The promise of new beginnings and chances abounds in the New Year. It also comes with a slew of tips and trends geared at some of the health goals you might be considering.
The start of a new year is a particularly popular time for health advice to flourish: gyms want to lock you in, diet plans want you to join their guaranteed method, and sportswear sales are on the rise.
It’s also a period when we anticipate what health and wellness trends will emerge in the coming year. While New Year’s resolutions have a poor reputation, reaching your health goals is entirely possible with good planning and implementation.
With the deluge of health advice, some of it is genuinely excellent counsel that we may apply at any moment. We should probably ignore the rest of the advice.
Here’s an overview of which pieces of guidance you should assume and which you may safely ignore.
Hand washing and masks aren’t going anywhere.
While we all hoped that hand washing and face masks would be phased out by 2021, they are still going to be a part of life in 2022. With the pandemic and the normal slew of stomach bugs, colds, and flu circulating, we’ll need to maintain our focus on being well and free of diseases.
While you’re getting vaccinated, remember to keep yourself and people around you safe and healthy by doing basic things like hand washing and wearing masks, especially if you can’t socially distance yourself.
Leaving: Persisting in the face of adversity
How many times have we gone to work or out with a sore throat or worse? It’s critical to abandon outdated habits of soldiering as diseases spread.
If you’re sick, stay at home and relax instead. This will not only help you recover faster, but it will also limit the chances of any diseases spreading far and wide.
Continue: Increase your physical activity.
Gym memberships tend to surge around the New Year, but you don’t have to be one of the many people roaming through your local gym’s many machines. Any activity is beneficial to your health, and doing something is preferable to doing nothing.
Consider what type of exercise or sport could be appealing to you, and make an effort to acquire at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week to get the most out of your movement.
Leave: Perform this exercise to get thinner arms, toned buttocks, and ripped abs.
Exercise trends come and go, just like fashion, but they all promise to give you the best version of yourself in a way that no other program or activity has ever done before.
They are merely fads that will be replaced by something else in the future, and they frequently over-promise on what they can give.
Rather than opting for something trendy, seek something you would enjoy, will benefit from, and will be able to sustain.
Continue to eat more vegetables
Vegetables are the best because they lower your chance of a variety of long-term health problems, keep your stomach healthy, and provide you with a variety of vitamins and minerals.
According to studies, simply increasing your vegetable intake improves your health, so make sure you’re getting plenty of them on your plate.
Check out our eat more Vegetive program for tips on how to incorporate these into your diet.
Fad diets should be avoided.
It’s open season for fad diets that promise to help you lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, but they could backfire or leave you feeling less than your best.
Extreme restriction, cutting out whole meals or food groups, and promises of rapid weight loss are all signs of a fad diet.
Rather than making dramatic, unsustainable, and perhaps hazardous changes, aim to gradually improve your overall diet over time, consuming a variety of meals and avoiding hunger.
Keep in mind that in 2022, you’ll be able to sleep better.
Sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health, and it’s not going anywhere.
An emphasis on appropriate sleep as well as good quality sleep is a habit we should all invest in for 2022 and beyond, whether it’s through sleep apps, meditation, or sleep hygiene (that means not browsing through your phone in bed).
Leave: Promises that are too good to be true
I’m not sure about you, but my social media feed is flooded with fads offering to protect you from everything, give you mermaid’s hair, or help you become in the best shape of your life.
