Every new year comes with reflection over the last 365 days and motivation to make your next one the best year of your life. You know this as “New Year resolutions”. Most people make one or two promises to themselves of how they will become a better person. You may have already committed yourself to a few things that you feel will improve you well being and enhance your quality of life.
In reality, every aspect of life is intertwined. From work and leisure to sleep and nutritional habits, balance is key to an overall healthy well-being. Your lifestyle and exercise also play a vital role in maintaining your mind and body in tip top form.
Healthy lifestyle habits will not only improve your looks, but it will also improve your mental health. Being happy is one of the most important frames of mind a person can be in. Happiness allows you to open yourself up from the prison of over analysis and self-criticism.
What makes New Year’s Resolutions so great is that you open yourself up for self-change. It helps you provide yourself the opportunity to better your life in every way. At the same time, this is what makes New Year’s resolutions so difficult. Changing your lifestyle, even if it’s only a small alteration, can cause mental defeat by exposing the lack of willpower and strength to follow through with your commitment. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. With a few small adjustments to the way you live, you can move the needle towards your goals, one step at a time. Remember the slow tortoise won the race over the speedy hare. This is a strong metaphor that withstands the test of time because it is true.
Routine & Lifestyle
When deciding the New Year’s resolutions to commit to, it is important to understand that the best way to create and break habits is through routine. Humans are creatures of habit. That’s a fact. So, creating a healthy routine for yourself will allow you to tackle your challenges and achieve your goals. Luckily, we live in a technologically advanced era with many tools to help us.
Creating healthy lifestyle habits to follow means having a healthy routine. Back in the day, you may have come up with all sorts of innovative ways to remind yourself and promote healthy habits, such as leaving notes on your fridge or on your office desk or even your pillow before going to bed. But setting these reminders can be tedious and not motivating. It is 2023, and there are more efficient ways to do this.
One fantastic way to maintain your focus on altering your daily routines is with a smart watch. Regardless of whether you want to work on your eating, sleeping, or exercising habits, a smart watch can be programmed to let you know when it’s time to get to do something or when not to.
Smart watches are designed to be fashionable so it’s always something you will wear making them a great tool to assist you in your goals. From giving you a chime when sensing you’re stressed out, reminding you to take a breath, to monitoring your sleeping habits to help identify steps you can take to improve your sleeping patterns, these smart watches do it all. And that doesn’t even include all the exercise and workout benefits that smart watches were originally designed for. Sometimes you only need a small nudge as a reminder and smart watches are perfect for that.
Remember, you must walk before you leap. Slowly create your routine to match the lifestyle you want to have. One very popular thing you can do to break your old habits is to change your scenery. It promotes newness and will open your mind for change. This doesn’t need to be major changes, even small changes like moving a picture frame on your wall to another location. You can always move it back. Adjusting 10 things small or large in your room, surroundings, workplace, or dwelling, is considered best practice when trying to create healthy daily habits for yourself.
Eat
This is a big one. Committing to healthy eating habits is most likely the number one new year’s resolution people have but is also one of the most difficult. Unfortunately, the main reason most people choose such a resolution is because they are unhappy with the way they look and want to feel more accepted by society. Although that is a valid reason, it is not a true motivating force that will change your ways. Doing it for yourself so you feel good first and look good second is the right mentality you will need to tackle such a habit. Try telling yourself that you will cut out your favorite pizza or junk food just so others will accept you and you will rarely succeed in your goal. Do it for yourself.
Adjusting your eating habits should be done slowly. Not only because it may be hard to cut out all of your favorite junk foods at once, but because your body very well may not be used to such a dramatic change in diet. Remember, baby steps.
If you drink a lot of soda, you may want to only focus on drinking water first before you begin tweaking all your other eating habits. Once you have achieved that, then move on to cutting out other junk foods.
Let’s say you have a constant craving for deep fried foods. Instead of cutting it out completely, there are much healthier ways to satiate your hunger for the deliciously golden-brown fried chicken you love so much. Think about getting yourself an air fryer. Air Fryers don’t need oil and is the healthier option to many foods, not just deep-fried foods. There is a reason why air fryers have exploded in popularity. Foods cooked in an air fryer have a much lower calorie content in your food and a major reduction in chemicals like acrylamide (a well-known carcinogen found in deep fried foods). Plus, they have tons of other benefits like, saving you from spending money at fast food restaurants. They also cook just about every style dish, save you time by cooking your food more rapidly and evenly, and they are simple to use and clean.
Exercise
Healthy living habits will always include some form of fitness. Whether you’re striving to be the next Mr. Universe or simply trying to maintain a healthy body, you will always need to add exercise to your daily routines. Giving your body exercise will make you feel and look good. It will give your body stamina and more energy. Your brain will also be grateful as studies show that exercise will help your mind focus better while also improving your quality of sleep.
Finding the right workout gear for yourself should be easy once you know what you want to get out of it. Cardio equipment should always be first as your cardiovascular system is far more important than the size of your muscles. Although nicely toned muscles are a nice bonus, if you’re just beginning your exercise journey, you should consider learning different cardio routines first.
For an extra boost of encouragement, consider getting one of those awesome smart watches mentioned earlier. Smart watches are designed to monitor all your vitals and provide feedback to ensure you get the most out of each fitness session. If you like to listen to music during fitness sessions, many smart watches today include music apps that you can easily pair to a great pair of workout headphones.
The bottom line is that providing your body with exercise will help you in every aspect of your life and is proven to uplift your overall mental health, keeping you in an uplifted mood. Although exercise is a very difficult habit to create, it is also nurturing to your body just like food. Begin by pushing yourself for even 10 minutes a day and before you know it, you will be yearning to work out for longer while creating motivation for yourself to enhance other aspects of your life.
Sleep
Perhaps your new year’s resolution is to get a good night’s sleep. It is no secret that your overall healthy living habits will be a determining factor in the quality of your sleep as much as how comfortable your mattress is. Your mind and body work in tandem with each other, so eating healthy and frequent exercise will promote healthy sleep habits.
Even with a healthy lifestyle there can be other factors that take away from your beauty sleep. Everyone is unique with different things that can be distracting from being able to fall asleep. You may need complete silence, or you may need something to distract you from all the important stuff you have to do. Sometimes doing simple things like getting to bed early, even when you’re not tired yet may help your body settle down for a good night’s rest. Think about ways you can help make yourself relax. Whether it is a good book, or watching something on your Surface Pro 9 with noise cancelling headphones, doing these relaxing activities while in bed can help you wind down and fall asleep. Everyone is different but you must try different techniques to find what works for you. For some, ten minutes of meditation works, for others, they need constant sound from a TV or noise box designed to help you sleep via relaxing sounds. You must find for yourself what works.
To achieve perfect harmony in your lifestyle, you will need to consider that eating, exercising, and sleeping all work hand in hand. One enhances the other and so forth. Maintaining healthy habits for all three will result in greater affect from each category and will also help you be more productive and better in all facets of your life. Just remember that the journey is lifelong and to move forward, you only need to take one step at a time.
Have a Happy & Healthy New Year!
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