2020 was a challenging year for everyone. Work from home and stay at home have changed routines with regards to diet and exercise and affected physical as well as mental health with feelings of isolation. After overcoming all those challenges, you have now entered 2021. While continuing to adhere to the safe practices like wearing a mask, washing hands, and maintaining a safe distance, you need to focus on maintaining a lifestyle that will improve your overall health and quality of life.
Improving your health and well-being doesn’t need to be problematic. You can get great results by taking some small steps. Here are some simple, practical tips to rejuvenate yourself in 2021:
- Drink a Glass of water first thing in the Morning: We sleep 6 to 8 hours continuously without any water consumption. Drinking water as soon as you wake up helps rehydrate your body. Drink 1 to 2 glasses of water – this will fuel your brain, fight illness, and help fire up your metabolism.
- Exercise Regularly: Staying physically fit boosts cardiovascular and muscular health and fights disease. Exercise helps the body relieve stress and reduce depression. Staying physically fit also helps you stay mentally fit, especially when facing a major crisis like COVID-19. If you are working at home, exercise can help reduce pains and aches. When it comes to spine health, motion is medicine. Current guidelines recommend doing at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity a week.
- Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are a good source of vitamins and minerals. They contains folate, vitamin C, and potassium. They are an excellent source of fiber and help in the digestion process. They contribute to a healthy-balanced diet and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other types of cancer.
- Quit Smoking: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Quitting smoking will lower the risk for many cancers like those of lungs, throat, blood, mouth, esophagus, pancreas, stomach, and kidneys.
- Do things that Boosts your Mood: Do things that will enhance your mood. For instance, listening to happy music, spending time outdoors safely, laughing, helping others, and eating good food are enjoybale activities They can enhance your mood and increases positivity which will benefit your overall health.
- Limit use of Technology as much as you can: In today’s digital world, this is easier said than done. In the pandemic induced lockdowns, you can find yourself slouched over a phone or slumped over a laptop for hours. Spending more time in front of computer or staring at a phone is harmful to the eyes and body. So, reduce screen time and get physically active. If you arr working from home, you should stand up and move around at regular intervals. Do stretches and walk in between. This will improves back pain, reduces headaches, improve breathing, etc.
- Write down Three things that you are Grateful for Everyday: At the end of the day, develop a habit of writing down three things that you are thankful for. This will help improve your self-esteem, increase positivity, reduce stress, make you happier and help you sleep better.
- Learn Something New: Learn something new like cooking, painting, yoga, meditation, etc. Pick something that is interesting and that you feel is useful to learn. If you avoided cooking your whole life, learning the fundamentals will serve your brain very well. The more you activate your brain’s cognitive function, the better will be your short- and long-term memory, and as well as hand-eye coordination.
- Maintain a Regular Sleep Schedule: The COVID-19 situation has affected many people’s sleep patterns. It is important to understand that scheduling a regular sleep schedule of eight hours is necessary to build a healthy immune system. Having a healthy immune system will protect you against several diseases.
- Protect Yourself from COVID-19 and the Flu: Protect yourself from COVID-19 by wearing the mask, washing your hands frequently and maintaining a safe distance. Get vaccinated to protect yourself from the flu and avoid a potential “twindemic”.
- Get Regular Checkups: To live a healthy and happy life, you must keep a check on your body’s functioning with regular checkups. Health checkups can identify risk factors and diagnose disease at an early stage.
The golden rule to improve your wellbeing is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise, proper diet, and other healthy habits can improve your immunity and boost overall health. Consult your doctor to prepare an appropriate diet and exercise plan. Try to follow these small steps and be consistent – it will have a massive impact on your health and well-being throughout the year.
