Dedicating the time to focus on your health and wellness is incredibly important nowadays. But with so many other personal and professional goals in mind, it can be easy to forget how important it is to set some time aside to allow us to recharge and rejuvenate.
Retaining a healthy mind and body is key to living a long, healthy, and happy life. It can also help us reach your other goals faster, ensuring you are always at your best.
Read these top tips on how to improve your overall health and wellbeing this year.
1. Exercise Regularly
Regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health. Exercise boosts the release of feel-good endorphins scientifically proven to boost your mood and reduce symptoms of mental health problems like anxiety and depression 1.
People who exercise regularly have a much lower risk of developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Exercise also improves the quality of sleep and increases daytime energy levels.
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, we should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. This includes things like walking, jogging, and cycling. It doesn’t even need to be too strenuous in order for you to reap the benefits!
2. Eat a Healthy Diet
Ever heard of the phrase, “you are what you eat”? Well, you aren’t literally what you eat, but your diet does have a considerable part to play in your physical and mental health.
Eating healthily means ensuring you consume a good balance of different macronutrients, including carbohydrates, protein, and fats, as well as plenty of micronutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Eating a variety of different foods ensures we are getting the full range of nutrients our body needs to function properly.
Fruit and vegetables are a key part of a healthy diet, as they are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates while remaining low on unhealthy fats. Other important components include whole grains, protein, and unsaturated fats, such as olive oil.
We are all partial to the odd sugary treat. But unfortunately, as tasty as it is, sugar is extremely bad for our health and can increase inflammation in the body.
It can lead to a number of diseases such as diabetes, and the evilest thing of all, it tells you you want more! Try to limit your sugar intake as much as possible.
Other foods to limit include saturated fats and processed foods, as these are also bad for health and increase inflammation 2.
It can be challenging to meet the required daily amounts of nutrients through diet alone. Taking a supplement alongside can help ensure you are receiving everything you need to function at your best and prevents nutrient deficiencies from developing.
Performance Lab offers a number of different nutritional supplements that can help enhance sleep, vision, cognition, flexibility, energy, long-range health, and more.
3. Practice Mindfulness and Meditation
Consistent stress can harm our mental and physical health and is linked to an increased risk for a number of chronic diseases, such as cancer 3.
While eliminating stress from our lives entirely is next to impossible, there are a number of steps you can take to reduce its effect on you. Practicing mindfulness can help you feel more grounded and remain more in the present moment, rather than worrying about what lies ahead.
It can help direct your attention away from your stressful thoughts by encouraging you to focus on other things happening in your environment or yourself.
Meditation and mindfulness go hand-in-hand nicely. Meditation is a form of mindfulness that utilizes controlled breathwork and focuses on bringing you out of your head and into your body. It is proven to be an effective tool for managing stress and anxiety.
4. Do Regular Yoga
Believe it or not, there’s a reason all the yogi’s out there are so calm and collected. Yoga is a highly effective way to de-stress and practice that all-important mindfulness we mentioned earlier.
By stretching and focusing on controlling your breath and movements, it can help you leave your worries behind.
But as well as helping you de-stress, yoga offers countless other benefits to health. These include:
- Better flexibility and balance
- Increased muscle tone and strength
- Improved blood flow and respiration
- Increased energy
- Reduced inflammation
- Better mental health
- Better sleep
5. Take Some Time For Yourself
Our busy modern-day lives often leave us feeling shattered and burnt out. We’re all in need of some “me” time once in a while. There is no shame in taking a day off to focus on yourself!
Be kind to yourself and practice self-care. This can include taking a long bath, doing a pamper session, taking a duvet day, reading a book, or journaling.
Really whatever makes you feel relaxed!
6. Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep is as essential to our health as eating and drinking. Lack of sleep is linked to mental health problems like anxiety and depression, as well as other physical health conditions.
Make sure you are setting yourself a regular sleep schedule to ensure you are getting your recommended 7-9 hours’ sleep a night. Without sleep, your body and brain don’t get the important rest they need to restore themselves so they can function properly the next day.
7. Take Up a New Hobby
Give your self-esteem a boost by learning a new skill or hobby. Sometimes we all need a bit of fun to break up our busy weeks. Hobbies can be a great way to enjoy yourself while also learning a valuable new skill at the same time!
Why not try something like learning a new language, sport, crafting, painting, circus performing - whatever tickles your fancy!
Whatever the year ahead looks like for you, it’s essential to remain mindful of your health and wellbeing. Use these tips to help you care for your body and mind to ensure you remain at your best.
References
- Sharma, Ashish. "Exercise for mental health." The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders 8.2 (2006): 24919.
- Della Corte, Karen W., et al. "Effect of dietary sugar intake on biomarkers of subclinical inflammation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies." Nutrients 10.5 (2018): 606.
- Jin Shin, Kyeong, et al. "Molecular mechanisms underlying psychological stress and cancer." Current pharmaceutical design 22.16 (2016): 2389-2402.
