Get Back into Life
Reading Time: 3 minutesGet (your) back into life
The new year is always a good time to take inventory of our lives including an inventory of our health. By doing this, we can set new health goals for ourselves that will have us feeling healthier and feeling more engaged in life.
There are many factors that affect our health. A few of these factors include our diet– what we eat/ what we don’t eat, our sleep, our level of physical activities or lack thereof, our work habits and the stresses in our lives. Paying close attention to those factors that affect our health and taking corrective steps will lead to better health and hopefully a better quality of life.
In this article we will look into some of the positive health changes we can make for this new year.
- Diet: what we eat is perhaps the most important thing that affects our health. A diet filled with fast foods, plenty of soda and fatty foods is not a good way to a healthier lifestyle. An occasional Oreos or McDonald’s is not necessarily a bad thing but a diet filled with them is not a good thing either. As such with the new year starting, it is perfect time to commit to a healthier diet of more vegetables, fruits as well as smaller portions. These very simple changes will most likely lead to weight loss as well a sense of better well-being.
- Exercise : exercise with a good diet can be the cornerstone to a healthy lifestyle. However, with a busy lifestyle-work, family and other commitments-it can be very difficulty to make time to exercise. Therefore, it might be difficult to commit a regular workout schedule but it might be possible to commit to a workout schedule that requires as little as 10 minutes a day. Another approach made more prevalent with the Covid 19 pandemic and gym closures is the work-out at home trend using equipment as a Peloton or the Mirror. If a dedicated time for exercising is not possible, a daily brisk walk is a great way to keep active and to help with keeping in shape.
- Smoking cessation : cigarette smoking has significant negative health effects such as increasing the risks of lung cancer, esophageal cancer and poor bone health. Although, it can be very difficult to stop smoking it is a worthwhile goal since the health benefits are so significant. There are many smoking cessation programs available. These include medications such Chantix and Wellbutrin as well as behavior programs that can help kick the smoking habit.
- Moderate alcohol consumption : most of us enjoy the occasional glass of wine or a beer but excessive alcohol consumption is not consistent with a healthy lifestyle. Excessive alcohol intake can have a negative effect on our health in many ways. Alcohol can be a source of additional sugary calories as well as causing damage to our livers. It is therefore very important to watch how many alcoholic drinks we have on a daily basis. The CDC newest recommendations regarding alcohol consumption is that men are limited to only 2 drinks per day and women limited to one drink per day.
It is safe to say that 2020 was a stressful year for most of us. However, with this new year, 2021, we have a new chance to start the year right by taking care of our healt and to lead a healthier lifestyle that will help us to deal with whatever 2021 can throw at us.