Looking to Be Healthier in the New Year? These Tips Will Help – South Florida Reporter

As one year came to a close and the new one began, many peoples resolutions centered around living healthier lifestyles. Building sustainable and long-lasting healthy habits can be a challenge, which is why its so important to not jump into intense dieting or overzealous workout routines. Below are some tips that will help you become healthier not just for a few weeks, but for the entire year and beyond.

If you dont exercise at all right now, starting out with an overly ambitious plan can easily backfire. Instead of making a plan where you work out intensely every single day, you should try to do more moderate exercise a few days a week. For example, if you want to start running, starting out by doing a combination of walking and jogging is a great place to start.

The reason youre starting small is to avoid burnout if you aim to do an intense workout every day, the first day can leave you extremely sore, which might make you skip the next day, and since you skipped that day, you let yourself skip another, and another, and suddenly your workout routine is dead. Thats why starting with exercise at a beginner level a few days a week is a better way to start. You can always add more days to your workout routine as you get more fit, but starting small gives you the freedom to start working out without burning out.

Another key to building a sustainable form of exercise is to actually enjoy what youre doing. If you hate running with your entire being, you should probably choose a different exercise form to devote time to. There are so many different classes and forms of exercise that you can try, and the odds are that one of them will be enjoyable for you. If you try yoga, for example, and arent a huge fan, you could try kickboxing or swimming instead. Give yourself space to try out different types of exercise, and dont force yourself to do a certain type of workout just because you feel like you should. Exercise can, and should, be fun for you, so keep that in mind when youre looking for an exercise form.

If youre doing a workout that makes you sore, you should make sure that you remember to recover properly afterward. This means stretching, foam rolling, and giving yourself time to rest and recover. If youre able to get a massage or take a hot bath, thats also a great way to help your body recover after a workout leaves you sore.

Getting enough sleep is important in recovering after a workout, but it also presents many other benefits. Sleep is the time when your body is recovering from the day, getting stronger, and recharging, and sleeping enough is an important part of making sure your body functions properly. Every year, approximately one billion Americans get colds, and getting enough sleep can help you avoid adding to that statistic. When you are consistently not sleeping enough, it can result in a multitude of health issues. If you want an easy way to start being healthier, getting enough sleep to feel well-rested and refreshed is a good place to start.

Food choices make a huge difference when it comes to living a healthy life. However, the idea that you have to eat 100% healthy all the time is not only unrealistic but can lead to major setbacks when youre trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. Instead of trying to go straight to only eating healthy food all the time, you should try to ease yourself into healthy eating.

For example, you can start by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet. When you make dinner, choose a side salad or vegetables over a less healthy option like chips or fries or start eating maqui berry extract with your breakfast, which has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels in individuals with prediabetes by 5% in three months.

You should also try to cut some unhealthy foods out of your diet, like fast-food. You can still have those foods every once in a while as a treat, but limiting the amount of overly processed and greasy foods that you eat can really help you on your health journey.

There is always a new fad diet that comes around, especially around New Years. Oftentimes, these diets will try to sell themselves with outrageous claims that you will lose ten pounds a week or magically cure weight-related illness. In reality, these diets cause a yo-yo effect where you start them, drop weight, and then regain it once you fail the diet. If youre part of the two-thirds of adults in the U.S. that are overweight, these fad diets are not what will solve your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar problems. Instead, making small changes over time that add up to a healthier, sustainable lifestyle.

Unless youre actively trying to drink enough water every day, the odds are that you arent. You should check with your doctor about how much to drink, but approximately 100 ml a day is usually recommended for most adults. If you feel thirsty, the odds are that youre already a little bit dehydrated, so try to drink enough water consistently that you dont end up feeling thirsty. Its a habit that may take some time to build up, but your body will thank you for it in the long run.

No one is perfect, and if you let your setbacks discourage you to the point where you stop trying, you wont achieve the health goals that you set for yourself. If you experience a setback, dont try to punish yourself or compensate for your mistakes. Instead, try to figure out why you made the choice in the first place and try to fix that reasoning. If you had fast-food when you werent planning on it, instead of going on a binge, make a plan to meal plan in the future so you dont end up at a fast-food restaurant because youre too hungry to wait to make food.

What are your New Years health goals? What are you looking forward to achieving this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Looking to Be Healthier in the New Year? These Tips Will Help - South Florida Reporter