6 Tips for Setting A New Year's Resolution to Look After Your Physical Wellbeing

Physical Wellbeing is an important factor in all of our lives and one we often overlook during the festive period. Physical wellbeing is an important part of everyday life because without physical wellbeing our mental, social and financial wellbeing are all negatively impacted. Why not set a New Year’s resolution with a focus on your physical wellbeing? Lots of us aim for this as a resolution with goals to be healthier or exercise more, however we often set our sights too high which can lead to burn out. Often, after indulging at Christmas, I would feel guilty and therefore my New Year’s resolution would be to be healthier by eating better and exercising more. I would eat only salads or be on a liquid diet and try to exercise for an hour everyday. I would barely make it to the end of January before feeling deflated and giving up. This is because my resolutions weren’t sustainable. My diet wasn’t sustainable over a long period of time and my exercise plan wasn’t realistic with my lifestyle. Setting a resolution that is right for your life is key in being successful with it. Here are some top tips on how to set successful New Year’s resolutions for you physical wellbeing: 

1. Sit down and plan your resolution. Consider your overall goal and then break this down into achievable smaller targets. For example, if your Resolution was, ‘I’m going to eat healthier’ consider what does eating healthier look like for you? You may already eat quite healthily and therefore an overall statement will get lost within your lifestyle. Breaking this resolution down into smaller targets such as, 'I’m going to swap one of my snacks to a piece of fruit each day,'  will make this goal more achievable. You can always add another smaller target once you have mastered the first. 

2. Try to avoid ‘fad’ diets.  These diet schemes are already popping up everywhere in social media and the promise of losing weight quickly and with ease always draws me in! However, in reality these diets never last as they are not sustainable. If you are joining a diet program for the New Year make sure you are aware of what it is requiring you to do. The recommended daily calorie intake for women is 2,000 and is 2,500 for men. These calories should be split across the five food groups in order for our bodies to function properly. Restricting ourselves to an amount largely under these guidelines can cause health issues if stuck to for a long time, as our bodies will not be getting the nutrients they need. Always check what a diet entails before committing to it or check with your doctor what would be best for you. 

3. Being more active. Physical wellbeing is also about being more active and exercising our bodies. Finding time in your day or week is vital to making this resolution stick. Try to plan your exercise into your week and then stick to it, as if it were a plan with friends that you can’t cancel. Starting out is always the hardest, especially finding the motivation, however once you get over that first hurdle and ‘just do it’ the next time will be easier. Choose an activity or exercise that you enjoy or that you are interested in so that it doesn’t feel as much like a chore but rather something you want to do. Set yourself small goals which you can build up over time. For example, if you are swimming, setting length goals that build up by a couple at a time can help motivate and increase your activity. Even making small changes to your daily routine can help, things like taking the stairs where possible or parking further away from your destination and walking all add up! 

4. Make sure you are sleeping. Physical wellbeing isn’t just about what you are eating and drinking but it is also about how well you are resting. Sleep is our bodies natural recovery period and allowing ourselves enough time for sleep is incredibly important. Adults should be getting between 7- 9 hours of sleep a day. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. It can be hard to resist going to bed late especially when there’s so much to do that often time just gets away from us. I discovered recently that setting a bed time alarm can help. I always set one for an hour before I want to go to sleep to help me keep track of my time in the evening. Setting a resolution of winding down and getting enough sleep will do wonders for your physical health.

5. Dry January. Why not take part in dry January this year? Dry January sees millions of people around the world ditch the alcohol for a month. You could challenge your friends to join too. Some healthy competition or knowing you’re doing your resolution for a good cause or with others is often enough to keep going. Staying away from alcohol can also have a terrific impact on your physical wellbeing - giving your body some time to recover from the recent festivities!

6. Don’t be too hard on yourself. If your resolution isn’t working out for you, change it! Although everyone usually makes resolutions in the New Year, you can make them at any time. It’s never too late in the year to start or to pick back up if you’ve gotten off track. Don’t beat yourself up for being human.

There are many other ways to support your physical well-being which can be found here. Maybe you can turn one of these tips into a resolution that will work for you. Choosing a New Year’s resolution can be tough but as long as it’s something that brings a positive change to you or other’s lives then it’s well worth doing. There are lots of other wonderful New Years resolutions here that can help have a positive impact, from a random act or kindness to complimenting one person a day. What ever you decide to do or not to do, we here at Kent Teach hope you all have a happy and healthy New Year!

If you have decided on your New Year's resolution but are concerned about being able to keep it, then here are 5 Tips to Help You Keep Your New Year's Resolution.