New Year’s is the time of year most people look to set resolutions which most often have to do with getting healthier. For all the insanity that was 2020, it reminded us of the importance of being healthy. So if you are looking to live a healthier and happier life in 2021, we’ve put together a few tips to help you achieve that goal.
Our first tip is simple. Make small changes in your daily life that are sustainable over a period of time. Getting healthy doesn’t happen overnight – it takes time and a few small steps go a long way. A lot of people try to tackle too much with a resolution and end up being overwhelmed and giving up. So try to make one or two small changes to your lifestyle that you can keep up with over time.
A lot of resolutions involve eating healthy and exercising. The best way to achieve these are to set 1 small resolution in both of these categories. Try to eat a little bit healthier and be a little more active. Once you accomplish doing some little things, you can tack on bigger things… the goal is just keep moving forward each day in your health journey. While it sounds like a cliché’, its 100% true, being healthy is a journey, not a destination.
Eating Healthy
There are several options for eating healthier: elimination, reduction, addition, substitution
Elimination involves simply eliminating one or more unhealthy things from your diet. For example, if you drink sodas, try slowly eliminating those from your diet. It’s hard to quit all at once so try drinking 1 less per day and substituting water in its place.
Reduction involves reducing the amount of something in your diet. If you LOVE ice cream and eat it every day, try eating every other day. Another great way to reduce things in your diet is to reduce the amount that you are eating. If you LOVE French fries, try eating a small order of fries instead of a large one. Remember that small changes go a long way.
Addition involves simply adding one or more healthy things to your diet. Any easy option is to add water to your diet. Simply drink one or two 8-ounce cups of water a day. Another is to add 1 serving of a fruit or vegetable per day. For example, try eating a banana or apple for a mid-day snack or as part of a meal.
Substitution involves switching out one unhealthy food item with a healthier choice. A few examples are substituting pretzel chips for potato chips for lunch or substituting carrots dipped in hummus or peanut butter instead of crackers. Another great substitution is to try packing your lunch two days a week at work instead of eating out. This will not only save you calories but also money. When you plan your meals ahead of time, you often make healthier choices.
Exercise
When it comes to exercise, it’s not important what you do, it’s just important that you do something. Find something that you enjoy – walking, jogging, playing tennis, yoga, etc. and try to make a habit of doing it several times a week. Doing a variety of things is best so you don’t get bored and you vary the types of exercise you are doing. So try to pick a few things you enjoy and schedule them into your day. Set a goal for the number of days you want to be active per week – set a goal that is manageable for you and then select the time of day that works best for your life and make yourself an easy to follow schedule. After a few short weeks, this will become routine and thus become a part of your health journey.
Set Yourself Up To Win
Here are a few good tips for ensuring a successful resolution
Find A Friend: Find a friend to partner with in your health resolutions. A friend will hold you accountable which will greatly increase the likelihood of you sticking to your resolutions.
Write Your Goal(s) Down: Putting your goals down on paper helps you commit to them. Another great tip is to stick them somewhere that you will see every day – like a stickie note on your bathroom mirror or your computer screen. This is just a daily reminder of the goal you are working towards. Somedays will be easier than others to make healthy choices and on the harder days, a simple reminder can be very good motivation.
Allow Some Wiggle Room: The typical all or nothing approach rarely works and is often a recipe for failure so allow some wiggle room in your resolution setting. If you miss a day of exercise or don’t stick your healthy eating goals every day, its ok, just do better tomorrow. Forming new habits is often hard so give it your best effort and when you fall short, go easy on yourself and simply do better tomorrow.
Hit The Reset Button: You can resolve to be healthy at any time, it doesn’t have to only be at the beginning of the year or the beginning of a new month or the beginning of the week. You can hit the reset button at any time. Don’t give up, simply reset. Remember this is a journey, not a destination. It’s not all or nothing, it’s a daily commitment to doing better and feeling better.
Find Your Why: Solidify in your mind, the reason you are making these resolutions. We all deserve to be better for ourselves. Remembering the reason you started on your health journey will help you stay on the journey and keep moving forward.
Lastly remember one of the biggest ingredients to being happy is being healthy in both body and in mind. So take the time each day to do something good for yourself, whether that is sitting silently and taking a few deep breaths to regain some focus and energy or whether that is going for a short walk outside to soak up some sunshine. Take time this new year for you and your health and it will not only benefit you, but those around you, because being healthier makes you happier and that is infectious to everyone in your life.
