The new year should always be about a fresh start. Whether in the form of personal goals, financial goals, or health-related changes, people like to hit a reset button on their lives at the beginning of the year.
Health and wellness often top the list of new goals. Weight loss and dietary changes usually begin with strong intentions to lose weight and get in shape, but the intentions often slowly fade once the hard work really has to begin. Here are some tips to contribute to long-term success when working toward health and wellness goals.
Dietary– If your goal was focused on reducing calories or eliminating certain types of food, you should adopt a plan to make it easy for yourself. Be careful when you go cold turkey and cut out foods you’ve been eating a lot of in the recent past. Let’s take sugar as an example. If you normally eat all day, every day, you may experience some withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, irritability, and strong cravings, if you suddenly cut sweets out of your diet. Have a plan to cut back on sugar over time instead of all at once. Give yourself a week or two to wean your body off sugar.
working out-Going to the gym may be your new goal, but sticking to a strict training schedule can be difficult to maintain. A variety of factors can easily sidetrack you from work, kids and travel schedules can change your gym routine as soon as you get into a good training groove. If you miss a day or two, it’s not the end of the world and you can even burn some calories outside the gym during daily activity like the following:
· Park farther away from the store instead of the closest spot you can find.
Enter stores from the opposite end of where you know you’ll be shopping and paying.
Performing tension exercises (isotonics) while driving where you tighten your abs or other muscle group in the car.
These are all easy ways to burn calories without going to the gym and you won’t even have to work at it.
stress reduction– Stress is touted as the silent killer and leads to high rates of heart disease and hypertension in our society. Managing stress is essential to reduce the stress hormones that are released and damage cells in the body. Using some kind of daily stress reliever can do wonders for your overall health and make you feel good at the same time. Massage therapy, mediation, and prayer are great ways to balance the stress that comes with everyday life. Practice deep, full breathing while you fall asleep at night or even when you shower. Studies have shown that deep, focused breaths can improve overall mood and lower blood pressure.
Adopting small changes to achieve big goals usually works better in the long run. Remember that any positive change, big or small, is a change in the right direction and will help you reach your overall health goals.