scientific data – which the food conglomerates and pharmaceutical companies do, by the way – the average layperson can more easily sift through the hype and lies to find the truth about what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

Even so, most books about healthy living weigh you down with boring scientific details and lock-step formulas that you had better follow, or else! Still other books take you by the hand and tell you exactly what to do every day for six to ten weeks, sometimes making the transition to a healthier life more laborious than you were hoping for.

Those kinds of books are certainly helpful for some people some of the time. But they get old.

And often leave you with the impression that striving for optimum health means sacrifice, work and, well, no fun.

However, living healthy is fun. It consists of delicious, even rich food; exciting adventures; relaxation; and laughter. In fact, I would argue that if life feels like dull drudgery, you are risking your health.

And we don’t want that, do we? Thus this book. Rather than giving you formulas to follow, a list of recipes loaded with exotic ingredients, or pages of medical terms and descriptions, I have provided fifty ideas that give you jumping-off points for improving your overall health and well-being.

I give you a brief background and description of each idea, so that you understand why I believe the concept would be healthful, helpful, and fun. You may not agree with every point of my philosophy about healthy living, but I am confident you will have a ball exploring most of the options I set before you in this book.

You can try all of them or just a few of them. You can challenge yourself to try one idea a day, one a week, or one a month. You can work through these ideas by yourself or with a group of friends. They are in no particular order, so feel free to complete any one of them at any time.

A caution before you begin: some of them are fun because they are, in fact, fun. Just to engage in the activity brings pleasure and stress reduction. Others are fun because of the results they ultimately bring you when you incorporate them into your life. Just so you know.

Are you ready to see what an absolute blast it can be to look after your physical and mental well-being? Then let’s jump right in to the pool of fun!

The 50 Fun Ideas

1. Eat a square of dark chocolate.

Hey, this mini-book’s off to a good start, isn’t it? Unless you’re one of the few who actually don’t like it, or one of the even fewer who are allergic to it. If that’s you, well, just move on to fun way number two.

For the rest of you, dark chocolate is a surprisingly good source of minerals and anti-oxidants.

For example, it contains iron, magnesium, manganese, and copper. These nutrients, plus traces of others, plus dark chocolate’s anti-oxidant properties, carry some surprising health benefits.

Chocolate may help lower blood pressure and decrease risk of heart disease. It is anti-inflammatory and energy-increasing. It can even reduce damage from the sun.

You can’t beat dark (note: that’s dark) chocolate – fun and health in one neat little package!

2. Add excitement to your water.

There is nothing like a squirt of citrus juice (fresh, not the bottled stuff) to perk up a glass of water. Many people transitioning away from fruit juices or sodas find adding a bit of flavor to their water almost essential to their enjoyment of this “new” beverage.

Use 1/8 to ¼ of the fruit. I prefer lime, because its flavor is not as sour and therefore doesn’t lead to as much temptation to add sweetener as does lemon (adding sweetener almost defeats the purpose!). Either way, you not only add a fruity flavor but a bit of vitamin C as well.

Stirring in certain essential oils provide their own kind of flavor and different health benefits.

A caution before I go on: many essential oil companies add synthetic ingredients to at least some of their oils. Brand matters. The highest quality oils I’ve ever encountered come from Be Young Total Health. However, buyer beware: it is an MLM company. After I left the company, I did find two brands of essential oils available from Amazon that are mostly as good, or close-enough good, as the oils that Be Young sells. These two brands are Plant Guru and Plant Therapy, the former being my favorite.

For every eight ounces of water, add one drop of lemon or orange oil (or both, if you like to mix the flavors). A drop of birch and a fourth teaspoon of xylitol or a pinch of powdered stevia tastes like root beer – but without the fizz. Add a drop of peppermint to a quart of water.

Essential oils oxygenate your cells. They contain the essence of the plants from which they are derived (thus the term “essential” oils), meaning that all the health-giving properties they provide for the plant, they can provide for you. They can detoxify cells and blood, and boost your immune function. If the oils have had nothing added to them, they are perfectly safe to consume in small doses (no more than a few drops at a time).

One caution: when you use essential oils, being oils they don’t mix with water so you need to keep stirring up your water every so often to keep the oil blended with the water.

Perk up your water with essential oils or citrus juice, and your Significant Other might find they want to kiss you more often and longer!

3. Go swimming.

Do you get tired of walking around your heavily trafficked neighborhood? Do you have physical problems – back or joint pain, for example – that turn many kinds of fitness activities into exercises in pain endurance?

Go swimming! If you live in a town with a Park and Recreation department, there are almost certainly centers with swimming pools. If so, take advantage of their affordability and convenience. A season pass to a Rec center is much less expensive than a gym membership.

Of course, if you live near a river or lake where swimming is appropriate, that – in my opinion – is an even better choice because you don’t have to bathe in chemicals, as you do in public swimming pools.

Yes, I am aware of the advantages and dangers of either kind of water. Living is dangerous! Get over it, go swimming and have fun.

4. Make (and eat!) some raw pudding.

No, I don’t mean mix together milk, egg, vanilla, and sugar and eat it without heating it! I’m talking about vegan raw pudding. The only caveat is that you need either a food processor or high-powered blender (such as a Vitamix or Blendtec) to make it.

Two of my favorites are avocado-based. For lemon pudding, blend one cup soaked dates, one avocado, and two whole, peeled lemons. You can substitute lime for the lemons in this recipe.

Chocolate mousse is made of one avocado, one cup almond milk, two-thirds cup soaked dates, 1/4 to 1/3 cup cocoa powder, and a fourth cup of almond butter.

If you have cashews on hand but not avocadoes, you can replace the avocado with three-fourths cup cashews that have been soaked for thirty minutes. Add water as necessary.

Why raw vegan puddings? They have a rich flavor like traditional puddings, are satisfying, and contain only healthful, nutritious ingredients. Treat yourself to a dish as a mid-day snack, or eat it for dessert after a raw nut-and-vegetable salad meal.

5. Listen to your favorite music.

Stress is literally killing people before their respective times. It leads to depression and anxiety, suppresses immune function, wears out the adrenal glands, grinds any attempt at weight loss to a halt, and increases your risk of all manner of chronic disease.

A great way to relieve yourself of stress is by listening to your favorite music. I know for some of my readers this goes without saying. In fact, probably for all of them it goes without saying, but not everybody allows themselves the time to enjoy some tunes. This is sad, because a mere ten to fifteen minutes per day spent listening to music has some serious mental health – even a few physical health – benefits. I know for myself that when I go several days in a row without listening to music, I start to get irritable. But if I just take ten minutes a day to listen to something, my mood lifts and my overall outlook on life improves. In other words, my husband and my son like me better.

