20 Tips for a Healthy New Year
2020 has arrived! Can you believe it? A fresh, new decade is upon us and to make the most of it you are going to want to feel and be your healthy best. To help in that effort we have compiled a list of 20 things you can do right now to improve your quality of life into the decade ahead.
If the reports of hundreds of vaping-related illnesses and deaths haven’t been enough to sufficiently scare you, the fact that we won’t know what the long-term consequences of this practice will be, should. Needless to say, if cigarette smoking remains your vice of choice—QUIT!
Add Plants to Your Home. The medicinal, environmental, and practical purposes alone make this a no-brainer. Make this the decade you start healing with natural plants like aloe vera, improve your home’s environment by enhancing air quality with plants, and get cooking with fresh herbs that you have grown in container or outdoor gardens.
Get Your Home Tested for Lead, Mold, Asbestos, and Radon. The air that we breathe is paramount. The presence of any of these elements in your home can severely affect your health. You can even perform some of these tests yourself, and websites like healthfinder.gov can also help your find resources for testing.
Try a Cerebral Way of Working Out: Qi gong. Steeped in the centuries-old Chinese philosophy of combining movement of the body and the innerworkings of the mind, this practice of coordinated movements is used in combination with breath work and meditation to increase stamina, improve balance, and enhance circulation.
Remove Pesticides from Your Home. By focusing on prevention, you can deter many common household insects like ants, roaches, and flying insects from getting into your home, bypassing the need for pesticides altogether. Simple rules like, “Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink or anywhere else in the home,” is a good place to start. Yes, teenagers, we’re looking at you! Clean up all food residue after dining or preparing food. Just one jam-smeared knife left on a counter, can enlist an army of ants to infiltrate your kitchen. Be sure to keep food packages and storage containers tightly closed and check to make sure any dubious cracks or entry points to your home are properly sealed so the crawling and insects flying insect stay outside where they belong.
Reduce Your Use of Teflon. Pans with Teflon and other non-stick coatings contain Perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, which over time, can accumulate in the body. While there is currently nothing linking their use to cancer cases, the FDA does say there is a known human carcinogen among those chemicals and recommends discretion when using these types of pans.
Swap Out Your Toxins at Home. Cleaning your home is never fun and depending on what you’re using to clean it can be dangerous to your health, as well. Swap the chemically-based toxic agents found in store-bought cleaners for more natural agents: vinegar instead of bleach; use hydrogen peroxide as a stain fighter; baking soda to clean tub and tile grout; and borax to control mold. Combining diluted lemon juice with vinegar is also a great window cleaner!
Engage Your Brain More. It’s not just about retaining your memory anymore. Engaging the brain so it is more agile can produce many benefits. An agile mind helps one elevate their experiences and live more resilient and happy lives. So how does one create mental agility? Changing things up in small ways can help. Taking a vacation or even a coffee break sometimes is enough to create a mind shift. Learn something new. Novelty aids mental flexibility and the act of learning contributes to brain growth. Purposeful spontaneity and being more mindful about words you use and how they can affect you is also useful. Substitute unnecessary negative words and phrases for ones that will better serve you.
Make a Commitment to Reduce Your Screen Time. By now, there have been enough studies that show that too much screen time on mobile and other devices can lead to sleep problems, relationship issues, and psychological and social disorders. Start by taking your kids’ cell phones at dinner and silence your own. Practice the art of conversation with them.
Forgive Someone. It is true that holding onto something that has hurt you in the past will continue to affect you in the future if it remains unresolved. While this is often not an easy process, the health benefits are worth making the effort. Experts say that people who can forgive exhibit lower levels of depression, anxiety, and hostility. They are also less likely to suffer from substance abuse, have higher self-esteem, and generally are more satisfied with life.
Engage a Pen Pal. While the Internet has provided us with an array of cool communication tools over the last two decades, it has also flooded our inboxes with copious emails we never even open and has us banging into doors or worse, because we’re trying to walk and text. Find one friend to strike up a letter-writing relationship with this year and get excited about opening your real mailbox again.
Make an Investment in Your Emotional Health. (We provide a bunch of tools to get you started on page 145.
Buy a Bicycle. And when you ride it, take some time to remember what this first real taste of personal freedom and conveyance felt like when you were a kid.
Recognize/Reduce Your Salt Intake. Take a look at any processed food you are eating for its sodium count. Just a few of these foods per day can easily tip you over the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of salt per day. Restaurant meals are also notorious for high sodium content, so diner beware! Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, belly bloat, and down the road, it can lead to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and dementia. A good rule of thumb if you’re watching your salt is not to add any extra to meals or recipes, buy low-sodium options whenever possible, and eat more whole foods.
Learn to Bake Bread, Make Ice Cream, or Grow a Vegetable from Scratch This Year. The satisfaction gleaned from this process alone might surprise you especially if you share the experience with family members and make a project of it. An added benefit? You know exactly where your food came from.
Become a Mentor or Mentee. There is so much to be gained from these special relationships. While mentors are helping mentees to build self-esteem, provide career support, and explore best practices, mentees enable mentors to further identify and achieve their career goals, enhance confidence, and gain perspective on their own personal development. Once made, these bonds are often ones that are maintained for the long-term, as well, and it’s always beneficial to know you have someone in your career corner.
Collect Rainwater and Use It to Water Your New Indoor Plants. This is pretty much self-explanatory; everyone and everything benefits, and it is one of the most basic of recycling practices.
See Your Physician About Any Maintenance Drugs You May Be On. Ensure that you actually still need to be taking the medications you’re on, or see if you could perhaps be taking a smaller dose. While our physicians may write the scripts, our health is ultimately in our hands.
Throw Out Any Zantac or Its Equivalent You Have in Your Home. In September of 2019, the FDA announced that there is an ingredient in the common heartburn drug, ranitidine, that can cause stomach cancer. It’s a good idea to do a bathroom cabinet sweep to toss out any expired OTC meds at this of time of year, as well.
Allow Yourself to Remember and Feel Joy. Spreading joy is not a bad idea either. That will help make this a happier New Year for sure!
