A healthier you in 2022 – one step at a time.

by Dr Raya GRISHINA-GUNN

Most people set themselves goals to make changes in the new year. Sometimes, the hardest part about reaching a goal is getting started. Another barrier is making too many goals and changes. If we want to succeed we need to commit fully. The easiest way to do it, is to change one habit!  But which one?

We can look at 5 areas of life:

• Health
• Fitness
• Relationships /Mental health
• Work/Finances
• Education

Some habits can address more than 1 area.

If you decide to get fitter this will also improve our heart health, prevent chronic diseases and can even reverse some. It will improve your fitness. It will improve mental health and possibly give you more energy and motivation for work and relationships! Whatever the habit that we want to change or adopt let’s choose one.

1. Drop “All or Nothing” mindset.

No matter how motivated and well-meaning we are, we will have days where our life doesn’t go as planned. The key is not to let one missed day — or even a week’s worth — derail us. We should brush it off and get back to it.  As long as we try to show up most days, we should see results over time.

2. Work with the time we have.

We need to choose a routine that fits our life, and be ready to modify things on days when our planned activity just isn’t going to happen. We must recognise that a shorter version of the activity is much better than nothing. Moreover, keeping our habits “bite-sized” will help us show up more consistently on a daily basis, even when things get very busy.

3. Do the things we like or can learn to like.

There are so many options for activities, foods, exercise and educational choices, so there’s no reason to force ourselves to do activities we hate. Besides, it will only make it harder to stick with our new routine.

4. Meet our Body and our Mind where it is at.

If we are new to a specific activity, we need to ease into it. Trying to sprint 3 kilometres or lift weights bodybuilder-style as a total newbie only guarantees disappointment, and possibly even injury. If changing our eating: try one new meal per day, or cutting out one or 2 types of food at a time and changing it to a healthier option.  We will then be ready to tackle more advanced goals in no time.

5. Think long term.

Can we see ourselves doing our new routine six months or even a year from now? If not, we may want to rethink it. Real, sustainable progress takes time. We need to get out of the “10-day” or “four-week challenge mode,” we must find a routine we can keep up for the long-term.

6. Get back to basics

How can we incorporate more of these kinds of activities into our day? For example, we can start with a fundamental form of exercise such as walking. Or by choosing one non-negotiable task we can commit to doing every day to help to reach our goal. For example: reading for 10 minutes every day. Stopping all milk and milk products, or spending 20 minutes every day seeing or speaking with friends or family.

7. Share the goals!

Once we committed to a new habit or routine, we can up our chances of success by keeping close friends and family in the loop! Ask reliable friends to check in from time to time, and offer to do the same for them.