6. Dance.

Along those same lines, dancing is a great stress-reliever as well. Even if you’re bound to a wheelchair, there is some part of your body that you can move in time to the music. Maybe another member of your household would dance with you by swinging your arms in time to the music.

For the rest of us, dancing is not only one of the few pleasures in life we can engage in without feeling guilty about or worry about hurting someone else (uh, unless you’re couple dancing and have two left feet), it is also a great way to strengthen our bones, tone our muscles, and improve motor coordination.

Even if you have two left feet, it’s a fun and uplifting activity. So put on an upbeat record – uh, that is, CD – and get your feet to moving!

7. Laugh.

Unless you have a bruised or cracked rib, I am certain we can agree that laughter is one of the most fun activities going. But how is it healthy? Let me count the ways.

1.  It lowers blood pressure.

2. It increases blood flow through the vessels.

3. It increases the oxygen levels in the blood.

4. Laughing works out the diaphragm and abdominal, facial, back and leg muscles.

5. It lowers stress hormone levels.

6. It boosts the immune system.

7. Laughter improves memory and learning.

8. It improves alertness and creativity.

Did you know that there is a medical doctor in India who is so convinced that laughter is essential for good health, that every morning he invites anyone in his village who wants, to join him in a belly-laugh session? Somewhere on YouTube you can find a video of him leading a large group of people in uproarious laughter.

So even if you don’t think you have anything to laugh about, even a forced “ha-ha-ha!” provides almost the same health benefits as genuine laughter. Of course, I would also recommend listening to comedians, watching funny movies and clowning around with friends. But however you choose to do it, go ahead and laugh.

8. Eat a bowl of in-season fresh berries with almond butter.

If you’ve never had this tantalizing combination of food, you will see why it is fun from the first bite you take! But it doesn’t just taste delicious – it is also a highly nutritious choice for a breakfast, snack or even a quick, healthy lunch or dinner. 

Berries – blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries – are generally high not only in certain nutrients, especially vitamin C, but also in antioxidants. Blueberries have recently become famous for their high level of polyphenols, specifically an antioxidant called anthocynin, which help reduce the risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Strawberries – whose leaves should not be ignored, as they make a highly nutritious tea – actually come out ahead of blueberries in antioxidant value, ranking fourth among all commonly eaten foods in the United States. They also carry a very low glycemic value, making them the perfect berry choice for those who would like to eat some fruit, but must severely restrict their sugar consumption for whatever reason.

What about almond butter? Almond butter has a sweet taste, and is healthier than peanut butter in several ways. First of all, peanuts tend to develop a very toxic fungus as they grow underground, which then can end up in your jar of peanut butter. Second, peanuts are very high in fat, especially omega-6 fatty acids. And the roasted peanut butter you are used to eating is highly rancid because its fat is not heat stable. This rancidity, if the body is repeatedly exposed to it, can cause illness and disease.

Almonds, on the other hand, have no toxicity problems (unless you buy the non-organic kind, which have been sprayed with pesticides) and are relatively low in fat compared with all other nuts. But they are high in vitamin E, magnesium, and copper, and contain a smaller amount of a variety of other vital nutrients.

So if you’re looking for a change in your breakfast food or need a healthy snack idea – ones that kids will love as well, I might add – have a bowl of berries topped with a generous spoonful of almond butter.

9. Buy a rebounder – and use it!

Now, if you already have several other exercise gadgets that you haven’t used in the past six months, pass up on this idea. Far be it from me to encourage anyone to waste money.

But if you’re looking for a fun way to get some exercise and don’t have chronic lower back pain, a rebounder is the way to go! First of all, it is small, so it won’t take up much space and is easy to store. More important are its numerous health benefits.

Rebounding:

• encourages draining of the lymph nodes, thereby

• improving immune function.

• helps to strengthen the skeletal system, since it is a weight-bearing exercise.

• provides more than twice the general physical benefits of running, with a lot less stress on the joints.

• helps improve balance.

• improves circulation.

• increases muscle tone.

What’s not to love?

10. Make a new friend.

When studying the people groups with the longest-lived and healthiest elderly populations, or individuals who live past 100 with both mind and body still intact, there is always one common factor: tightly-knit communities, and/or active social lives.

We were designed to live interdependently. From friends and (healthy) family relationships we accrue security, the feeling of belonging, nurturing, and shoulders to cry on. People who socialize regularly laugh more and stress less. They get help – from the practical, everyday variety to mental and emotional assistance – when they need it.

So make a friend. A real-life, face-to-face friend. Join a group where you can meet people, invite acquaintances to dinner, start talking to your neighbors. It will be fun, I promise!

11. Kick a bad habit.

This will not be fun at first. Your bad habit may be the way you deal with stress or negative circumstances. It may be a crutch you don’t know how you will do without.

But deep down, you know that if you get it out of your life and replace it with better, healthier habits, you will improve your life – perhaps even save yourself from an early, painful death.

But what if you don’t smoke, do drugs, drink to excess, overeat or look at porn?

Trust me, you have a bad habit. You are not perfect (sorry to break the news to you). Do you overspend, shop to medicate emotions, complain constantly, have a problem with anger, bite your fingernails, or drink sodas or coffee all day long? Do you raise your voice at your kids, nag your husband, or talk about how pretty other women are in your wife’s presence?

All bad habits. All behaviors that are impacting your relationships, work, mental ability, and/or physical health in a negative way are bad habits.

If you’re like most people, you have more than one. So make a list of them, pick one, and determine to eliminate it from your life. Read books, search online and join support groups to find out what options are available to help you choose more helpful and healthful behaviors.

12. Start a blog.

I’m not talking about trying to make money online. Although, if you hate your job and you have a skill or talent – such as writing, acting, or craft-making – that you want to create an online side business with, far be it from me to try to discourage you! 

The reason I make this suggestion is that unless you hate to write, blogging is a fun way to express your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Snoop around at blogger.com, wordpress.com, and typepad.com to see which platform suits you. Then, pick a domain name that is quirky or snappy, or that includes your name.

What might you write about? Many people who aren’t specifically trying to make money with their blog simply use a blog according to its original purpose – an online journal. You could write down just a few sentences each day, or write a post once a week that notes the highlights from the past seven days.

Is there an interest you’re pursuing at the moment? You could use the blog to write down what you are learning about the topic, or actions you are taking as you learn. For example, if you are reading and watching videos about raw food, you can blog about the new information you are learning, as well as post pictures of recipes you are trying.

Some people use blogs as a kind of therapy to help them through a hard time in their lives. I have encountered a blog written by a woman who had had a bunionectomy, and another written by a woman who was experiencing perimenopausal hypoglycemia.

