At this time of year many of us are thinking about the changes we want to make in our lives. Maybe you’ve made a resolution to lose weight, get fit, learn something new or make changes that will help you to be happier, healthier, and more independent as you get older. Making significant lifestyle changes is difficult and most people struggle with changing their day-to-day habits even if they know it will help them be healthier and happier.
Seeking success:
- Write down your goal and be clear about why you want to do this.
- Make sure that the plan is something that you can do, it should not feel impossible.
- Break your plan up into small steps that lead you towards your goal.
- Tell everyone what you are doing and why. This will help you be accountable.
- Identify any obstacles to success and what you might do to overcome them. Add this to your plan.
- Celebrate your successes.
- Accept the challenges and setbacks, they are normal.
- Keep going!
When making life changes self-compassion is vitally important. Avoid thinking that foods or behaviours are ‘bad’. Forgive yourself when you are less than perfect with your progress, none of us are perfect, it’s part of being human. Just get back on track as soon as you can. Small things can make big differences. You might like to try doing some of these things to support your body and mind to be healthier and happier.
- Spend time outside every day, especially in nature. This has proven benefits for stress relief and can improve sleep.
- Move your body every day and frequently throughout the day. Try going for a walk at lunchtime, doing a few squats while the kettle boils or walking about when on a phone call.
- Learn to cook a few healthy recipes that include vegetables and wholegrains.
- Drink more water, less cola and fruit juice and fewer fizzy drinks.
- Switch crisps and sweets as snacks to fruit, whole raw nuts, and small amounts of dark chocolate.
- Add fermented foods to your diet: live yo-ghurts, kefir, fresh sauerkraut, and kimchi. These will improve your gut health. A healthy gut leads to a healthier body and mind.
- Prioritise sleep to aid mental health, heal-ing, and your immune system.
- Try learning something new like dancing, a language, a martial art, or pottery.
- Make time for friends and try to meet new people and increase your social circle.
- Try mindfulness meditation. You may find an app like Calm or Headspace helpful.
All of this is easier said than done and it can be difficult to know where to start. We also struggle to keep up the momentum until our new habits become daily habits that we no longer have to persuade ourselves to do. Working with a health coach can help with this. Health coaches support their clients to work towards their desired goals and be suc-cessful. They are trained to understand how factors such as your social connections, food choices, sleep and activity levels impact on your health and wellbeing. They can help you to prioritise and choose small changes that will make a big difference to make your health better.
To try health coaching contact: sarah@betterhealthcoaching.org.uk and see www.betterhealthcoaching.org.uk