Whether you’re looking to set a fitness goal, healthy eating habit, or work at becoming more knowledgeable on a subject, choosing a New Year’s resolution is a great way to kick off the new year. If you don’t have a resolution yet, that’s okay! We picked out a couple of our favorite resolutions (and some truly creative ones) so you can choose a resolution that works for you!
1. Watch More DocumentariesIf you don’t normally watch documentaries, set a goal to watch at least one every other week. Here’s a few reasons why you should watch more documentaries in 2018:
- Expand your knowledge – Introduce yourself to new topics and become more knowledgeable in certain areas that you don’t know much about. This should help you develop a well-rounded base of knowledge that can make you think a little differently.
- Conversation Starter – Documentaries give you some easy talking points and facts to share with others. If you’re relatively shy, this could even help bring you out of your comfort zone a little!
- See What It’s Like to be in Someone Else’s’ Shoes – Documentaries give you insight into new lifestyles that you may not have even known about! They show you what it’s like to live in a different environment, work in a different career path, or even live with a disorder.
- Keep Feeding Your Brain – Utilize active learning by giving your brain new information to absorb and think about instead of being stuck in the same patterns of everyday life.
2. Think More Positively
Make your New Year’s resolution to be a little more appreciative of the good days by writing down anything that made you happy this upcoming year and save them in a jar. Whether it’s an event that you loved, a joke that made you laugh so hard you cried, or just a memory worth saving, write it down! Then, on December 31st you can open up the jar and remember all of the amazing things that happened to you!Not only will this be a great way to look back at 2018, but pausing to write down all of the positive moments will help you realize on a daily basis that life is good!
3. Drink More Water
We all know we should be drinking more water, but actually doing it can help your mind and body so many ways!
- Increases Energy and Relieves Fatigue – Since your brain is made up of mostly water, drinking more of it can improve your concentration and even boost your energy levels.
- Promotes Weight Loss – Drinking water prior to meals can help reduce hunger, raise your metabolism, and removed by-products of fat.
- Helps Your Skin – It moisturizes, improves complexion and even reduces wrinkles!
- Flushes Out Toxins in Your Body & Boosts Your Immune System – If you don’t drink enough water, your kidneys will not function as well as they should to eliminate toxins in your body, causing your immune system to suffer.
- Natural Headache Remedy – Since headaches are commonly caused by dehydration, drinking more water can help prevent them.
- Mood Booster – When the body is functioning at it’s best, you’ll actually feel better too!
To help you keep track of your water intake, you can download a water tracking app on your smartphone like the My Water Balance app or you can invest in The Hydrate Smart Water Bottle, which will track your water intake for you.
4. Volunteer More
Local charities are always looking for help, so why not make your New Year’s Resolution to volunteer more? Helping someone else in need is such a rewarding experience. You can volunteer at a YMCA to teach children how to play a sport, help your local church provide meals for the less fortunate, or get involved at a nearby vet clinic or pet rescue.Visit volunteermatch.com to see opportunities in your area.
5. Train for a 5k, 10k or Marathon (And Even Raise Money For A Cause) If you’re looking to get in shape, training to run a 5k, 10k, or marathon is a great New Years resolution. First, decide on how long you would like to train before your event, and then look up 5k, 10k, and marathons around that time frame and book it! Setting a date will help you stick with your New Year’s resolution. Many events like this even raise money and awareness for important causes! For a listing of events in your area, visit RunningInTheUSA.com.
6. Build Stronger Relationships
Social media is causing us to be less engaged and more attached to our cell phones, even when we’re socializing! We end up spending more time maintaining superficial connections online that we aren’t dedicating enough time or effort to real-life relationships. So, make an effort to call your family more often, text your friends when you think of them, or make a point to meet a friend each week for brunch! When you’re with them, don’t use your cell phone; simply enjoy the moment.
7. Get a Gym Membership and Actually Use It!
If you’re looking to leave 2017 behind and become a healthier version of yourself in 2018, get a gym membership! Most gyms have small enrollment fees this time of year so take advantage of it! Once you get a membership, make sure you actually go! If you find yourself saying “I don’t have time for that” then maybe it’s time to re-prioritize your health! Stop by the gym for a half hour in the morning or after work – any amount of cardio or weight lifting is better than none! Pssst… If you’re located around Pottstown, PA check out our Health Partner Crossfit Kazam for some killer workouts!
8. Lower Your ‘Added Sugar’ Intake
There’s two types of sugar – natural sugar and added sugar. Natural sugar is found in whole, unprocessed foods like fruit, vegetables, dairy and some grains. These items naturally have fiber in them, which helps to metabolize your meal. Added sugar is found in processed foods and drinks. Unlike natural sugar, It does not have fiber in it to help you digest it so it’s converted into fat in your body. Eating too much sugar can lead to tooth decay, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and more.The main sources of added sugar are candy, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, dairy desserts, and sugary drinks, but it’s also hidden in everyday foods that you probably don’t even realize!Tips to Avoid Added Sugar
- Limit your intake of candy, baked goods, and dairy desserts.
- Choose heart-healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains for meals and snacks.
- Replace sugary drinks with water instead.
- Cut out processed foods.
- Look for recipes that use less sugar when you are cooking or baking.
- Read labels!
9. Start Packing Your Work Lunches
If you tend to eat out for lunch or order takeout, you might be eating more unhealthy than you think. In one experiment, researchers ordered takeout from 123 restaurants in San Francisco, Little Rock, and Boston and scientifically tested the meals to learn that on average, each meal contained 1,205 calories. This is more than double the amount of calories that someone needs in a single meal.
If you replace 2 restaurant meals containing the average 1,205 calories with a healthier homemade meal for around 570 calories, you will be saving around 1,270 calories a week with that alone! In addition to that, when you order food from a restaurant, you have no way of knowing what quality ingredients went into making that food for you; Is the meat all-natural or was it full of growth hormones?
Not only is it healthier for you, but you can actually save around $3,000 a year by choosing to eat a packed lunch instead of eating out. Those $10 lunches and $5 iced coffees can really add up!
10. Be More Eco-Friendly
Green is everywhere these days; are you doing your fair share to be eco-friendly? If not, here’s a few things you can consider doing in 2018 to make sure you’re doing your job to protect the planet:
- Recycle Everything You Can – Garbage doesn’t just “go away”, it ends up somewhere. If the items that you’re throwing away can be recycled, do it!
- Recycle Aluminum – You can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can out of new material.
- Use Reusable Shopping Bags – Only 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled in the United States. The rest end up in landfills, the ocean, or some other place in the environment. It can take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose.
- Stop Using Bottled Water – When you stop buying bottled water, you’re helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions from shipping the product, making the product from petroleum-derived plastic, and also from the volume of empty plastic water bottles that are taken to our landfills.
What’s your New Year’s Resolution? We want to know! Comment below and tell us what you’re doing!
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