Healthy living resolutions are some of the most popular. According to Statista, the three most common new year’s resolutions are related to healthy living:
At least 40% of people said they had set their resolution on these topics at least once. Unfortunately Time magazine reports that these (with stopping smoking, being less stressed and drinking less) are also in the 10 most broken resolutions every year.
It seems that many of us want a healthier lifestyle but struggle to make it a reality. This blog is for you if you want to set a new year’s resolution around health.
Your current situation
With our previous resolution topics, it’s easy to think about your current situation. With healthy living it’s much harder. It’s more likely that you have habits that you know are not in your best interest, and it can be easier to ignore them than think about them.
But now it’s time to be honest.
This starts with answering some simple questions. You may not want to think about the answers. But being honest will lead you to plan for a better future life.
Healthy diet
- Are you eating enough fresh fruit and veg?
- Do you eat too many takeaways?
- Are your portions too large?
- Do you eat too many unhealthy snacks?
- Why is you diet not as healthy as it should be?
Smoking
- Do you smoke?
- Why do you smoke?
Exercise
- Do you do enough exercise?
- Did you used to do more exercise in the past?
- Why don’t you do as much exercise as you want to?
Stress
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Do you have time for your own wellbeing?
- What is making you stressed?
Drinking
- Do you drink too often?
- Do you binge drink when you drink?
- Is drinking a treat or a requirement to let off steam?
That was the tough bit. Now you can think about how you want life to be.
The healthy living dream
Too often the elements of an unhealthy lifestyle are linked. You are stressed at work and so you are not sleeping well. You feel more tired, so you smoke more. The stress makes you irritable and less in control. Life seams rushed, which leads you to eating fast food. Feeling in a funk makes exercise less appealing. And as Friday comes round, you just need a drink to let off steam. Being in a huff, tired and feeling like you’re not in control creates more stress and around the circle you go.
But it doesn’t have to be like that for you.
Think about how your dream healthy life could be. Don’t think about what’s involved just focus on how it feels.
Do you feel like you have more energy? Are you more relaxed? Are you sleeping better? Have you stopped smoking? Is drink more of a pleasure than a release? Are you more able to deal with life’s problems? Spend a minute to imagine that feeling.
Now think about what you will be able to do with your healthier life. Going on a diet because you ‘need to lose weight’ will often lead to you either failing or temporarily losing weight before putting it back on. Instead, think about why you want to make your life healthier. What will be the driving force to building new habits and stopping you returning to your old habits?
Maybe you want to lose weight to take you kids for bike rides. Stop smoking so you can afford to buy a new car. Be less stressed so your home is a more relaxed place and you have more time for those you care about.
Filling in the details
Now you are clear on the reasons why you want to change your lifestyle, for a better healthier one, you can consider what’s involved.
With lifestyle the elements are often interconnected. Starting with what you want to achieve, what do you need to change?
Trying to change everything will only lead to failure. Maybe you want to start running, eat a healthy diet, stop smoking and find time for yourself. Trying to focus on all these changes at the same time will lead you to missing things, putting too much pressure on yourself, becoming more stressed and less happy.
Let’s first think if there are any easy wins? Is there anything you can easily change that will start to get results? Maybe you can walk to work giving you some exercise and time to relax and think. Maybe you can take some fruit to work to snack on…
Once you have the easy wins you will be halfway there. You can then build on these new habits to reach your dream.
You healthy living resolution maybe something like “I am going to stop getting the bus home from work and instead start walking to give me some exercise and time to myself. After three months, I am going to swap walking for jogging one day a week. I am going to build this up to three days a week. I am going to take fruit to work to snack on. In June, I am going to start taking salad to work for lunch. Doing these will help me feel more relaxed, and I will start losing some weight and getting healthier. This will enable me to do the things I want to do in life, such as run a marathon, do stuff with the kids, save money…”
Tough but rewarding
It’s going to be tough to get to your dream healthy lifestyle. But think back to that happy feeling you got when imagining how life could be. If the happy felling is worth the effort, then setting a healthy living new year’s resolution could be for you!
When setting a healthy living resolution, don’t forget to make it a ‘SMART’ and identify the wins along the way.
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