The start of a new year is the perfect time to start making small but meaningful changes to improve your health. Of the health tips listed, most of them only require minimal changes to your daily routine, but will have incredible benefits for your overall physical and mental health.
Here are 10 tips on how to maximize your health in 2021 and ways to start improving your life right away.
1. Get More Sleep
Getting enough sleep is extremely important for your health. It can be argued that sleep is just as important as exercising and eating healthy. Quality sleep is key to a healthy functioning brain and gives your body the time it needs to recover and process everything properly. Better brain function also comes with higher productivity, concentration, and performance.
You can improve the quality of your sleep by dimming the lights a few hours before bed, going to bed the same time every day, and avoiding stimulants as much as possible leading up to bedtime.
2. Get Enough Sun
With more and more people staying inside, many people are lacking in the important Vitamin D. Sunlight is a natural way to increase those vitamin levels while also correlating with an improved mood. Getting enough sun exposure comes with a variety of other benefits, ranging from improved bone health to reduced feelings of depression.
If getting more sunlight isn't that easy for you, consider taking vitamin D supplements as a great alternative.
3. Get Your Body Moving
One of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health would be finding time for aerobic exercise. This type of exercise is helpful in reducing belly fat, and can lead to improved metabolism and a healthier heart.
A good way to get started would be going for a short walk every day. Once this feels comfortable, try working up to 30 - 60 minutes of walking per day. Once you feel comfortable again, try dedicating some time during your walk to jogging or running.
4. Less Artificial Sugar
Reducing the amount of sugar you consume on a daily basis could improve your health a great deal. Many foods are packed with added sugars that are designed to trigger hunger and addiction reactions in the body. Over time, this can be extremely detrimental to your metabolic health.
Instead, it would be a good idea to eat more natural sugars. Fruits are a delicious source of natural sugar that are also loaded with vitamins, fiber, minerals and antioxidants.
5. Build Your Strength
One of the best ways to strengthen your body is by lifting weights. You also don't need a gym or expensive weights to begin this process. There are a variety of common body weight exercises that you can do at home to begin building up strength in your muscles. Some of the best ones that you can start today include squats, lunges, crunches, push-ups, and jumping jacks.
6. Stress Less
The way you feel mentally is just as important as a healthy diet, exercise, and sleep. Excessive amounts of stress can take its toll on your body’s functionality. Stress can not only raise your cortisol levels, but it may also weaken your metabolism.
Some tips to help reduce stress would be to practice deep breathing exercises when feeling overwhelmed, dedicating time to practice self-care, and visiting a licensed mental health professional.
7. Drink More Water
You have probably heard this one a thousand times, but drinking water has countless benefits for your health. Proper hydration can actually increase the number of calories you burn! It is recommended that adults drink about 8 cups of water per day in order to maintain a healthy bloodstream, metabolism and immune system.
The best time to drink water is before a meal. Try to break up your 8 cups by having 4 glasses before lunch and 4 more before dinner. Over time, this process will become routine.
8. Avoid Processed Foods
Anything in your pantry that is highly processed should be limited as much as possible. Processed foods are made to trigger your pleasure centers, which can cause you to overeat. These foods have very little nutritional value and are often jam-packed with unnatural and unhealthy ingredients.
A good way to cut out these foods would be to cook more meals at home and avoid anything labeled as “fast.” Cooking your own meals gives you more control over the ingredients going into your body.
9. Go Nuts!
Nuts are filled with a variety of important nutrients, vitamins, fiber, and magnesium. Interestingly, 10 - 15% of the calories in nuts are not absorbed by your body. It is also been shown that some nuts can help to boost your metabolism.
There is a huge variety of nuts for different taste buds, so if you don’t like one than you can try another. Some tasty nuts that we'd recommend would include almonds, macadamias, cashews, and pistachios.
10. Quit Smoking
If you are a smoker, this should be at the top of your 2021 New Year's Resolution list. And while this is much easier said than done, avoiding smoking will have immediate health benefits...More so than exercise, diet, and sleep combined.
If you are not a smoker, that is great! We do not recommend starting this New Year.
