A new year is coming and with it comes a whole new chance to be healthy. Making health resolutions are easy, but how do you stick with them? We’re going to help you out with that! Here are 12 things you should do every month. They won’t take up a lot of time. They are not seemingly impossible tasks. They won’t even be particularly expensive things to do. But if you follow them, you will be healthier by the end of the year. These are the 12 Days of Wellness!
12 Days of Wellness
Since we’re talking wellness as a whole, these steps will help not just with weight loss, but also with mental health, physical fitness and diet. We’re going to start off with something that sounds easy, but not be, depending on the sort of person you are.
Be Positive
One reason people fail at keeping up with their resolutions is because they go into the process thinking they’re going to fail. So, let’s fix that now. If you feel yourself being self-deprecating or negative about yourself, stop. Take a moment. Process what you are doing. And say to yourself that those negative feelings are not the truth. Too often, in sometimes very subtle ways, we tell ourselves that we’re not good enough. You are! Don’t let a negative mindset prevent you achieving your goal.
Random Acts of Kindness
Once a month, do something good for someone else. We call them random acts of kindness, but you can cheat and plan them out. These can be little things, like offering to go on a coffee run for the people you work with. If you’re feeling REALLY ambitious, volunteer at a charity. When you act for someone else’s interest, you feel good about yourself. An acting theory is that doing charity actually causes the brain to release dopamine into your body, hence the “warm glow” you feel afterwards. Make yourself feel good by helping someone else in need.
Dance For 5 Minutes
Optimally, this is more of a daily tip than monthly. Dancing is great exercise! And it’s fun! Dancing to two songs a day, burns calories, gets the blood pumping and can even reduce stress. You don’t have to do it in public if you don’t want to. You don’t have to be self-conscious about it. It’s okay if you close the curtains and do it all in the comfort of your own home.
Answer An Email In Person
Sitting in one place for too long is not good for us. Instead of spending more time in front of a keyboard, go to your work colleague and answer in person. Even a short walk is good for you. Spending too much time being sedentary leads to increased heart disease risk as well as a higher likelihood of obesity.
Wake Up, Drink Water
This is another one that’s better on a daily basis. The first thing you should do every morning is drink a glass of water. For one thing, it will help you wake up faster, but it also helps to flush the body of toxins. Most of us don’t drink enough water daily as it is! An excellent side benefit is that properly hydrated skin means less lines in your face and makes wrinkles less obvious. You’ll look younger!
Cook Your Own Meal
Dedicate one day that you’re going to cook for yourself instead of eating out. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Since it’s just one day, you have time to prepare something healthy. Maybe spend a couple of minutes researching a quality recipe online. Start with something easy. As you go, you can be more creative. As your confidence grows, start adding more days dedicated to cooking your own meals. Restaurant food is convenient, but it’s probably filled with too much salt and calories that you really don’t need!
Eat Berries With Breakfast
It only takes a half cup of berries a day with breakfast to increase wellness. Berries are packed with vitamin C, which helps build your immune system. Say goodbye to unnecessary colds! They’re also great brain food and they help in the digestion of other foods. Make a smoothie with enough berries and you can even drink it on the way to work, no fuss, no muss.
Get Enough Sleep
Burning the candle at both ends is sometimes necessary, but not every night. Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep a night. The truth is we don’t practice good sleep hygiene, so we’re unintentionally robbing ourselves of quality zzz’s. Here’s some tips. A cooler bedroom will help you fall asleep faster. Keep the temp between 65 & 70 degrees. Also, put down any electronic device at least an hour before heading off to bed. The light from those devices confuse our natural circadian rhythm.
Do Push-ups
We’re not talking about a military drill sergeant level of push-ups. If you haven’t been exercising at all, start with just 5. Do them daily. When you feel comfortable, add one more a day. Never go backwards. Only add a push-up when you know you can regularly do them. No one’s watching you, so pushing yourself to do more before your ready does you no good. Besides being good exercise overall, they will get the blood pumping, strengthen your upper body and might even help with any gut you have.
Connect With Family or Loved Ones
It’s easy to be “too busy.” We can get trapped in our heads without social contact. Even the most curmudgeonly of us is designed to be a social being. Call or visit a family member. If family stresses you out, make it a good friend. It’s okay to indulge yourself this “me” time. Talk about a favorite TV show or something good that happened to you. Avoid using this time to complain. The right person you choose to talk to will help you with our first step of Be Positive too!
Wipe Down Office Doorknob
The bigger the office you work in, the more likely you are to run into someone who’s sick. You can reduce the chance of contracting a cold or flu by up to 90% by simply disinfecting your doorknob on a regular basis. Obviously, don’t be rude about it, like doing it in front of someone who’s just opened the door.
Know Your Numbers
Before you start any major change in your routine, get a good baseline by getting tested using one of our Men Wellness Panels and Women Wellness Panels. You need to know where you are before you can figure out where you’re going and how to get there. You can also use these panels to measure progress on a quarterly basis.
