By Emily Abbate, FITBIE.com (TNS)
Raise your hand if you’re overly tired of hearing New Year’s resolutions about weight loss. Granted, we can’t see your hands and doubt that you’re actually glaring at the dim light of your computer screen holding five digits in the air, but there’s no doubting you can sympathize. Year after year, so many of us resolve to drop a few pounds and change our ways the moment the clock strikes midnight and whatever metallic New Year’s dress you wore ends up in the “drop off at the dry cleaner” pile.
The reality? There are better resolutions. Not discounting the benefits of weight loss. But, there are healthy things you can do to change your life that don’t revolve around numbers on a scale. Start 2015 off on the right foot with these five must-make healthy resolutions that have nothing to do with weight loss:
1. Do more at-home workouts: Whether you live in a small apartment or have a living room fit for Shaq and his family, working out isn’t something that has to happen at a gym or studio. The great thing about the HIIT craze (one of 2015’s biggest fitness trends, we might add) is that typically, the workouts involve minimal space and time. The first step to working out at home, however, is getting comfortable with the idea. Make small tweaks to your space to make it feel more cozy for sweat sessions: Invest in a few sweat towels, snag a water bottle, put down a yoga mat. You’ll be amazed at what the changes can do for your motivation.
2. Take a break: Going a mile a minute and multitasking are essentially parts of today’s plugged-in culture. Do yourself a favor, take a step back, take an Insta-break, and be in the moment more often. Not only will you learn new thing about the people you interact with on a day-to-day by being more attentive, but you’ll learn more about yourself, too.
3. Drink four more cups of water each day: Sure, we could suggest that you gulp down the recommended eight glasses, but what if you’re already doing that? Whatever your daily intake may be, make it your mission to up that in 2015. The benefits? Clearer skin, weight loss and better metabolic activity.
4. Put down the iPhone/Pad/Device an hour before bed: Easier said than done. We get it. But the truth is that the LED light from your favorite iDevice messes with your nervous system and makes you more alert. When your sleep quality is better, your memory is improved, inflammation is curbed and according to a Harvard University study, creativity is improved.
5. Talk it out: It’s not easy to articulate how things make us feel sometimes, but talking out your thoughts and potential issues with a psychologist or counselor could make a major difference on your mental health. Don’t just take our word for it, research agrees. According to UCLA psychologists, verbalizing feelings can have a significant therapeutic effect on the brain. Translation? Getting your worries out in the open can have a bigger effect than you expect.
Photo: Ed Yourdon via Flickr
