[Health Column] How to Maintain a Regular Lifestyle Routine

Seok-Hoon Jeong, Professor of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, Seoul

We often hear that maintaining a regular lifestyle is essential for good health. When life is consistent, stress and depression decrease. It brings many health benefits, such as improved physical strength and self-esteem. Conversely, extreme stress disrupts the proper daily rhythm. It becomes difficult to fall asleep, leading to fatigue throughout the day. Loss of appetite causes skipped meals, resulting in depleted physical strength.

But what if we think about this in reverse? To overcome stress, one must actually maintain regular habits like eating meals on time and steadily building physical strength. So, how can we maintain a consistent lifestyle?

The first way to establish a regular lifestyle is to "wake up at a set time in the morning." Our bodies have an internal clock. Sleeping and waking, feeling hungry, and fluctuations in concentration and body temperature are all regulated by the biological clock. Surprisingly, the body's rhythm is not exactly 24 hours but set to 24.2 to 24.4 hours.

If there is no reason to wake up early in the morning, the body’s rhythm set to 24.2 to 24.4 hours causes waking up late. Breakfast is eaten at lunchtime, and lunch is eaten at dinnertime. Naturally, dinner is eaten late at night, leading to night eating syndrome. This results in weight gain and health risks such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. This is why it is important to make an effort to wake up at a regular time every morning.

The second way to establish a regular lifestyle is to "go to bed 7 hours before the waking time." Seven hours of sleep is appropriate for adults. If you sleep for 7 hours, the remaining 17 hours are for activities, making a total of 24 hours in a day. This means that if you do not have enough activity during those 17 hours, it may be difficult to fall asleep even if you try to go to bed early. So, when should you go to bed? You can set your bedtime according to your waking time. For example, if you wake up at 6 a.m. every day, you should be active enough during the day and go to bed around 11 p.m. Although some say sleeping at a specific time improves immunity, this is just one of many factors affecting the immune system and not absolute.

The third way to establish a regular lifestyle is to "exercise and eat meals on time." Exercising consistently for more than 30 minutes, five times a week, strengthens muscles and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Intense nighttime exercise can interfere with sleep, so people with insomnia should avoid exercising at night. Morning or early afternoon is recommended whenever possible. It is also important to eat meals regularly. Irregular meals can easily disrupt your lifestyle habits.

The final way to establish a regular lifestyle is to "manage stress appropriately." Working a job helps maintain regularity because you try to wake up early and go to bed early. However, it is hard to ignore the stress from work. Severe stress disrupts all daily rhythms, including eating and sleeping habits. The word "stress" originates from the meaning "to tighten." Perhaps this is why we commonly say we "release" stress. Let’s wisely relieve the tightening stress from daily life and work.

A regular lifestyle is a key element in maintaining a healthy life. Thinking that the same routine repeats regularly every day can feel boring and tiring. However, our body and mind adapt to regular living and become better conditioned to function well in the future. It is much healthier to wake up at a set time, exercise moderately, eat meals on time, and fill your mind with positive thoughts than to exercise intensely for an hour or two and waste the rest of the time lying down.

Seok-Hoon Jeong, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, Seoul