Entering a new year is often associated with a time for setting resolutions and goals to achieve over the course of the next few months to a year. While goal setting is a positive way to make changes, transform dreams into reality, and create new habits, it’s also important to focus on tangible to-dos specifically for your health and well-being. Resolutions can be fleeting, while lifestyle changes can be long-lasting, which is why we put together this list of health-centric items to incorporate in the new year and beyond.
Weekly Exercise Regimen
According to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity each week. Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. 150 minutes of physical activity each week might sound like a lot, but you don’t have to do it all at once. You could break it out into 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, or whatever works best for your schedule. Whether it’s pilates, HIIT, yoga, cycling, swimming, strength training, cardio dance, brisk walking, running, or jogging, make sure you get your 150 minutes in each week.
Be Proactive about your Health
Scheduling and attending an annual physical exam shouldn’t be a dreaded experience but instead celebrated as a positive to-do on your wellness checklist each year. Visiting a primary care provider for your yearly physical has a myriad of benefits like developing a personalized care plan, aiding in prevention, early detection, and proactive management of health issues.
Healthy Eating Habits
Incorporating healthy eating habits into your daily routine is an essential foundation to support your overall well-being. Everybody has their own unique dietary needs and it’s ultimately all about mindful eating in moderation to ensure your body receives the key nutrients it needs for optimal health. Scheduling an appointment with your primary care physician is a supportive step to help you develop a personalized care plan, including tips for a healthy diet.
Better Sleep Quality
Good sleep is essential to good health. Some habits that can improve your sleep health are:
- Be consistent with your sleep schedule. Try to go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning, including weekends if you’re able.
- Create a relaxing, comfortable, quiet, and dark bedroom environment. Set a desired temperature and make sure you have a comfy bed, bedding, and pillows. An eye mask or white noise machine can also be a helpful addition for optimizing sleep quality.
- Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smartphones, from the bedroom, and limit your screen time before bedtime as an effort to reduce your exposure to blue light right before bed.
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime.
- Get some exercise. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.
Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness is a moment-to-moment conscious awareness brought into existence by focusing on the present experience with no judgment directed toward any thoughts that might pop up. There are many ways to practice mindfulness, offering a variety of benefits, including stress reduction, improved mental clarity, nervous system regulation, pain management, increased resilience, improved quality of life, and better sleep.
Self-Care Rituals
Taking time away from the hustle and bustle of life and caring for others can be hard, but is essential for an optimal state of well-being. It’s important to make time and space for yourself by practicing a daily self-care ritual. At its core, self-care is about nurturing yourself holistically—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It involves setting boundaries, practicing self-compassion, and making choices that prioritize your well-being. Whether it’s going for a walk, meditating, a nightly skincare routine, taking a bath, making art or crafting, arranging flowers, or practicing yoga, find self-care rituals that work best for you, nourishing your mind, body, and soul.
Go Outside
Nature has an innate power to heal. Evidence reveals that there is an association between nature exposure and improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, mental health, physical activity, and sleep. Find a way to incorporate spending time in nature into your weekly routine. Whether it’s going for a walk or hike outside, sitting on a park bench and hearing the birds chirp, kayaking, or standing on the beach and listening to the waves crash against the sand. Get yourself out into nature.
Sources:
CDC: How much physical activity do adults need?
NIH: Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence
published: Dec. 29, 2023, 6:36 p.m.