If you enjoy writing short short stories (that’s not a typo, by the way; that means a super short story), you might post them to a blog. Perhaps photography is your thing, so you might upload the photos you took that day along with a sentence or two to explain each one.

All that to say, you can write whatever you want on a blog. Don’t want the world to be able to see it? If you create a free blog at somewhere like blogger.com or wordpress.com, you can make your blog private so that nobody can see it.

Blogging is fun, especially for those of us who love to write, because it provides a creative outlet without any of the pressures involved with the publishing industry.

13. Replace breakfast and a snack with smoothies for one month.

Regular, plain ol’ smoothies made of a base of frozen bananas, then other fruit of your choice, would likely be enough to improve the nutrition of your typical breakfast. But if you really want to amp things up, try green smoothies.

What? Never heard of a green smoothie? Don’t worry – you are far from alone. A green smoothie is simply a fruit smoothie with some greens – lettuce, spinach, kale, etc. – added to it.

It’s a great way to add more vegetables to your diet.

Sound gross? It is if you make one out of plums, oranges and an entire bunch of Swiss chard. A green smoothie tastes best if it has at least one banana in it and is blended with a mild-flavored green such as spinach or lettuce. If you’re going to add other fruits, make sure they are on the sweet side, not sour or acidic. Grapes, apples, pears, peaches and berries work just fine.

Here’s a classic green smoothie recipe for one person:

• 1 cup water

• ¼ cup almonds, cashews or macadamia nuts (optional)

• 1 banana (start with two if you’re not used to the flavor of greens)

• 1 cup frozen berries

• A handful of spinach

Blend all ingredients together in a high-powered blender (sorry, the greens won’t blend well in a regular run-of-the-mill department store appliance). You will be pleasantly surprised at the fresh, sweet taste – and it is loaded with vitamins, minerals and anti-aging phytonutrients.

Of course, you can try stronger-flavored greens when you get used to eating this kind of smoothie (or eating more greens in general). But even if you don’t, sticking to this basic recipe will nourish your body in so many ways – and your taste buds will love it!

So, why replace your breakfast and one snack every day for a month? Most people’s breakfast are loaded with high-gluten wheat products, and/or high fat products, and/or foods brimming over with processed sugars and synthetic ingredients. If your breakfast and snacks currently resemble those kinds of foods, doing the green smoothie replacement will improve your nutritional intake in a HUGE way, as well as get rid of many of the ingredients that are slowly toxifying your body and suppressing immune system function.

Why a whole month? I believe that once you try it for thirty days, you won’t want to go back to what you were eating before! You will have developed a healthy eating habit that you might just stick with for life.

14. Give to a neighbor in need.

In my opinion, you can’t get much more fun than surprising someone with a gift, especially when it’s something they really need. Does a neighboring family need extra money to pay off medical expenses for their special needs child? Did your next-door elderly widow break her laptop, and can’t afford a new one? Did the lady down the street just have a baby? Does the elderly couple a block over need someone to walk their dog? Is there a middle school student struggling with a subject that you could offer tutoring with?

There are more needs in your neighborhood than you could ever think of. Help just one person, and you will be flying high for the rest of the day.

15. Read a non-fiction book.

Well, since you are reading this book, I guess I am preaching to the choir now, aren’t I? But when you think about it, people tend to read non-fiction when they have a problem to solve.

They want to learn how to lose weight, how to build a deck, how to start a garden, how to discipline their children.

When they feel that they have learned the information they want, they go back to reading their sci-fi, fantasy, horror or romance novels…or worse, go back to their non-reading habit.

While I have nothing against reading fiction per se (I’ve written some myself), and certainly think it’s great that you bought this book to solve health-related dilemmas, this idea has more to do with intentionally widening your scope of knowledge.

In other words, read non-fiction books on topics that you might otherwise not read, just for the sake of learning. Are you a slow reader? Audio books count, too! Of course, you can always buy

Kindle books that have the text-to-speech feature enabled and let a computerized voice read to you.

Why is this healthy? Learning new things causes new connections to be made among your brain cells. This not only improves your thinking and concentrating abilities short-term, but also increases your chances of having a sound mind well into old age.

How is it fun? Enlarging your world is a blast! Besides, if you get into the habit of reading non-fiction on a regular basis, you always have something to talk about at a party.

16. Go on a spontaneous vacation.

This is easy if you’re single; harder if you’re married; a bear of a challenge of you have kids. But in any case, it’s fun! You may end up going somewhere you’ve never been, or you may hit a familiar, but restful or adventurous, place. You may see familiar faces, make new friends, or spend a day or two by yourself. In any case, it’s fun!

Here’s how the scenario might play out. On Wednesday, you decide you need a change of scenery for the coming weekend. By bedtime that night, you decide a three-hour trip to a small town with an old-style farm and petting zoo is in order. You run the idea by your spouse, who agrees. On Thursday, you reserve a motel room in the town for Saturday night and arrange for a neighbor to look after your dogs. Friday morning you spring the surprise on your children, who eagerly pack some belongings for the trip Friday night. You leave early Saturday morning, make some family memories, and are home by Sunday afternoon.

The scenario could take a variety of shapes, but the end result is the same: you come home a little healthier because you are happier and more rested than you were a few days before.

17. Declutter your closet.

There is almost nothing more satisfying than going through a crammed space and clearing out the unnecessaries, then organizing what’s left into an open, peaceful space. The fun begins the next time you go to the closet to retrieve an outfit…and you can actually find what you’re looking for in no time flat! How does this help you stay healthy? It reduces your stress levels.

You’re already going to have to face a hectic day, and maybe a jerk of a boss. You don’t need a messy, disorganized closet adding to your daily dose of headache.

Start with non-clothes items first, because (especially for women) they tend to be easier to tackle than clothing. Go through whatever boxes may be on the floor. Do you really need everything contained inside those boxes? If not, have another large box or trash bag in which to put items that you will try to sell or donate to charity. If necessary, have another trash bag handy for trash.

Now, move to the shelf above the clothes-hanging rods. If it is overflowing with boxes, bags, and/or loose items, go through them carefully and sort as you sorted the items on the floor. Of the items that you plan to keep, is this shelf the most logical place to store them? If not, move them to their better home.

Now, the clothes. One suggestion you hear often is to hang all the hangers the same way. Then, as you wear each item, hang it the opposite way. Do this for three to six months, and you will see which items you actually wear, and which ones you’ve given up on.

If you already know which pieces you wear most often, cull out the items that you do not wear.

