Make your whole health the priority this New Year
After the challenges of the last couple of years, the last thing we may be thinking of is to put extra pressure on ourselves by setting a list of New Years resolutions.
By: PGH, Preferred Global Health
Despite this, the start of the year is a great opportunity to look forward and think about the future, particularly when it comes to the things that are in our control.
We all know that exercising more, eating healthy foods, reducing alcohol consumption and stopping smoking are great ways to improve our health and reduce our risk of cancers and chronic disease such as diabetes and dementia. What can often be more challenging is working out how to stick to those goals and building new habits.
Below are 3 tips on how to approach the changes needed to succeed in your resolutions.
Break your big goals into small targets
it’s great to have big ambitions but reaching our goals will always take time. One way to keep momentum is to break your target into small pieces, achieving those small goals will make you feel great and keep you focused. For example, if you set yourself a weight target to lose 5kg in 2 months, break that goal down into 2.5kgs a month, or even into a weekly goal.
If you want to change your eating habits, start by cutting out certain foods on 3 days of the week only and then once you have mastered that add another day a week.
Be kind to yourself
change is never easy, and we can quickly feel upset if we miss a target or do something that isn’t part of the plan. Developing new habits takes time, and there are many factors that can throw us off track. It is important to always remember that a small deviation from the plan, for example missing a gym session or having a big night out and eating too much ice cream, will not impact upon the longer-term goal and is just a part of the journey.
Less is more
it can be easy to try and make lots of changes at once but focusing on one area at a time is more likely to lead to success. Trying to eat more healthily and stop smoking are both great goals but smoking often suppresses appetite and giving up cigarettes could lead to an increased desire to snack. In this situation you may quickly find that it’s all too much and put both off. Sticking to one big goal at a time will minimizes the amount of change your body and mind need to process and help to keep your mind focused.
Above all remember to share your experiences, both the good and the bad with friends, family and health experts if you think you need extra support. Whatever it is that you set out to achieve this new year, always remember that you are not alone.
PGH, or Preferred Global Health, is an independent global patient organization. PGH is the valued partner and service provider to Tune Protect for myEliteDoctor expert second medical opinion service.
myEliteDoctor is included free of charge with eligible myFlexi CI plans that offer coverage up to 3,000,000 baht for 5 critical disease groups.
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