Your health and well-being are incredibly important and with the new year approaching it can be a fantastic time to make some healthy lifestyle changes. While many of us set out to implement positive changes, most of us don’t stick to our resolutions due to them being too restrictive or boring. But did you know that you don’t have to make huge lifestyle changes to improve your health and wellness? There are plenty of smaller resolutions that you can add to your lifestyle that are easy to maintain.
Let’s take a look at 9 new year changes to a healthier, happier you.
Exercise More
Physical activity can help to reduce your risk of major heart diseases such as stroke and heart attack and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%. What’s better is that you don’t need to fork out a small fortune every month for a gym membership – exercise is totally free! No matter what your age or fitness level, everyone can start to exercise more just by making more conscious decisions such as walking or cycling instead of driving.
Regular exercise can also improve your mental health and energy levels, boost your sleep quality and has been proven to reduce your risk of health complications such as dementia later in life. To ensure a happy body and mind, it’s recommended that adults achieve around 150 minutes of exercise per week through strength and cardio.
Eat Well
Most people know that exercise alone isn’t good enough If you want a healthy body and that food is the answer if you want to maintain a healthy weight. You don’t have to restrict yourself of Pizza and Prosecco either, by making more conscious choices regularly – like choosing fruit over chocolate – you can improve your overall health.
Reduce your alcohol intake
While plenty has been written about the health benefits of a small glass of red wine or two, too much drinking can become a problem. While many of us like to have a few more drinks than we should have at the weekend, drinking in excess too often can affect the brain’s function and increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and memory loss. Excessive drinking also increases your chances of liver and heart disease, high blood pressure, and migraines so it’s best to try and consume less wherever possible. Consider swapping out alcohol for drinks such as soda water with fruit and consuming in a fancy glass so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.
Sleep well
Most of us unfortunately don’t get the adequate amount of sleep that adults need. Over time, not sleeping well can have negative consequences on your physical and mental health. We’re not just talking about being slightly grumpier than usual – regular lack of sleep puts you at risk of a whole host of medical conditions. If you struggle with sleep, a consistent and regular bedtime routine can help you prepare for slumber and remember, try to limit your screen time before bed if you want to drift off peacefully.
Drink more water
It’s advised that you drink eight glasses of water per day, and while there is little science behind this rule, making sure you’re sufficiently hydrated throughout the day is key for a healthy body and mind. Hydration isn’t just important for energy levels and brain function, it’s also vital if you want to excel at physical activity, prevent headaches and lose weight.
Limit screen time
If you have a desk-based job, it’s likely you spend the majority of your day staring at your computer screen. And when you go home it’s likely you spend some time looking at a phone screen too. That means some people can get an excess of 12+ hours of screen time each day. And while it might not seem like a health hazard, too much screen time has been linked with eye discomfort and sleep issues. Limiting screen time, it can help to boost your mental health, make you more productive, improve your sleep, increase focus and prevent headaches.
Go outdoors
Spending time outdoors is one of the best ways to boost your health and well-being. By spending 20 minutes outdoors each day, you can help to lower your stress levels, blood pressure, and heart rate, all while practicing light exercise. Next time you feel the pressure of everyday life getting on top of you, grab your jacket and go out for a 20-minute walk. We guarantee you’ll come back feeling refreshed and energised as you let your troubles drift away!
Start Brain training
Studies have shown that brain training exercises such as puzzles, crosswords, and memory games can improve memory and thinking, especially in people that are middle-aged and older. And, according to research, regularly using your brain to solve puzzles may help to lower your risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease by up to 30%.
So next time you are reading the newspaper, why not take 20-30 minutes to try your brain at the crossword or sudoku?
Build a better budget
Times are tough for everyone right now so if there’s one New Year’s resolution you can make it is to save as much money as you can. Before you get back to work in the New Year, outline something you want to save for and create a budget that works for you. There are plenty of great apps out there to help you do this in the easiest way possible so why not make saving easy?
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