Yes, this includes new items that you brought home and changed your mind about three days later, but never bothered to return to the store. People have a hard time giving up things that they paid good money for. So do I, but I make it easier by deciding to gift the item. I choose to believe that I never bought the item for myself in the first place, that it was for somebody else all along.

Also cull out items that don’t fit you quite right or that you don’t really like, but that you have just been wearing because of the money issue again.

When you’re finished eliminating the pieces that you don’t want, organize the rest. I recommend hanging pieces together that coordinate with one another. For example, if you have three T-shirts and a blouse that go well with a particular pair of jeans, a denim skirt, or a couple of pairs of slacks, hang all those items in close proximity. Also, move all the items that are suitable for this season within easy reach, and have the out-of-season clothing farther back. That way you don’t have to fight through winter clothing to find a cute summer outfit.

And now getting dressed becomes fun once again!

18. Take a walk.

Everybody has time to take a walk. You can do it before breakfast, after breakfast, during your lunch break, after dinner. You can do it alone, with your partner, with a friend.

Walking reduces stress, cleanses your lymphatic system, and gives you some of the weight-bearing exercise critical to increasing bone density. It increases your endurance; releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in your brain; and improves your muscle tone.

The best place to walk, in my opinion, is a quiet, wooded area. But if even a city park is too inconvenient to get to, or if the weather does not permit, put an upbeat CD in your CD player, or download a motivational podcast, and enjoy a brisk walk around your house or apartment while listening to something that boosts your mood.

Walking is free, requires no equipment, and helps you to reduce your risk of all kinds of illness and disease. So go take a walk!

19. Meet a friend for lunch at a health food store.

We have already established the importance of making friends and socializing. To have close connections with other people is to have the emotional support necessary to reduce disease-causing stress. To relax with a friend induces inside your body the positive environment your cells need to thrive.

Share a healthy meal of organic food with a friend, and the impact on both your physical and mental health is even greater. You not only grow an important relationship, but also provide nutrient-dense, chemical-free foods that help increase your energy, improve your mood, boost your immune system and better your brain function.

Many health food stores provide prepared foods that you can select from and pay for by the pound, or pre-packaged salads featuring organic meat, cheese and vegetables.

So call a friend and make your next lunch the most fun ever.

20. Make coconut ice cream.

If you’re still not convinced that eating healthy can be fun and tasty, wait until you try this idea!

Ice cream is one of the hardest sweets for wanna-be health nuts to give up. But even the “vegan”, so-called healthy kinds of ice cream are loaded with unnatural fillers and sugars.

However, eating healthier doesn’t mean giving up your favorite treats, including ice cream. It just means you have to find a substitute. Coconut ice cream to the rescue!

Purchase a young coconut from an Asian or health food market. Find a video online that instructs how to cut it open. Pour out the water into a bowl, then transfer to a jar to drink up within the next couple of days. Although it is sweet, it is low in calories and a good source of nutrients.

Scoop the flesh from the coconut. Put it into a food processor with one frozen, sliced banana, and process. To end up with a creamier product, blend the coconut, banana and a little of the coconut water in a blender (a high-power blender like a Vita-Mix or Blendtec works best).

Either way, the result is a sweet, frozen treat that is actually very healthy! Bon appétit!

21. Grow something.

If you’ve always wanted to try growing some of your own produce, there’s no time like the present! You can even learn to grow certain crops indoors, and there are many videos on YouTube that show you how to container garden on small balconies and patios, or how to grow intensively in small backyards.

Trust me, there is no feeling like the one you get when you go out and harvest vegetables from your own garden and then eat them a few minutes later. It is one of the most empowering and satisfying activities you will ever undertake.

It will also improve your health. The very act of maintaining a garden gives you some physical exercise, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Are you aware that when produce is harvested, within 24 hours it has lost half of some of its nutrients, and a notable portion of many others?

Think of how long ago the produce at the grocery store was harvested. The freshest will be at least two or three days old – the nutritional value will be down to a fraction of what it would have been freshly picked.

Since a deficiency of nutrients is one of the major factors in aging and disease, this is not good news. But if you grow at least a few vegetables, if only a few containers on a patio, you increase your nutrient intake by leaps and bounds, which in turn increases your health level.

What about flowers? Do flowers count? Of course! If you don’t want the bother of maintaining a vegetable garden (they definitely require a lot more TLC than flower gardens), but would like a patch of beauty in front of your house, do a little research, buy some seeds or starter plants, and get growing! Anytime you grow anything, you get fun and satisfaction out of the deal.

22. Turn an interest into a hobby.

The healthiest senior citizens are those who express their creativity either in their daily work or a regular hobby. Particularly if your job is not all that fulfilling to you, working a hobby on the side is critical to your health.

Why? Healthy people are happy people, and true happiness comes from being true to yourself.

This includes participating in activities that interest and fulfil you. So if you have an interest in wooden boats, build one! If you have a passion for nutrition, start a podcast about it, or experiment with recipes and write a cookbook. Do you love to decorate your home? Share tips with the world on a blog, and volunteer your services to local new Habitat For Humanity houses.

When you allow yourself to unleash your creativity by focusing on your personal interests and passions, your overall stress level plummets. Besides, maybe one day this new hobby will turn into a lucrative income stream.

23. Find a (new) podcast to listen to.

I’m feeling smarter by the day. Why? First of all, years ago I was a bilingual teacher in Spanish, but after years of not speaking the language or hearing natives speaking it to me, I knew I was losing it and I didn’t want to lose it altogether. So I started listening to a podcast that comes out of Spain radio almost every day.

Second, I recently found a podcast (in English) entitled, “Surprisingly Awesome” (you can find it, and several other very well-produced podcasts, at http://gimletmedia.com). In brief, I learn some really cool things listening to that podcast. From the other, I am learning a lot about European politics and culture.

I’m getting smarter, and having a lot of fun while I’m at it.

You may already have a few stand-by podcasts that you enjoy. But the podcasts may revolve around just one or two topics. Why not add another one or two that will expand your world?

iTunes and Stitcher are the two most popular places on the Internet where podcast producers publish their shows, and generally they publish to both websites. I prefer Stitcher because I don’t have a smart phone or Apple device, and having the iTunes app on my computer can slow down its function to an annoying degree. With Stitcher, I just go to the website and browse podcasts by category.

Listening to podcasts are not only fun in and of themselves, but they help make chores fun, as well. I seem to get chores done in a fraction of the time when I am listening to a podcast as I work.

In short, listening to podcasts that you enjoy do two things for your health: they increase your brain power, and they reduce your stress levels.

24. Go on a bike ride.

When I moved into my very first apartment, I biked everywhere. The apartment complex just happened to be located down the street from a business zone, so most places I wanted to go were a straight shot down the sidewalk. I biked to the library, a Target store, even to church (which was in a different direction, but a more pleasant ride through a residential area). It was fun, and, of course, great exercise. My legs, lungs and heart were in great shape.

