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Healthy living isn’t something that can be forced or bought at the store; it’s a mindset that must be internalized and maintained on a daily basis. But when you make fitness and healthy habits your number one priority, your chances of leading a long, happy life skyrocket. Here are five reasons why fitness is the best option for a healthy life. 1) We are what we eat Many people fail to realize that mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness. Going out for a walk, doing some stretching exercises, meditating—these are all ways we can keep our minds strong and sharp. Without proper nourishment from food, vitamins and minerals we could end up underperforming at work or school, which in turn could have negative effects on both your mental and physical health. If you think about it, food actually fuels both your body and mind—so take care of yourself! Eat healthy foods to stay fit so you can get more out of life. 2) Enjoy your workout Getting your heart rate up for as little as 15 minutes three times a week has been shown to lower your risk of having a heart attack by about 50 percent, according to one large-scale study. It's not just vigorous exercise that helps us achieve strong hearts; daily movements like taking stairs and doing household chores are important, too. Just make sure you enjoy whatever you're doing so you'll stick with it. If you don't find certain exercises enjoyable, try different activities until you find some that get your heart pumping in new ways! Also, consider signing up for a class or hiring a personal trainer—both can help you stay motivated. Remember: No matter how long or hard you work out, working out alone won't give you mental fitness. You need to use your brain as well as your body to keep both fit and healthy! 3) Being active makes you happy If you need more proof that being active makes you happy, consider walking. A review of 20 studies revealed that walking was one of only three physical activities—the others were swimming and cycling—that consistently improved people’s moods (i.e., decreased anxiety and depression). That’s probably because exercise elevates serotonin and dopamine levels in your brain, which are linked to good moods. In other words, regular bouts of exercise can help combat mental health issues like depression, stress and anxiety. Research also shows that aerobic activity causes you to sleep deeper at night. So as an added bonus to feeling happier while awake, getting some regular exercise may also make it easier for you to fall asleep faster and get higher-quality sleep at night. 4) Small daily changes add up over time Daily movements for a strong heart include going for walks, taking stairs instead of elevators, standing at your desk, and other small actions. By setting out to complete one or two of these each day—and increasing them slowly as you go—you’ll be training your heart in no time! Check out our Strong Heart Workout Program (which you can start doing right now!) to learn more about getting your heart into fighting shape. 5) Live in harmony with nature Too often, we live in an unnatural way that doesn’t necessarily make us healthier. Stressful situations, unhealthy food choices and sedentary lifestyles only weaken our mental fitness over time. While having a strong mental fitness can’t necessarily stop these stressors from happening in your life, it can help you react to them more effectively—and that ability alone helps people lead healthier lives. If we want to stay fit as a society, we need to be strong mentally. To live in harmony with nature means not being part of it anymore—but if our goal is to improve how we feel and how healthy we are, that harmony starts with exercising our brains each day.