8 More Realistic Health-Related New Year Resolutions

Each year, on New Year’s Eve, we choose to make resolutions – things that we plan on changing when the clock strikes midnight and the new year begins. Many of these resolutions are linked to our health and are often incredibly difficult to keep.

The issue is that when it comes to new year’s resolutions, far too many people set resolutions that are unrealistic, and because of this, they are not able to stick to them. If you want to ensure that this year you are able to keep to your resolutions, you need to set more realistic health goals for the new year.

To give you some ideas and inspiration, below are eight more realistic health goals that will be easier to stick to in 2018.

1. Do 150 minutes of exercise a week

In order to stay healthy, it is recommended that we do 150 minutes of exercise a week. That equates to 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times a week. Instead of setting yourself unachievable fitness goals, such as going for a five-mile run every morning before work or cycling to and from work every day, set more achievable fitness goals, such as working out five times a week for 30-minutes. It’s better to set smaller goals and end up doing more than setting larger goals and giving up on them.

2. Stick to one cup of coffee a day

Research has shown that drinking one cup of caffeinated coffee a day can be good for your health. However, drinking too much caffeine and getting addicted, can be seriously detrimental to your health. So from January 1st, aim to only drink one cup of caffeinated coffee a day, and the rest of the time stick to decaffeinated coffee (and other hot drinks too). You will feel better for it, plus there will be no more of those nasty caffeine headaches to cope with.

3. Practice yoga twice a week

If you are someone who is under a lot of stress, then the chances are that you want to reduce the amount of stress that you feel you are under in the new year. A great way to do that is to practice yoga a couple of times a week. Instead of setting yourself the goal of practising yoga every day, morning and evening, set the goal of practising it a couple of times a week, and as and when you need to relax and unwind.

4. Do more of what you love

When it comes to setting new year’s resolutions that link to your health, it’s not just your physical health that you should be taking into account, but also your mental health. That’s why you should set yourself the goal of doing more of what you love. Far too many of us don’t make time to do the things that we love, instead focusing too much on our work and other menial aspects of life, like the housework, for instance. However, if you make time to do more of the things that you love, then you will feel better for it, and your mental health will be healthier for it. Whether you love to go for long walks, read, or play music, it doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you make more time for the things that you love.

5. Drink less alcohol

We all like to have a drink when we go out with our friends, however, if you feel like you are drinking too much, you may be considering going alcohol-free in 2018. Instead of setting this more unachievable goal, why not set yourself the goal of drinking less alcohol, such as only drinking once a week? That way you will lead a healthier life but will still be able to have a drink socially, but won’t be breaking your resolution.

6. Swap to e-cigarettes

The most common new year’s resolution for smokers is choosing to quit smoking. While this is a great resolution to make, the fact is that quitting smoking isn’t an easy task. If you are serious about giving up smoking for good, it’s a fantastic resolution to make, but it’s important to realise how difficult it can be to do. That’s why getting plenty of help is so important, such as using nicotine replacement products, like chewing gum, patches and e-cigarettes. If you want to make quitting easier for yourself, swapping to e-cigarettes, like the ones available via ecigwizard.com, can be a good idea. This is because e-cigarettes not only curb your craving for nicotine but also your need to hold something and ‘smoke’.

7. Get outside more

Want to be healthier in 2018? Then making the time to get outside more is important. The fact is that the more time you are able to spend outside, the healthier you will be. Whether it’s walking, playing sports, or partaking in outdoor art classes, it doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you are able to get outside more and spend time outside in the fresh air.

8. Learn one new healthy recipe a week

Do you usually eat a lot of junk food or many of the same meals, because you don’t have the time to cook new things? Instead of making the resolution to make every single meal from scratch – something that may not be possible with your hectic lifestyle – commit to making one new healthy recipe each week, and over time, build up to knowing how to make all sorts of healthy dishes, so that eventually you are cooking homemade, healthy food most days. By building up your cooking skills over time, and slowing adjusting to cooking from scratch, you will make it much more likely that you will get into good eating habits that stick.

There you have it, eight more realistic health-related new year’s resolutions to take note of. If you want to ensure that by the end of 2018, you are leading a healthier life, then it is important to make some resolutions at the start of the year, that you can actually stick to.