New Year’s resolutions – great in theory, but often forgotten or abandoned in practice. It’s become somewhat of a joke to have a New Year’s resolution, as it almost seems like they’re made only to be broken. We don’t think that should be the case. 

The new year is a great motivator to make a change and kick bad habits. After 2020 we don’t blame you for being hesitant about launching into a New Year’s resolution. The problems of yesteryear won’t be solved when the clock strikes midnight, so a smart resolution can mean the difference between success and failure. 

New Year resolutions are often abandoned because they’re too ambitious. On the other hand, some people play it too safe and set goals that are too easy.

If you want to become a better you in 2021, here are some smart and manageable New Year resolutions that can help you achieve that. 

Exercise At Least 3 Times A Week

The benefits of exercise have been common knowledge for thousands of years. Physical activity can improve your health and reduce the risk of certain diseases. It is a proven way to help lose weight, strengthen muscles and bones, as well as improve mental health. It is recommended that you aim to exercise daily, but we understand that it’s an unrealistic resolution to exercise 365 days a year. 

It’s proven that 30-mins of exercise at any intensity helps your brain release ‘feel-good’ chemicals like endorphins and serotonin. These chemicals increase your energy, boost your mood and improve the quality of your sleep. 

Depending on the intensity of the exercise, three sessions a week exposes your body to enough stimulus to promote growth and strengthening. Lower intensity exercises may need additional sessions to promote improvement properly.

If you’re serious about improving your fitness in 2021, it’s important you find an activity you enjoy. If staying motivated is an issue, join a local sports team. This is a perfect way to maintain motivation as more people are reliant on your involvement. 

Buy A Cook Book & Work Through It

There are so many advantages of home cooking. You’re in charge of what ingredients you use and when you prepare your own meals. Have some fun with your resolution and establish an achievable goal. 

Buy a healthy cookbook and make your resolution to make every recipe in it by the end of the year. If there are a few meals you’re dreading eating, then make a game of it and give yourself a limited amount of skips. This way you’re never eating something you hate, but also not abusing the system. 

This promotes healthy eating and also opens up your diet to new foods and flavours. Research shows that people who cook home meals have a better diet and less body fat than people who eat fast-food or pre-made meals. 

You can decide the difficulty of this resolution depending on the size of the cookbook.

Eat More Whole Foods & Have A Stable Healthy Diet 

An easy way to improve your overall health is by adding more whole foods to the diet you already follow. Vegetables, nuts, whole grains and fish are all nutrient-dense foods which can help your body function better.

It’s proven that whole food or minimally processed diets result in lower rates of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. 

Diets are some of the most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions. A year is a long time, so adhering to a fad diet that entire time is a tall task. Not impossible, but provenly tricky to do. Adding more whole foods to your diet is an excellent way to ensure you’re getting adequate nutrition.

Dieting is an integral part of living a healthy life, but completely cutting out certain foods, especially your favourites, may be setting yourself up for failure. An all-or-nothing approach to better eating habits can decline into binge eating when a person breaks. 

It’s best to incorporate healthy, nutrient-rich foods into your diet while still allowing an occasional treat, so you never feel the need to gorge on unhealthy food. If your regular diet is unhealthy, it’s better to gradually wean yourself away from your go-to items and find healthier alternatives. 

Move More

Moving more and exercising may sound like they’re in the same boat, but we think there’s a different mentality between the two. Exercising is when a person’s mind is dedicated to working out, but moving more can become a regular lifestyle change. 

Taking the stairs to work, walking to deliver a message instead of emailing, getting off the bus one stop before. All of these tweaks to your day-to-day can pay off and improve your health. 

Do Something You Love Once A Day 

Life can seem like it’s going a quarter-mile at a time, but if you don’t take time for yourself then you can become burnt out.

Mental health is just as important as physical health, and the two are more connected than you may think.  

This resolution may seem hard to keep track of, but it quickly becomes a habit. Even on your busiest day, make sure you do something that brings you joy – even if it’s something small like reading your favourite book before bed, watching an episode of your favourite show or watching TikTok for a few minutes. 

Ending your day on a positive note is a great way to refresh for the next day, improve your mental health and even spark creativity. 

Restart Your Sleep Routine

Has your bedtime become more of a loose suggestion lately? If going to bed late and waking up grumpy has been the norm, use the new year to motivate you to start your routine again. 

Poor sleep can cause memory issues, weakened immunity, weight gain, high blood pressure and other negative conditions. A proper sleep schedule can greatly improve your quality of life, and give you more energy during the day to perform at your best. 

Now look, this doesn’t mean you have to leave a party at 7pm to get in bed by 8. Straying every now and then won’t ruin your resolution, but make sure that on a workday you’re ready to sleep by a set time instead of spending some extra hours on your phone or watching TV. 

At BodyViva we want to see you succeed in your New Year’s resolutions! We have a range of health and fitness experts in our staff who can help guide you in improving yourself during 2021. Check out our services and get in contact today to get expert health advice and therapies.