Health Lifestyle
Staying power Admit it. This year won’t be the first time you’ve made a resolution to
improve your health. But here’s how to stick with your goals, not just in January but all year round
Now that Christmas and New Year are over, chances are you, like many others, are thinking of ways to become healthier and happier during the coming 12 months. After all, health-based resolutions are very popular. According a 2017 survey of 2,000 British people published by private health care company BUPA, the number one New Year’s resolution is to exercise more, with 38 percent of those asked claiming it was on their list. Other health-based resolutions finding their way into the top 10 include the following:
• To lose weight (33 percent) • To eat more healthily (32 percent) • To take a more active approach to health (15 percent) • To spend more time on personal wellbeing (12 percent) • To drink less alcohol (12 percent) • To stop smoking (9 percent)
But the problem with resolutions is many of them fail. Indeed, an earlier survey by research outfit ComRes claimed only one in eight British adults had successfully kept to their resolution.
Part of the problem is that habits – particularly the bad
ones – aren’t easy to break. And if your resolution is very strict, or you make too many resolutions at the same time, chances are they’ll fall by the wayside before too long. The key to success is to make smaller, more realistic resolutions if you want to stay on track. Here’s some advice on how to approach four of the most common health resolutions:
1: To exercise more Being physically active on a regular basis makes you look great and is good for your physical and emotional health in so many ways. It helps boost your self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy and may help reduce your risk of stress, depression, dementia, heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers – to name just some of the benefits. However winter can be a tough time to motivate yourself
to get out of bed for an early morning jog, swim, cycle or exercise class.
How to stick with it If you set yourself a target of doing an unrealistic number of exercise sessions a week, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure before you start, particularly if you’re not that fit to begin with. Instead, try making exercise part of your daily routine rather than launching into an activity that requires a Herculean effort. Aim to achieve 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical
activity each week. If you’re unfit, start slowly and build up to your 150 minutes gradually (always consult your GP before starting to exercise if you have a medical condition or haven’t been very active lately). Your 150 minutes can be broken down into 30-minute
sessions on five days of the week. But you can also break that 30 minutes down into smaller chunks. Try having a 10- minute walk each day at lunchtime, using the stairs instead of the lift or elevator and leaving the car at home when you're popping to the shops around the corner. Just aim to raise your heart rate and break into a bit of a sweat. And remember, every little bit of activity adds up. Then when you start feeling fitter and more confident,
move on to something a little more challenging, such as running, swimming, dancing, having regular bike rides or joining a gym or sports club.
How can your pharmacist help? If you’re not used to being active there’s a chance that, at some point, you could pull a muscle or sprain a joint, especially if you progress to a high-impact activity such as jogging before you’re physically ready. If that happens, your pharmacist has everything you need to soothe your aches and pains and get back on your feet.
8 All About health
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