If you live in a location where stores and other public places are within a five to thirty minute bike ride, you can help cut down on air and noise pollution by biking whenever possible. If not, taking a bike ride through a residential area or around a nature trail is a great way to get some sun and some exercise at the same time.

If your bicycle has been hanging in the garage feeling lonely, take it down and go for a ride! You will feel better physically, mentally and emotionally after a good trip.

25. Try magnesium.

What’s fun about taking a nutritional supplement, you ask? A fair question. It’s fun if you’ve been losing sleep thanks to restless legs (or restless sleeping in general), and a few days after you start taking the magnesium, you never have a hard night again. It’s fun if you are clinically depressed or have regular panic attacks, and taking magnesium miraculously cures your mental illness. It’s fun if you’re a woman who experiences severe moodiness at a particular time of the month, but taking magnesium nearly eliminates the anger, depression, and downward spiral of thoughts. It’s fun if you’re a man with anger issues (that are not caused by inebriation), and a week after faithfully taking magnesium you find that you can keep your calm much more easily.

I am not promising that any of this will happen should you decide to start taking magnesium.

However, I am telling you from personal experience, and from what I’ve read online, taking a magnesium supplement CAN (not for sure does or will, but can) help alleviate emotional disorders as well as certain physical symptoms. Why? For reasons such as stress, toxicity, and poor diet, most Americans are deficient in the mineral. Necessary for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, magnesium keeps your nervous system – this includes your emotions – in balance. When lacking, it produces symptoms ranging from those annoying involuntary muscle twitches to irrational fits of rage, or depression so deep that it leads to suicide.

Yes, magnesium is a nutrient that you do not want to ignore. Again, DISCLAIMER: I do not guarantee that magnesium is the solution to your particular problem. However, at fewer than thirty cents per day a magnesium supplement is an easy and inexpensive remedy to try.

If you choose to try it, purchase either chelated magnesium (in capsule form) – available from any health food store – or angstrom magnesium (liquid) from Amazon. The latter is a little harder to come by, but pretty much 100% of it is absorbed into your system. Chelated magnesium, being a powder, is not as easily absorbed.

Avoid other kinds of magnesium or you may end up going “number two” five times a day… and not being able to hold it. I speak from sad experience.

26. Take care of a long-standing health issue.

In the previous way to stay healthy, I may have helped you do just that! Of course, a magnesium deficiency may not be at the root of what ails you. Do you have chronic lower back pain that you’ve just been chalking up to getting older? An unsightly mole or skin tag on your neck or face? Frequent digestive discomfort? Recurring boils? More bouts with the cold or flu than most other people you know? Fatigue?

Either by research and experimentation or by visiting a health care practitioner, figure out the root of your problem and how to take care of it. Something that has been plaguing you for years might be easily remedied within a month. For example, perhaps thirty days of taking antibiotics will rid you of that chronic infection, and maybe your fatigue can be cured by taking vitamin C to support your adrenals, or iron to eradicate anemia.

While seeing your doctor or doing online research may not be fun, it sure will be fun if you can get rid of the problem!

27. Pray.

Praying is fun because it helps you let go of things you can’t control. It reduces blood pressure, boosts your immune system and generally reduces stress.

If you don’t believe prayer works, talk to the researchers who have done studies and found that sick people who believe in a Higher Power and pray, as well as have others praying for them, are much more likely to recover from their illness. You can argue that this has more to do with some sort of psychological placebo effect than of divine intervention, but the fact remains.

Prayer works better, of course, if you actually believe the One you are talking to can hear you, cares about you, and is trustworthy. But even if you’re not there, sending out a little “Help me!” or “Thank you!” can do wonders for the soul.

You can meditate silently. You can talk out loud. You can ask for things, express gratitude, or praise. You can pray sitting down, kneeling, standing, walking or lying on your bed. Above all, it should be a satisfying experience.

28. Go on a date with your spouse.

One of the main reasons that the divorce rate is so high among Westerners – Americans, in particular – is that once the kids come, a couple’s lives begin to focus around their children.

Having more mouths to feed, men feel driven to work more and spend longer hours on the job.

Women naturally tend to think more about their children’s needs than their husbands’ – or even their own – needs.

However, the children should never take first place in a family. Rather, the marriage relationship should have first place. Think about it: if Mom and Dad grow distant, communication stops. And when communication stops, all kinds of problems are invited into the marriage. And if the marriage is full of problems, everyone suffers, especially the children.

Scheduling one night every week alone is critical for any couple who otherwise has trouble finding time to be together without the kids. It’s not a bad idea even for couples who spend thirty minutes or more talking – or doing other fun couple things – on a nightly basis. There is something magical about putting the children in the care of another trusted person for two or three hours and knowing you have complete freedom to talk about and to do whatever you want.

You can’t tell me that this is not fun. 😉

29. Have a cup of herbal or fruit tea.

When you’re feeling down or stressed, there’s just something about sitting down with a hot cup of flavored water. Different herbal teas can support your body’s function; for example, chamomile tea helps your mind to relax, and milk thistle tea helps support liver function.

But even if it’s just some fruit tea, the act of sitting down and sipping on a pleasant-tasting hot drink is relaxing. Perhaps the physical warming of your body somehow provides a psychological warmth. Whatever the case, the ritual is uplifting and calming.

30. Go on a date with your kid.

When you have more than one child, or when both parents are working forty plus hours a week, it can be tricky to find the quality one-on-one time needed for creating the strongest parent-child bond possible. Dating your kids could be the difference between ending up with emotionally healthy young adults, or seeing them become juvenile delinquents or gang members.

At the very least, dating your children gives you a chance to know and understand them at a deeper level than you may be able to in the midst of your busy daily life. But keep it fun! Don’t use a date to lecture about past behavior or to probe how they are feeling or thinking about a particular touchy issue.

Instead, let the conversation flow naturally as you have breakfast, lunch or dinner together; walk the mall for a couple of hours; or spend an entire day exploring the closest city. If you’re on a tight budget, keep the date simple with a walk around a nature trail that ends with a picnic at a local park.

Once a month per child with each parent works with most people’s schedule, but they can be even less frequent and still have a positive impact on the family as a whole.

31. Look for another job.

This idea is not for the person who loves their job and finds it fulfilling. I am talking to the person who hates Mondays, can’t wait for Fridays, and regrets going into the career they find themselves in.

The catch-22 is that if you have been stuck in a job you don’t like for several years, you probably have the kind of personality that makes the mere thought of leaving a company – let alone redo your resume, make new contacts and go through the interview process – painful. Nothing about the process is fun to you.

