Believe it or not, but you don’t need to wait for New Year’s resolution to change your life for the better. Because great achievements start with little steps, all you have to do is to set some small health goals to keep yourself on the right way.
If you’re feeling a bit lost, here are some health goals that you can try to achieve before the end of the year:
1. Set an Overall Health Goal
The very first task that should be done is to set an overall health goal. Aesthetic goals are essential, but the problem with extrinsic, aesthetic objectives is that once you achieve them, you’ll no longer have the motivation to carry on. However, when you have a bigger-picture goal, such as getting a healthier lifestyle, for example, you’ll stay focused, motivated, and committed for a long period of time (read: forever).
Also, experiencing serious health issues, will probably make you realize the importance of what you’re doing and help you continue when you’d rather not. And if you have never had such an experience, you’d better make a list of all the benefits that you’ll get from your workouts and keep it as a reminder, so you know exactly why you should stick to your goal.
2. Hydration Should Be on Top of Your Health Goals
Your second health goal should be to try to drink more water and to keep yourself hydrated as much as possible. It’s a known fact, but few really take it seriously.
When you consider the simple fact that water is the basic element of the human body, it will be easy for you to understand that the lack of it or even a small decrease in its level can have a huge impact on your health. And just so you know, ‘water replacements’ like soda, flavored water, or fruit juices might help, but there’s nothing that can replace water.
3. Eat More Veggies and Fruits
A simple goal is to have at least one veggie every day. It’s an easy task. All you have to do is to add some vegetables to your daily meals and to try to change your snacking habit into a healthier one. And remember it doesn’t have to be a large salad every day!
4. Add Drinking Milk to Your Health Goals
Milk contains calcium and vitamin D, and two cups per day will provide the proper amount of both. What’s convenient is that you’re free to choose between soy milk and almond milk. How cool is that?
5. Workout, Workout, Workout!
You ought to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week. That said, you shouldn’t go hard on yourself if you have a busy schedule. What matters is consistency, not quantity.
Enjoying your workouts is the key here. One hundred fifty minutes of physical activity a week will be an easy goal for you. I think the best way is to diversify your workout sessions by changing from cardio to weight or high-intensity interval training from now and then. Also, consider hiking or taking long walks every other evening or on the weekends.
6. Practice Yoga as One of Your Health Goals
Yoga and regular workouts can be considered as two different things. To become more flexible, balanced, and relaxed, your yoga practice ought to be slow and focused on stretching your muscles rather than growing them. After that, you do whichever exercise you want to keep your shape and strength.
7. Leave Your Phone 30 Minutes Before Hitting the Sack
If you have a problem falling asleep at night, spending 30 minutes doing something relaxing before going to bed might be a solution for you. Maybe read a book or anything else as long as you stay far away from any screen that emits blue light.