5 Tips to Help Achieve Your Health Goals
With the beginning of new year and the COVID pandemic still prevailing, it is now of the utmost importance to pay undivided attention on our health. Developing healthy eating habits and a good exercise regime is a great way to achieve the desired health goals. A person can enjoy life to the fullest only when a healthy mind resides in a healthy body. To achieve your desired health goals, all you need is the right plan, resources, and support.
We have got you covered. Below are five tips to help you stick to your routine and achieve your health goals:
1. Set SMART Goals
By SMART goals, we mean the goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and time-bound. The specific goals you want to set need to be clear and to the point. If you set vague goals, there are high chances that they may not guide you in a specific direction. The best way to set measurable goals is by including amounts, dates, and any other numbers to measure your progress[1]. You might want to set a monthly goal on the number of sets you do or the kilometers you run. Just keep in mind while creating your goals that they are attainable. If you set unachievable goals, it will ruin your confidence, and you will have no desire to reach that goal. Also, your goals must be relevant to what you want your lifestyle to be like. Lastly, try to set time-bound goals. Goals also need a reasonable deadline to achieve your goal on time.
2. Track your Snack
You are not alone if you often find yourself mindlessly munching on snacks throughout your day. In fact, amidst the lockdown and WFH situation, we are more prone to binge-eating. However, what you eat is more important than how you burn it when looking to improve your health. It’s a science of percentages, where 70% of it depends on your diet and 30% on your workout and activity routine. Keeping track of your intake can be an eye-opener for you. It will make you aware of the changes you need to make to live a happier and healthier lifestyle.
3. Get a Fitness Friend
Fitness Friend or a Workout Buddy, however you may refer to them, workouts are always more fun and interesting when you have their company. They could be your friend, colleague, or family member. A workout buddy cannot only be an ideal support giving you the push when you need the most, but also a competition to make you work harder and push your limits farther. You will feel more motivated with a person along your side and feel that your workout finished quicker and easier.
However, during the Pandemic situation, it is advised to make one of your family members, a flatmate, or your partner as your workout buddy. That way, there will be two (or more) healthy beings in the same house!
4. Build on, not rebuild
What is perhaps the most overwhelming thing about introducing a workout session to your daily routine is creating time or space to work out, eat healthy, meditate, drink more water, etc. There’s plenty to do already, right? Instead of feeling the burden of another addition into your routine, build your workout upon the existing rituals you have in place. For example, washing our face and brushing our teeth when we wake up in the morning are rituals or habits we all implement in our daily lives. Assess your current rituals and a way out to include new routines that you want to do for yourself to support your health.
You could also slide in a meditation session before leaving your office for the home to disconnect from work and receive your family with positive energy. Or, you could take a 15 minutes’ walk to the corner shop and back to your office after every couple of hours. It’s a great refreshment and also helps your body.
5. Don’t spitball assumptions
In case you’ve “tried everything” to build a routine with diet and exercise but fail every time then, it’s time to test instead of guess. As every individual is unique; therefore, every person’s diet, exercise, sleep, supplements, etc., needs to be specific to that person only. We need to understand that what works for one person may not necessarily work for another person[2].
When your attempts are not reaping the expected results, some anomaly underneath the skin might be suggestive. It may be a hormonal imbalance, or an organ malfunction, or slow metabolism. Don’t go around assuming that the routine wasn’t helpful or you are not doing enough.
You may consider paying a visit to the doctor and running some functional lab tests to look at your cortisol levels, sex hormones, intestinal abnormalities, liver function, potential intolerance, sensitivities, etc. The test results will bring out a bigger picture of your overall health and help you take a more strategic and personalized approach to achieve your health goals. Plus, timely detection of any health problem will help you a long way!
These are some of the primary and easily implementable tips for you to utilize to achieve your health goals. As a bonus tip, we recommend that whatever you begin with, take it slow. Don’t take up everything at once. Introduce the health goals in your routine slowly and steadily. Be the tortoise in this race, if that’s the way you see it. If you don’t see it as a race, do it anyway.
Most importantly, don’t forget to reward yourself with your goal achievements. These wins will keep you motivated and focused. We wish you our best for the next year!
[1] https://www.ags-health.com/press-and-blog/5-tips-to-help-achieve-your-health-goals-hk
[2] https://autoimmunesisters.org/5-tips-to-achieve-your-2020-health-goals/