New Year’s Resolutions

The beginning of another year is already upon us! It seems like every time another year goes by, the next one goes by even faster. The end of the year prompts many people to set new goals for themselves that they didn’t achieve the previous year – usually health-related. However, if you’re like me, setting realistic and achievable goals for yourself sounds too confusing and scary to do on your own. I’ve put together a list of very achievable goals for you to try in the coming year. When creating ideas for achievable goals, I wanted to touch base on all aspects of life, including exercise, socializing, eating, and even sleeping!

Meeting new people it can seem intimidating, especially if you’re not a very outgoing person. This doesn’t mean you should go out of your way to meet someone new, but more so keep an open mind when you go to a restaurant, local gym, or even while walking down the trail. A simple “hello” when you pass someone goes a long way towards achieving this goal. Meeting new people is a great overall mood booster, opens you up to more opportunities, and they might even become a new accountability partner for you! When you allow yourself to meet new people outside of your typical group of friends, it allows your mind to explore new personalities and expand your horizons.

Being active it’s something I believe every human being should strive for. It is so good for both physical and mental health. It doesn’t have to be anything too strenuous or big, but just 20-30 minutes of some kind of activity outside of your daily routine can greatly improve your overall health. Walking, cycling or even yoga are great ways to stay active. Additionally, increasing NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), is also a great way to increase your daily activity. Some ways to increase your NEAT would be to park further from the door at work or the grocery store, walk or bike to a destination if it’s a reasonable distance, or even buy a hanging desk if you sit at a computer for most of the day. Being active is not as complicated as people think and is one of the best ways to live a long life.

Quality sleep it is also key to both physical and mental health. Without quality sleep, our brain cannot function at its best, our immune system suffers and it takes a heavy toll on our body. The key to quality sleep is at least 6-7 hours for healthy adults and 8+ hours for teenagers and children. Teenagers and children need much more sleep than adults because their bodies are still growing and developing, so their energy expenditure is much higher than adults. However, the more stress you put on your body and the more active you are, the more sleep you need. Some simple things to try if you’re having trouble getting enough sleep at night are reading before bed, turning off your electronics at least an hour before bed, or even putting up blackout curtains for your windows. Yes, believe it or not, having a pitch black room improves sleep quality immensely.

Trying new foods and the recipes are just a fun goal that I think is attainable for everyone. The next time you make your favorite pasta dish, try adding a vegetable or two either right into the pasta or on the side. Trying to incorporate more vegetables into your meals provides your body with more nutrients and opens your taste buds to new foods and textures. You can even try making a whole new recipe! Just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we can’t still learn new things, right? New recipes are fun and once you get the hang of them, you can even try swapping things in and out to boost the nutritional value. For example, taking your favorite pasta dish and swapping out regular noodles for whole wheat or chickpea pasta is a great and easy swap. Combine that with those extra veggies and you have a very nutritious dish!

I hope you can try at least one of these goals next year and don’t forget to have fun with it! Achieving goals is good, but having fun while doing it is even better.