New Years Resolutions That Will Help Your Health

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People often joke about new years resolutions because everyone always says the same ‘new year, new me’ line. They’ve become something of a meme, but I believe resolutions still have a big place in your life. Think of them as a way of forcing you to get your head screwed on and make significant changes that will benefit your life.

That’s the key for me; make your resolutions bring something positive to your life. Which is why I prefer things that will have a direct impact on your health and wellness. Here are a few ideas to help you kickstart 2019 with a new mindset and improved health:


Drive less, walk more

I think this is one of my favorite ideas as it’s such an easy thing to stick to. The problem with a lot of health-related resolutions is that they’re tough to commit to for a long time. As such, gym memberships spike in January and go down in March/April. But, if you make a promise to drive less and walk more, then you’re doing wonders for your health. Driving burns no calories and can be very mentally draining as well. Walking is easy on your joints, burns calories, keeps you fit, and helps improve your mood as well. Plus, it’s basically effortless - just walk to work instead of driving, or park your car further away and walk the rest of the distance, simple!


Give up alcohol

Giving up alcohol is a classic new years resolution, but one that can benefit you massively. A lot of people drink too much alcohol - particularly over the holiday period - and they don’t do anything about it. If you carry on consuming so many units every week, it won’t be long before you end up in an alcohol inpatient treatment center getting help for addiction. Alcohol is a highly addictive substance that can ruin your physical and mental health. Make the commitment to giving it up next year - or at least cutting down substantially - and you’ll see improvements in your overall health and wellbeing.


Eat less meat

Now, before you scream at me that you don’t want to turn vegan; relax! I’m not even saying you should become vegetarian, I’m merely suggesting you reduce the amount of meat you eat. Eating it every day can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, and there’s even evidence to suggest it shortens your life. There’s an interesting book called How Not To Die that goes into detail about this, so it could be worth picking up. Even if you have one or two meat-free days per week, this goes a long way to improving your overall health and ensuring you have a more balanced diet. Who knows, you may like these days so much that you change to a meat-free life full time!

These new years resolutions should be reasonably easy to stick to as they don’t require drastic lifestyle changes. Well, apart from the alcohol one, but if you struggle to cut down on that/give it up, then that shows you have a problem. Make a few changes to your life, and you’ll be amazed at the benefits they bring to your health.

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For New Year, I Become A Better Me

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We all approach the New Year with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Excitement,  because this marks the chance for us to take a new start in life and make it all better, or at least try to correct some of the mistakes of the past. Apprehension, because this is the time when we review how the resolutions of the previous year have gone, and chances are that they have been ditched quite early in the year! But for this New Year, here’s a little guideline to help each one of us quit bad habits and stick to the healthy resolutions for 2017.

 

Don’t Quit Bad Habits Cold Turkey

Many wait until the first day of a brand new year to ditch their bad habits into oblivion: They over-indulge before they start, thinking that they need to enjoy it now while they still can. Unfortunately, this behavior only creates extreme cravings, whether for sweet chocolate, video games, or even tobacco. Why does this happen? Simply because our habits are just as addictive as a drug and affects the brain at different levels. While this is less dangerous than life-threatening and illegal drugs, they do create over time a dependency that the body and the brain get used to.

For gamers, it’s the fact that they can’t relax and don’t know what to do with themselves if they don’t play, for others it could be that over-eating is the only thing that they think makes them happy, etc. There is no way around it: Up to 90% of people who entertain a bad habit are addicted without knowing it. Consequently, when you decide to ditch a bad habit, you will experience what is called a period of withdrawal. Withdrawal is a difficult experience to make, with symptoms that can be similar to the flu and can last for a few weeks, sometimes even long periods of depression. But stick with it, you’ll soon feel a lot better.

 

Don’t Do It On Your Own

Quitting smoking, quitting alcohol, eating healthy food, etc., is for many quitting the habit of a lifetime. This is a big step and you need all the help you can get on the way! Thankfully you will find some useful support: Champix tablets help to stop smoking for example, as they work directly on the nicotine receptors in the brain and makes cravings for cigarettes more manageable. Others prefer to rely on friends and groups to limit some addictions, such as going shopping with a reasonable friend who will stop you from over-spending. Some even swear by hypnotism and claim that they found it a great support when they decided to quit for real. Whatever you choose, do make sure that your plan includes something to help your brain fight the addiction.

 

Quit Gradually Over A Period Of Time

Your habit will generate cravings, whether those are irresistible needs for something sweet, or for letting your credit card smoke with over-use if you are addicted to shopping, etc. We all have bad habits and it is natural to miss them when we decide to stop. Whether you are looking forward to saying goodbye to cakes for example, or quit video games, you will need to gradually reduce your daily intake to make sure that you will be successful in quitting. There are more than just power of will when you walk away from bad habits: Often the brain and the body will still be intoxicated with substances generated by our habits, this could be the adrenaline from gaming for example. Therefore the brain, or the body, will be requiring the usual ratio it generally receives.

This is a physical reaction and fighting it, even though it is for your own mental and physical health, can actually makes you feel sick. As a result, you will be better off if you gradually get your body used to smaller amounts of your bad habit. This is something that you will need to plan carefully, to make sure that while you continue to diminish the frequency, you are not creating too significant cravings. Give yourself a week to reduce your daily intake if you are addicted to soda drinks, for example. Similarly, if you love shopping too much, you can allow yourself only a certain budget, take it in cash for extra safety, for a fortnight.

Replace Bad Habits With A New Habit

A bad habit is not only an addiction, but as we know it is also a habit. The best way to forget about a habit is to swap it for a new one. It could be anything as long as you are careful to stay away from other types of dangerous addictions. Whether you decide to pick up jogging, to start a painting course, to learn a new language, or even to lose yourself into books, it is up to you. As long as you find something that you can be passionate about, you are sure to never go back to your bad habit again. After all, passions can be just as addictive too, but they are healthy!

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