We’ve talked before about which gaming PCs are the best and whether the modded controllers are worth your while. You’re probably already well versed in the specs and upgrades that can enhance your gaming experience. You know about resolution, refresh rates, etc.

But do you know how to keep yourself from turning into a hunchback with diabetes?

Gamers are famous for spending hours upon hours hunched over game controllers or keyboards. They’re famous for spending that time gaming and guzzling sugar laden sodas while shoveling handfuls of junk food into their mouths.

None of these habits is healthy…but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up gaming! Here are some things that you can do to increase your health while making sure you don’t miss your next instance.

1. Ergonomics are Your Friends

Choose a good chair. You want a chair that will offer you really good lumbar support and help you practice good posture even while gaming. Believe it or not, after a while all of that slouching starts to hurt!

Use the same criteria for your gaming accessories. Controllers and keyboards that are ergonomic and built to keep your hands and arms healthy are worth the extra expense.

2. Sit Back

You know how your Mom always told you not to stand right in front of the television screen when you were a kid? It’s the same for computer monitors. Adjust your computer monitors to be at an appropriate height and at least a couple of feet from your face. Refresh rates on monitors are much higher than they were even a few years ago and while you might have a non-glare screen, that refresh rate can still wreak havoc on your eyes.

3. Water is Your Friend

It’s pretty self-explanatory: water is much better for you than soda. For one thing, it’s healthier. It’s calorie free and has no additives (unless you buy the fancy or flavored kind). By switching from soda to water you reduce your diet by hundreds of calories (especially if you consume a lot of it) without having to do any sort of other dieting.

Soda actually makes you thirstier so that you’ll want to drink more of it. It also goes through your system pretty quickly (as opposed to water that typically just gets absorbed). This means that you will have to get up to use the bathroom a bunch of times—a bunch more times than you would if you were drinking water. Water=more gaming time!

4. Snacks Don’t Have to be Gross

Chips and cookies are “good” snacks because they are easy to shovel into your mouth in mass quantities without having to pay them much attention. As long as you aim your hand at the bag and your mouth correctly, you’re good to go.

The same thing is true for cut up veggies. You can still snack while you game, just choose better snacks. Veggies and popcorn are better for you than chips and cookies. If you simply must have these particular types of snacks, go for the healthier and organic varieties. A vegan cookie is better than a non-vegan cookie (though it isn’t as good as a carrot stick).

The simple fact is that if you take steps to protect your physical health, you shouldn’t have to worry about cutting back on your gaming.

Your emotional health, however, presents a different story…but that’s another article for another time.