If that’s you, let me be frank: your job is killing you. If you dislike what you do most of every day, you are under chronic stress. This stress is wreaking havoc with your health, whether you have symptoms yet or not.

You are a walking time bomb.

Chances are, if you are married this stress carries into your relationship with your spouse, and if you have children, into those relationships as well. These relationships therefore become strained over time, causing you even more stress. So to stay in a job you don’t like is as unhealthy for everyone around you as well as for yourself.

While the process may feel like having your fingernails slowly peeled off with an X-acto knife, the result of finding work that you truly enjoy will make life much more fun. I encourage you to read such books as I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher, and 48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller. These books will help you take the right steps to straighten out your career path.

32. Make a debt-free plan.

I can tell you from experience: there is nothing, I mean nothing, like the feeling that comes when you pay off your very last debt. It goes way beyond “fun”. It is truly a kind of ecstasy, and the really awesome thing about it is that the sensation hangs around for quite some time – much longer than having sex or eating coconut ice cream. 😉

To have debt is to have an extra layer of stress in your life. And you know by now what stress does to your health. So if you have any amount of debt, whether it is twenty dollars on a Sears card, or a $250,000 mortgage, make a plan to pay it off ASAP.

The most effective method is called the “debt snowball”. You budget your monthly income, scrape up every bit of extra cash, and create additional cash by selling off your clutter and luxury items and by – if possible – taking on part-time jobs. Then you pay off your smallest debt as quickly as you can, continuing to make minimum monthly payments on all the other debts and putting all the rest of the extra money toward that smallest debt. When that one is paid off, you put all your spare money into paying off your second-smallest debt. And so on.

Every time you pay off a debt, you are able to take the minimum monthly payment that you were having to pay against it and apply that amount to the next debt. So with every debt you pay off, you have more extra cash to work on paying off the next one. This is the snowball effect.

You should be able to chart out and project the approximate date you will have paid off all your debt. What fun! And to keep it even more fun…DON’T EVER ACCRUE ANOTHER DEBT AGAIN! (For more specifics on financial freedom, feel free to check out another one of my books, Hatching The Nest Egg: Achieve Super-Early Retirement Without Side-Gigs, Gambling, Or An Above-Average Income.)

33. Take a nap.

Health experts disagree on this simple concept. Some say that if you are living a healthy lifestyle – eating the right foods, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep at night – you should have energy all day long. Others claim that the human brain naturally experiences a ninety-minute or so period every day where it needs some serious down time, and during that period you should take a fifteen- to twenty-minute power nap in order to rejuvenate your body and mind.

I say, if you feel like the walking dead at two in the afternoon and are able to snag a nap – whether it’s lying down on a couch or a bed, or snoozing at your desk at work – do so. If you can’t nap during the workweek, try to fit one in on Saturdays and Sundays. Once in a while (usually thanks to The Change coming upon me) I feel like I can barely function by noon (you should probably know I’m usually awake by 4:30 a.m.). On those days, a ten-minute nap is all I need to re-energize and have a productive rest of the day.

In some parts of the world, napping is considered such an important part of life that everything shuts down for two hours every afternoon. The cultures believe that taking a break in the middle of the day is a healthy practice. While ideally, we would all like to be at peak performance every waking moment, the reality is that we are not. Getting the rest we need is much healthier than ingesting addictive caffeinated drinks.

34. Go to bed before midnight.

It’s really fun when you can get through a day and realize that you were on top of your game for most of it. You were mentally sharp, had no problems concentrating, and stayed energetic for most of the day without having to tank up on caffeine.

This, along with having a stronger immune system and better metabolism, is what happens when you consistently get enough sleep. However, experts have shown that the sleep you get before midnight is somehow more productive than the sleep you get after. I’ve even heard that every hour of sleep you get before midnight is equal to two hours of each hour you get after. While I don’t know how true that is, sleep scientists seem confident that the quality of sleep you get before midnight is notably better than that which comes after midnight. Going to bed at two in the morning and sleeping until ten may give you eight hours of sleep, but it will not be as restful and rejuvenating as an eight-hour sleep that occurs between ten p.m. and six a.m.

I know personally that my sleep is lighter after 1:30 a.m. If you know this is true for yourself, than you have an inkling as to the truth about the whole sleep-before-midnight issue. Whether you’re working, playing, or just browsing the Internet, it’s a lot more fun to have energy during the day than to go through it like a zombie. So if you’ve been getting to sleep past midnight, go to sleep fifteen to thirty minutes earlier each night until you are in the habit of going to bed at ten most nights.

35. Write out a “blessing list.”

Ever had a day when you felt like everything and everyone was against you, even your best friend? I know I’ve had entire weeks like that! And it is not fun to feel like that.

While magnesium may be the cure for what ails you, it also may be as simple as choosing to be grateful. And one of the best ways to get into the habit of practicing an attitude of gratitude is by writing out a blessing list.

You know what I mean. Every morning or every evening, sit down and write down five to ten things for which you are grateful. How is this healthy? It will make you realize that life is not as bad as you’ve been thinking, which will reduce your stress levels. Which, as you know, improves both your mental and physical health on many levels.

How is it fun? Anything you can do to make a dark day seem even a little brighter adds a smidgen of fun to your life, don’t you think?

36. Complete a “Processed Food-Free Week” with a friend.

If you are in the habit of eating things that come in packages or cans – “just add water” (or water and meat) meal mixes, frozen dinners, cookies, chips and so on – this would be a good habit to kick. One way to make it fun is to set a goal of eating no processed foods for a week, and to do it with a friend.

You could work this in several different ways. One way would be to sit down together a couple weeks in advance and plan every meal and snack for an entire week. Bring your own cookbooks or collections of recipes, and/or borrow books from the library.

Another way would be for one of you to plan half the meals, the other plan the other half, then swap them. Or you could both brainstorm possible whole-food breakfast, lunch, supper and snack ideas, and choose from the list as you go.

At the end of the week, celebrate your success with a delicious whole-food treat, like coconut ice cream.

37. Go on a one-week screen fast.

Computers, televisions, androids –these are all hard on your eyes, suck precious time away from participating in real life, and can actually be detrimental to your mental health, depending on how you use them. Taking a break from all such screens for seven days is not only healthy, but will probably turn out to be fun.

Before you start the fast, tell all your friends and family that you will not be checking your e-mail or Facebook account for a week, and to please call you if they need to communicate with you during that time. Then, make plans.

