5 Helpful Habits to Bring Into the New Year
New Year’s resolutions often involve huge commitments, most of which are unsustainable. It’s hard to change overnight. On the other hand, small habits can make or break you. What you do daily can either promote wellness, physically, mentally, and emotionally or reduce it. These 5 helpful habits are some that are simple but can make a huge difference.
Creating habits can change your life. Keep reading to find out what these 5 helpful habits are, their benefits, and how to incorporate them into your day and bring them into the new year with ease!
5 Helpful Habits to Bring into the New Year
New Year’s resolutions do not need to involve massive changes that can overwhelm you. You don’t even need to wait until a new year has come to start trying these helpful habits on this list. Massive change, like waking up at 5 am to run or cutting out all sugar, can be extremely difficult and may leave you feeling defeated and worse off.
Try out these simple, helpful habits and watch how overall wellness improves. A journey, no matter how long, begins at the first step.
1. 5 Minutes Daily Movement
While you may not be ready to do 100 push-ups and pull-ups, and it may not be time to wake up before sunrise to run, movement matters. It can be some stretching before bed, a short walk after dinner, or some pacing in the kitchen. Making a habit of moving your body every day is so beneficial to overall health, mentally and physically.
Make it a habit to move your body. It is a good step towards doing more intense goals like running daily, going to the gym weekly, or training for a specific activity.
2. Eat Something Healthy Daily
Make it a goal to eat something healthy daily. This does not mean starting a keto diet, a Mediterranean diet, or a whole foods diet. You can set a certain time of day to add something healthy like a fruit or vegetable. A good time would be around breakfast so that the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars keep you satisfied throughout the day.
Eating healthy does not happen overnight, and it can change constantly. I avoided sugar for about two years before getting into bread-making and rice-eating. Trying keto helped me reset my sugar cravings and learn to eat the foods I love (aka pizza) with more joy, but it wasn’t for me. Again, a simple, small change would be focusing on adding something healthy, instead of taking something away. Add a veggie here or there and start increasing your daily intake slowly.
3. Drink Water When You First Wake
When we wake up, our bodies are slightly dehydrated. This wouldn’t really be a problem, except even slight dehydration poses a huge problem to us. Signs of dehydration include dry mouth and low blood pressure, but slight dehydration affects mental clarity and can cause headaches, tiredness, and dizziness.
Drinking water when you first wake up is a good way to prevent any sort of dehydration from occurring. Leave a glass full the night before and be ready to drink it even before your morning coffee!
4. Incorporate Moments of Mindfulness
Many of our worries stem from regretting the past or worrying about the future. While a lot of these concerns are valid, thinking about them constantly does not help and will sooner lead to mental health issues such as panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. Instead, focus on what you can control, and try mindful moments.
Mindfulness is a mental practice in which you try to focus on the present. This can be done at any time, like mindful walks, mindful morning meditations, or while eating. Be in the moment with your meal. Focus on the tastes, scents, sights, etc. Not only will it help calm the mind, but mindful eating tends to prevent overeating that occurs when we dine while distracted (I can finish a party-size bag of flaming hot cheetos if I’m snacking on them while watching trash tv).
5. Track Current Habits
A small helpful habit you can try is tracking your habits. Track your exercise, track your movement, track your meals, track your emotions, etc. Basically, use your tracker to get some insight into your life and your choices. Are you an emotional eater or do you tend to skip meals when upset? Do morning workouts make you feel like trash? Would trying evening exercise be better?
No matter what, be honest with your habits. A tracker can help you get some insight into your actions and reactions, allowing you to reevaluate and react differently.
The Takeaway
Healthy habits are vital for overall wellness and wellbeing. Health comes from within, so eat nutritious food, exercise daily, and care for your mental health. Daily habits become the building blocks for emotional, mental, and physical health. Try to take care of your gut health too! Learn everything you need to know about gut microbiota today for free here.
