How many of your good purposes for the new year have survived until today? Putting the beginning of the year as the key date to improve our lives is a topic and does not always work.
But that your great purposes do not always come to complete the first week of the year is not a reason to resign . In fact, we are going to propose a whole series of simple but powerful changes that can help you, effectively, this beginning of the year bring improvements to your body and your health.
1. Pass the elevator and go up the stairs
We usually associate physical exercise with our leisure time, and also with practicing it in an organized way, with a method, times and objectives. But what about people who do not train or play sports ? There are many people who because of workload, time, economic possibilities, lack of habit or physical condition do not devote part of their leisure to exercise.
A study published recently in the journal The Lancet analyzed precisely this question, and concluded that any physical activity that helps us achieve the recommended minimum of 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes a week has a protective effect on cardiovascular health and death early.
That includes going to train, but also going up and down stairs, walking to work or class, having a job that involves physical activity, doing housework, carrying the purchase home …
So you know: any physical activity that you include in your routine will benefit you, and climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator does not require much time, equipment or preparation .
2. Think about training like going to the doctor: there are no excuses
In the first week of January, the motivation continues at maximum and with the gym just paid, we go several times a week without hesitation, but as the days progress, the motivation drops and the excuses appear.
How many times have you stopped going to the gym or going for a run because you had a lot of trouble or you just did not feel like it? For this year, think about training like an appointment with your doctor : you make room for it because it’s for your own good. Give priority .
And in case you have a varied repertoire of excuses, for all tastes and colors, take a look at this article in which you dismount them all.
3. Leave the car
If you are one of those who go everywhere by car having alternatives simply for convenience, you should know that you are not doing a favor to your health, nor to the environment .
Moving by car has a double detrimental effect: on the one hand, it favors a sedentary lifestyle , which is a risk factor for heart disease, while on the other, it contributes to environmental pollution , which in turn causes respiratory and cardiac pathologies .
Instead, walk or, if you can, go by bike to work . Whatever, but try to leave the car in the garage as often as possible. Both your health and our planet will thank you .
4. Enter one more piece of fruit in your day to day
The usual recommendation is to eat four or five pieces of fruit a day, but if you normally do not eat any, going from zero to four can be a lot to ask for .
Focus on eating one more than you usually eat , and settle that habit before adding the next one. The simplest thing would be to add this piece of fruit in the dessert, but there are many more possibilities through which we can add fruit to our dishes. Here we tell you a few.
5. Reduce the alcohol you drink on a regular basis
Although you have heard that a glass of wine a day is good for the heart, or that a beer is the best to hydrate after sports … It is not true. All alcohol is harmful and the less you drink, the better.
So why do not you try to reduce the amount of alcohol you normally drink , starting with a beer or glass of wine less a day, then keeping alcohol-free days during the week and finally spending whole weeks without drinking any alcohol .
6. Learn to read food labeling
At first glance they seem like a gibberish without sense, but you just have to apply a little to unravel the information they include, which is very important: the ingredients and in what quantities, as well as the nutritional contribution they contain.
We begin by giving you some clues : to start, look at if the food has more than 5 ingredients . Normally, if this is the case, we have a highly processed food. Another thing to keep in mind is the percentage of each ingredient in the product, which tells us how much it contains. A high percentage of sugar, for example, will never be too recommendable.
7. Eat less processed foods
Processed foods have gone through several phases that make them tastier and longer lasting, and that’s fine, but they usually contain more salt, more sugar and more fat . That is, they are much less healthy for your body.
Here we give you the keys to eliminate them from your diet .
8. Go more to the market, and less to the supermarket
If you do not know how to distinguish processed foods from unprocessed foods, sign up for this purpose: fill the shopping cart in the market before the supermarket.
Most of the products that you buy in the market are fresh unprocessed foods(fruit, vegetables, chicken, meat, fish …), while in the supermarket they gain by a majority the processed ones.
And since we’re here, here are other tips so that the time to go shopping will boost your health: to begin, make sure you plan what you need . It’s not just about making a good list, but that list is based on your meal plan for the week . That way you will not leave room for improvisation, which is where unhealthy ideas tend to brew. Also, remember that going shopping with hunger is the perfect way to fill the cart with unnecessary whims and, normally, unhealthy.
9. Learn to cook a new dish a week
If the kitchen is not your thing, do not despair and be constant. Learn a new dish a week and at the end of the year you will have more than fifty new recipes with which to surprise guests, your partner or yourself.
To motivate yourself, look for the strategy that works best for you : start with easy dishes, focus on an ingredient that you especially like, learn to use that kitchen robot that was given to you years ago but you never got out of the drawer, specialize in a type of dish that you like it, like for example soups or stews, or if you like more, dedicate yourself to desserts.
If you need ideas, here is an arsenal of healthy recipes.
10. Reduce salt and sugar in your food
Taken in moderation, they do not pose a danger, but almost always we take more than what suits us and, in addition to the bill that passes to our health, both condiments mask the real flavors of the food we taste.
Reduce them can be a good purpose, either doing it little by little so that we do not know the food soda, or changing them for other spices and herbs that serve to discover new flavors.
11. Move
If you are a person with sedentary habits, do your body a favor and find a time a day to move. It can be in the gym, on the street or at home , even at your office table , with or without material, doing cardio or strength training … Whatever, but move .
Of course: if you suffer from any illness or injury , be sure to consult your doctor to help you carry out the training correctly. Surely with your support you can find a routine of physical activity that does not worsen your ailment and allows you to take advantage of the advantages that physical activity brings to the body.
12. Sleep and rest whatever you need
Exercise and nutrition are two basic pillars of a healthy life. Rest is the third , and for many it is as difficult to reach as the first two. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders and, although it does not cause long-term damage, it is an impediment when carrying out our normal daily life.
This year, he works to achieve it: here we give you the keys to sleep and rest better. Among them, start by establishing a fixed sleep schedule and by carrying out a previous routine before going to bed.
13. Practice yoga or other relaxing discipline
Some activities, such as yoga, pilates or taichi, have an added benefit to physical exercise: they help us to relax and teach us techniques (such as controlled breathing), which are very useful precisely for the previous purpose . Taking a moment to clear the mind and relax the body is not a bad purpose for this new year.
You can do it from home , with a mat as the only equipment and dedicating about 10 or 15 minutes a day. That is enough to start noticing the benefits of yoga , a discipline that helps you relax, strengthen muscles and improve your posture among other things. Introduce it into your routine and you will notice its benefits.
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