Go to the hobby store to buy supplies for that crafty skill you have been wanting to learn. Load up your Kindle, and/or check out an armful of books from the library. Make dinner dates with your family and/or friends. Plan to go bowling, see a live dinner theater production, take an evening canoe ride, declutter the closets (decluttering is fun, remember? 😉 ), watch a live local sports game, go dancing….

If you’re like me –and many other people –and you earn your livelihood by working on the computer in some form or fashion, either determine to stay away from screens unless you are at work, or plan your next vacation to be totally screen-free.

38. Buy a beautiful stainless steel or glass water bottle.

Now that you’re getting healthier, you want to stay on that road by keeping yourself hydrated when you are out and about. The healthiest way to do this is by avoiding plastic water bottles.

Even the hard plastic bottles eventually leach some chemicals into the water, although it happens much sooner and more easily with the soft plastic that commercially bottled water is packaged into.

Should you decide to purchase a stainless steel water bottle –which may be preferable to glass, as it doesn’t break –check how the cap fits onto it first. Some companies are selling cheaply manufactured bottles which have caps that don’t fit on tightly. Not nice for liquids. I can personally vouch for the Kleen Kanteen brand, and believe that the stainless steel bottles that Whole Foods sells are also of excellent quality.

Whole Foods also carries (as of this writing, anyway) glass water bottles that are encased in decorative plastic covers, with various colors to choose from.

Have a drink, and enjoy your healthy, hydrated state!

39. Make and eat a large, colorful vegetable salad.

Eating is always fun, yes? And when you eat such a food as this, you double your fun because you bring all sorts of brain-boosting, energy-increasing, and immune system-enhancing nutrients into your body.

What should you make this salad out of? Start with a mixture of romaine and leaf lettuce. Add chopped bell pepper, slices of cucumber, grated carrot, diced tomato, radish slices, pieces of Jerusalem artichoke, chopped broccoli or cauliflower (cooked or raw)…whatever vegetables please your palate! Just be sure to add two or three colors other than green to add a variety of nutrients.

Dress it with some lime juice mixed with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned salt, or for something heavier blend some heavy whipping cream or olive oil with cucumber, dried herbs and salt. For something sweeter, mix together equal parts of organic ketchup and olive oil and a half part organic mustard.

Enjoy this cool, crisp, tantalizing dish by itself as a snack or light meal, or as a side dish to a full meal.

40. Get a massage.

If you have never had a massage, you are in for a real treat!

A good massage from an experienced masseuse is relaxing and cleansing. Tense muscles turn to jelly and the stresses of the day melt into nothingness as each part of your body, one by one, receives a healing touch. If you’ve needed to catch up on some sleep, you may do just that during the session, and when you leave, you will feel lighter than you probably have in weeks, maybe in months. You may need to budget and save up for this fun, healthy activity, but it will be well worth the effort.

41. Sign up for a recreation class.

If you live in a city or large town, chances are good you have something like a Park and Recreation department that has at least one facility that contains a gym, an exercise room, a swimming pool, and classrooms. In that case, they more than likely offer recreational classes to both children and adults, and have a class schedule online. Find their website and puruse the upcoming classes. Cooking, ballroom dance, Real Estate investing, meditation, stress reduction, home organization, building birdhouses – whatever you are interested in, there is likely to be a class related to it. And the costs are always affordable.

When you take such a class, you not only increase your knowledge and skill base, but also open yourself up to making new friends. (Remember, that’s another fun way to stay healthy.) Getting out and doing something you really want to do will also – can you guess? – help reduce your stress. It will also get you doing something more productive than watching T.V. or zoning out on Facebook.

Be careful, though – if you’re single, you might just end up finding your soul mate that way. I know I did.

42. Play classical music.

I’m looking at a quote I wrote down a long time ago, from country-music singer Pat Conroy:

“Without music, life is a journey through a desert.” After going all day without playing any music or humming any tunes, this is exactly how I feel.

Listening to music in general helps the time pass more quickly and helps make menial or unpleasant tasks more enjoyable. Specifically, studies have concluded that listening to classical music has relaxing and stress-reducing effects on the body. It also enhances brain performance, increasing the ability to learn and remember when the information is studied with certain kinds of classical music playing in the background.

Start a classical music station at http://pandora.com (put in composers such as Bach and Vivaldi), buy a few CDs, or simply start tuning in to your local classical music station. Playing classical music in the background does indeed have a way of enriching your life in several critical areas, so if you have never done so, try it as you finish up the last bit of this book.

43. Write down your goals and dreams.

What does this have to do with your health? The healthiest people are living fulfilling lives, and you don’t experience fulfilment by letting life accidentally happen to you. (Forrest Gump doesn’t really exist.)

So write down your wildest dreams. Ignore those voices from your childhood and young adulthood that told you that your dreams were unrealistic and impractical. Write them down – write down a pageful, if you have that many – and then write down some of the goals you will need to achieve in order to begin to live out those dreams.

When you do so, your subconscious will begin to work overtime to figure out the details of achieving those goals. You may find that a lot of happy coincidences begin to happen to you, such as meeting just the right person at just the right time, or learning a certain piece of information you hadn’t been searching out but that helps you put some pieces of your life puzzle together.

You will finally – if you haven’t before – feel grounded, purposeful and excited about the future.

You can’t get too much more fun than that!

44. Spend a day off at a state park.

If the weather’s nice, spending the day at a state park is one of the most enjoyable activities you could choose. So why not plan on your next day off, packing up the car with a cooler, hiking boots and/or swim clothes – and your family, if you have one – and driving off to the nearest state park? Some states charge a day fee, but it’s usually still cheaper than going to a movie. It’s definitely cheaper than spending the day at the mall, eating junk food and buying things you don’t need!

Once you get there, use your time however you like. Sit in the shade at a picnic table and read a book. Go hiking. Go swimming, if there’s a swimming area. Do some birdwatching.

Consider unplugging completely by leaving your smart phone at home so that you are not tempted to browse the Internet (if, indeed, you can get a wireless signal at the park). The more deeply you can connect with nature, the more relaxed and happy you will feel. Having a smart phone on hand will interfere with this natural process.

45. Schedule fifteen minutes of “me time” into your daily routine.

I am, of course, talking to people who have children. When you are either single or married without children, finding time to yourself is as easy as slipping on ice. Once you have children, however – especially if you’re a mom with a job – trying to find “me time” is more like trying to drag a heavy backpack up a steep, rocky hill. Not impossible, but difficult. The easiest way to go about it is to choose the best time to take for yourself, then talk to your spouse and/or your children and ask to be left alone for that fifteen minutes.

You can spend that time walking slowly around the neighborhood while listening to music or a podcast. Or you can shut yourself up in your bedroom with a cup of tea or a healthy snack and a good book. Maybe you enjoy bubble baths – although a good one will often require more than fifteen minutes.

