As the year turns over and as the festive season concludes, it’s a great time to focus on health for the year. Perhaps store this away for another week or two for when you are ready.

1. Get moving. It really doesn’t matter what kind of physical activity you do. The important thing is that you enjoy it in order for it to be sustainable. It needs to be appropriate for one’s age and stage of life. You have to start from from where you are. There’s no point committing to a marathon if you can’t walk around the block and it makes no sense signing up for a triathlon if you don’t know how to swim. Try and incorporate a few key elements though such as 1) strength 2) endurance 3) flexibility 4) balance 5) coordination. If you are data and goal orientated, you may choose to track your progress. If you just want to have fun, then include variety and maintain consistency. You may even catch up with friends over some movement related activity eg go for a walk then have a coffee etc.

2. Clean up the diet. Diet is such a personal thing and there’s no such thing as the perfect diet. There are so many aspects that are relevant such as age, level of activity, digestive capacity, allergies, cultural factors etc. There’s a few things you wish to consider though, otherwise you may fall into habit-eating rather than conscious choice making.

a) sugar- most of us unknowingly have way too much sugar in our diets especially the hidden sources. Reduce or eliminate things like fizzy drinks like coke and sprite, cordials, fruit juice. They are all just packed full of sugar.

b) protein- most of us have diets that are too heavily based on processed carbohydrates, such as breads, pastas, rice, and not enough protein. Unless you have high caloric needs, you can almost certainly cut the carbs back, add in more protein.

c) number of meals. The knee-jerk habit that many of us have is 3 meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, without any consideration for hunger levels, digestive capacity, or caloric needs. As we get older and our metabolism slows, we generally don’t need as much food. If you are in the habit of 3 meals a day, I’d encourage you to experiment with some caloric restriction using any number of methods. A very simple one is to fast till late morning. From waking till 10 or 11am you can have water, herbal tea, or black coffee. In the beginning maybe do this twice a week. Have your second meal by 6 or 7pm. No snacks in between. Do a 5-10 minute stroll after food to aid digestion. As this becomes more comfortable, then you may even try fasting a little longer. You actually will get used to feeling hungry and riding the waves without giving into small pangs. It builds clarity, mental strength and focus. It’s an easy hack to reduce calories and drop some weight too.

3) Routines. Think about daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routines. At the end of every year, the first thing I do for the upcoming next year is schedule the big chunk breaks. When our kids were in school this revolved around school holidays, but now they are beyond that there’s more flexibility. For me, I know that I need 1 week minimum every 10-11 weeks. Anything more that that, and grumpiness levels go up! It works out to roughly 7-10 days off every quarter + a longer break of 2-3 weeks over xmas. It gives me something to look forward to, enables batteries to be recharged, and allows me to work with optimum energy and cheer.

In terms of daily routine, it’s good to include enough time for 30 minutes of exercise of your choice; 5-30 minutes of journal writing, reflection, meditation or prayer; and enough buffer time through the day so that you can go through the day with a smile rather than a frazzled mess!

With regards to weekly routines, structure your week so that you are not working with 100% foot on the pedal. If your schedule allows, try incorporating an afternoon or day free to pursue a hobby or just to take some extra rest.

4) Mental health and Relationships. Some of the aspects above will actually go a long way to improving mental health because your life will generally be more in control, more balanced and happier. There are other things that can enhance mental health such as regular meditation, massage, psychology and counselling. Life has it’s challenges and it can often be very helpful to seek professional guidance through a counsellor. They may simply help you to see things or reframe them in a different way that enables you to move forward. The fact of the matter is that relationships require time. You can’t expect things to be rosy unless you commit to spending time. This applies to partners, children, parents, and friends.

When life gets busy with work and life commitments relationships can often take a hit. Remember that where your attention goes energy flows. If you don’t give relationships attention, the life energy runs away from them and they become problematic. Seek ways to invest in your relationships and when things do go wry (which they can), don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Seek towards resolution, peaceful coexistence, or at the very least damage control. Once a relationship is crashed, it’s hard to resurrect.

5) Check ups

We all know that prevention is better than cure. Again this needs to be according to your age and stage of life. Things like Pap smears, mammograms, bowel and prostate cancer screening, cardiac screening, blood pressure, sugar levels, cholesterol can pick up pathology before it develops further.

Anyway, I hope these points give you some food for thought for your own lives in 2023.

Happy New Year to you and your families!