5 Reasons to Prioritize Your Health and Wellness This Year
Written by: Cora Gold
Better health and wellness is a long journey, so starting as soon as possible sets you up for success. Prioritizing them both in all areas of life this year can lead to the following advantages.
1. Mental and Physical Health Intertwine
As much as getting yourself to exercise can be hard, by doing so, you can do your body and mind a favor. Physical activity has a host of benefits, including:
Possibly helping reduce substance cravings, especially in those who can’t access other types of therapy
Improving your quality of life, self-esteem and mood
Bettering your frame of mind and reducing stress tendencies
Bolstering depression and anxiety treatments
In addition to those mental health boosts, getting active can better your sleep and lower your risk of multiple chronic diseases by 20%-30%. It can also help you avoid diabetes, heart attacks, falling and strokes, as well as lengthen your lifespan.
It’s easy to get started, too. Experts worldwide say 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise is enough to experience the health benefits. That’s just 20 minutes a day you could spend taking a walk, dancing, doing yoga or jump-roping — something that gets you moving.
2. Working on Both Can Boost Your Chances of Success
Feeling better mentally and physically can improve your outlook. Constantly being in pain from joint inflammation or feeling guilty about something you ate can make you feel like change is too difficult, maybe even impossible. Ruminating like this can create worse depression and anxiety symptoms, which may dampen your motivation to do something good for yourself, and so the cycle continues.
Putting your health and wellness first means doing what it takes to make you comfortable in life. If you’ve been experiencing chronic pain, go to a health care provider that listens to your experience so you can find relief. Avoid restricting your diet — try learning how to balance your meals instead so your favorite foods don’t become “guilty pleasures.” When you feel more secure in your body, it becomes less of a stressor on your mental health, which can then empower you to make healthy choices.
3. What You Eat Can Improve Your Mindset
Unfortunately, most foods are only good for you in moderation. An unbalanced diet can lead to increased depression and dementia symptoms, irritability, and cognitive decline. Over- and undereating can cause anxiety and mood disorders. However, most of the body’s serotonin — which helps regulate your emotions — is made in your gut.
The quality of what you eat directly affects your mood, as well as your blood sugar. Keeping yourself nourished means you can better manage your energy throughout the day, which is important considering that 83% of Americans experience work-related stress. Doing so can also make you less prone to the negative effects of pressure and improve your focus. Whether you prefer several large meals or smaller ones with snacks in between, feeding yourself well strengthens your body and your mind.
4. Self-Care Helps You Thrive
Taking care of your physical and mental health could help you thrive rather than just survive. If you always consider others’ needs before your own, you can become emotionally exhausted, stressed or even burned out. This makes it easier to fall back on negative patterns that may make you comfortable but aren’t healthy. Prioritizing your health and well-being helps you by ensuring you take care of yourself before getting to this point.
While mental self-care can look like hanging out with friends, you may need a night in with your pet sometimes. Putting your needs first in such a moment means you’ll have the energy to socialize with them later. Physical self-care, like proper nutrition, physical activity and rest, also makes you aware of what best serves your body while helping you avoid pushing yourself.
5. Realize That You Deserve It
You deserve to feel good about yourself. Life is short — you shouldn’t spend it worrying about your physical and mental health. Getting the help you need and learning how to care for yourself means you can live a much happier and healthier life.
Make Your Health and Wellness Your Priority This Year
If you haven’t made your health and wellness your priority yet, now’s the time. Doing so can improve your mental and physical health, boost your chances of success with both, see how nutrition affects your mindset, and learn to care for yourself without guilt. Perhaps most importantly, it could make you happier, so take your first steps today.