Never get a chance to browse YouTube, but want to? Here’s your chance. Do you like to play an instrument, but can’t find time to practice? You might choose to use this time, but only do it if it’s fun and fulfilling. If it feels like a chore, you’re defeating the purpose of “me time.”

This idea is especially fun for mothers who are otherwise constantly meeting other people’s needs. Really, it is essential for a mother’s health and well-being. Stay-at-home moms get stressed, too!

Even if you don’t have kids, between work and your other obligations you may have a tight schedule where you don’t seem to be able to take time for yourself. If that’s true, try to loosen up your schedule just a bit. Having time to be by yourself and do something that you enjoy thoroughly is one of the healthiest habits you can get into. And, of course, it’s fun!

46. Celebrate your (or a family member’s) half-birthday.

In case you don’t know, your half-birthday is the date that is exactly halfway between your last birthday and the next one. For example, if your birthday is October tenth, your half-birthday would be April tenth.

Perhaps you already celebrate your half-birthday, but most people do not. If you don’t, you might be wondering why you should bother. Isn’t it just another thing to plan and put on your schedule?

If that’s your attitude, you need to lighten up! Taking time to celebrate every once in a while is as important to humanity in general as taking “me time” is to individuals. And if you’re like me, you don’t do nearly enough of it.

Celebrating brings people together, strengthening relationships. It helps you keep an optimistic view of life. And if you keep it simple, it’s fun! All of this leads to…wait for it, wait for it…

REDUCED STRESS!

So, how do you keep a celebration simple? Don’t you need to invite dozens of people, spend the equivalent of a car payment on food, and rent the perfect venue?

Gee, no wonder you don’t celebrate very often! 😉 A celebration can be small and intimate, and cost no money. Following are two examples how.

Have an unparty. You tell everyone you know that you are going to be celebrating your (or another person’s) half-birthday on such-and-such a date. They can come to your house at any time starting at one in the afternoon, dress however they like, and leave whenever is convenient.

The only thing they need to bring is food. If they want to try to engage other guests in a game of their choice, they are free to do so. Play upbeat music in the background, and let everyone eat and talk as they want. One caveat, though: if you’re not willing to stay up until midnight, let your guests know that you will be shutting down the party at a certain time.

A second idea: Celebrate with just your family. Each member is to make (not buy) a gift for the family member whose half-birthday it is. The half-birthday boy or girl can choose either to eat out at a favorite restaurant, or eat a favorite meal at home. They might also choose a movie to watch that afternoon or evening, or to go spend time at a park.

See? Simple, and inexpensive. Fun, and healthy because it makes everybody feel good.

47. Visit a pet store.

If you have a menagerie of animals at home, feel free to skip this one. But many people either live in apartment buildings where most kinds of pets are not allowed, or live with family members who have allergies that preclude the family from adopting a pet. Maybe you like animals, but have chosen not to have a pet to keep expenses down, or because you’d prefer not to have the responsibility.

If you belong to any of those groups, visiting a pet store can be a fun and relaxing activity. It’s not something I did until I had a very active son who was, like most young children, fascinated by animals. So when he was a toddler and preschooler and the weather wouldn’t allow us to go to the park or for a walk (we lived in the city at the time), we would often take a trip to the pet store that was a ten-minute drive away. I enjoyed walking around the store, talking to the cats on one side, and to the rats on the other, and staring at the beautiful tropical fish. It doesn’t take a long time, it’s free, and it’s a great change of scenery when you need it.

48. Splurge at your local brick-and-mortar library.

With all the free e-books that are available online, librarians are seeing fewer and fewer library patrons, and print books are getting lonelier and lonelier. Have some sympathy, and take a trip to your local library.

But don’t stop there! Be sure to take your card (you do still have one, don’t you?), then take your time browsing the shelves. The reason? You are certain to find an armload or two of books different from anything that has graced your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. You can’t beat the feeling of finding an interesting book on a topic you enjoy – or a novel you’ve never seen before in your favorite genre – and actually being able to hold it in your hands and turn real paper pages.

That’s what makes it fun. Healthy? Well, browsing through books has to be nearly close to relaxing as is meditation, and of course reading grows your brain.

49. Play chess. Or cards. Or something like that.

Playing any kind of game with a mature partner (mature as in, not a sore loser, not as in a senior citizen) is a satisfying way to spend leisure time. Playing strategy games makes you think, which helps you to maintain mental sharpness and improve concentration and memory.

Please note that I am not talking about playing chess against a computer, although such games have their place. I’m talking about playing with another human being who is in the same room with you. Research on health and longevity does not always agree, but one thing that is discovered over and over again: people who experience regular positive interactions with other people are the happiest, longest-lived people of all.

Speaking of positive interactions with other people…

50. Perform a random act of kindness.

Having a bad day? Tempted to give someone the birdie in traffic or to tell off a co-worker? Do something nice for somebody for no reason at all. Your mood will lift and your entire perspective will change.

Of course, if you perform a random act of kindness when you’re already on top of the world, it will send you soaring. Helping other people without expecting anything in return is good for you both physically and emotionally. It counters stress and improves your character.

So don’t be shy. Pay for the groceries or gas of the person in line ahead of you. Hold a door open for somebody. Do a household chore that your spouse usually does – and you guess doesn’t care to do it. Fix your neighbor’s broken toilet. Stay a little later to help your boss out at work.

Conclusion

Whatever you do, have fun and stay healthy. This is much easier to do when you’re eating a diet that gives your body the nutrients it needs while avoiding the foods that increase your risk of ill health. But if you’re like me, you’ve read diet and nutrition books that contradict each other, and you may not be certain who to believe any more.

What if there was a book that got down to the basics? That avoided fads and extremes, offered a balance among all the nutrition controversies, and gave you permission to treat yourself with your favorites? What if not only included the ten principles to healthy eating, but also a whole section showing you how to eat three healthy, (mostly) homemade meals in under thirty minutes per day…TOTAL?

And what if it had a section about all the great health benefits of dark chocolate, along with twenty sumptuous chocolate recipes?

If all of that sounds good to you, I encourage you to check out my book Simple Diet, Beautiful You. It’s available at the same online bookseller from which you downloaded this book, 50 Fun Ways.

I’m talking almost 50,000 words of information that can change your life. Easy to understand, easy to implement in your life. Go ahead and check out the product page; it’s not your usual nutrition and diet book!

ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO: If you enjoyed this little book, 50 Fun Ways To Stay Healthy, would you please take a moment to leave a helpful review on the online bookseller from which you downloaded it? Doing so will help others to take action on their health.

Thank you so much!