We are all looking for shortcuts in life and finding a way to be healthier and fitter has got to be top of the list, right?

Here’s a list of 5 health and fitness hacks you can try in no particular order - most of these are quite straightforward and a few are a little unorthodox. However, keep an open mind and these might just work for you.

Wear a Pedometer

A pedometer is a device that measures your physical activity level throughout the day. These are generally inexpensive, easy to use and potentially a great motivational tool in your arsenal.

They can be worn on your arm (as a wrist watch), on your waist or even on your ankle.

We all live such busy lives these days, it's really hard to schedule daily exercise, however, there is a hack that serves as a simple reminder to squeeze in those extra steps as part of your daily routine.

Even though we're all told that running is really good for us, brisk walking can be equally effective.

The great thing is; by wearing a pedometer you’re subconsciously encouraging yourself to be more active, even though this is seen by most people as non-physical.

To be clear, you're not actually working out, rather, you increasing your movement throughout the day which achieves higher non-exercise physical activity (NEPA) levels.

Schedule Active Work Meetings

If you work in an office environment, there aren’t many times where you can increase your NEPA levels. However, if you have several meetings throughout the day there's one hack that you might not even have thought of: Instead of holding your meeting in an office, have you ever thought of holding the same meeting by taking a walk?

Don't get me wrong, in most cases you will probably get a puzzled look from your colleagues but it doesn't take long for everybody to get used to it.

You can even take it one step further and instead of walking, you can ride a bike and have a meeting at the same time (this will probably depend if there is a park nearby, that is).

Purge Bad Foods

Trying to eat healthier is one of the hardest things we can do as modern-day human beings.

The fact that we are bombarded with a gazillion adverts and pop-ups on our mobile devices doesn't make things any easier.

One of the best hacks for this is to make snacks really hard to reach. In fact, you could create a rule where any junk food is only accessible with a small ladder - this might sound extreme, but the more obstacles you place in your path to bad food, the better choices you will make in the long run.

Make Good Food Accessible

There is, of course, a flip side to the previous point. Why not make healthy, nutritious food really easy to reach?

For example, you could have a bowl of fruit on your desk, or chop up some crunchy vegetables and nuts and position them on your desk so that when you feel a bit peckish, good healthy food is within reach.

That way, eating healthy food doesn't need to feel forced in any way.

Get 7-9 Hours of Sleep Per Night

We’ve all heard the usual bits of advice about drinking more and sleeping more. However, getting more sleep at night is the foundation to a really healthy life.

Believe it or not, having at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night helps control your appetite, blood pressure and overall body weight.

“Getting enough quality sleep is critical to keeping our brains functioning well”, says Catherine Darley, ND, of the Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine in Seattle.