5 Wellness Resolutions You Might Actually Stick To In The Year Ahead
Whoever said that goals and resolutions had to be set on the first day of the year? Not us, and since we’re all more likely to achieve our goals if we set them while in a positive mindset, now seems like a much better time to address the issue than the morning-after-the-night-before on 1 January. Here, Jay Blahnik, senior director of fitness for health technologies at Apple, shares six simple resolutions worth sticking to in 2020.
Stand More
The negative effects of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles have long been reported (one 2018 study found that a sedentary lifestyle is more likely to cause cardiovascular problems and a heightened risk of early death), and research has shown how simply standing more can make a difference to our overall health. If you do an office job, it’s worth asking your employer to provide a standing desk, in addition to getting up and walking around as often as possible. We can also use tech to remind us to move throughout the day.
The Apple Watch Series 5 prompts you to stand and move every hour, on the hour (for the 12 you’re awake) and notices if you’re not moving as much as you could be. Your stand-and-move activity is recorded by way of the Activity rings (it’s the blue one) and you can treat it as a competition between friends you share your activity data with as you work towards moving enough to complete the ring. “There are lots of messages that come through the Activity app that are personalised to you and are designed to be motivational,” says Blahnik. “Take an extra second to look at them, and engage with them – they offer you the right message at the right time and help you achieve your goals.
Drink More Water
From keeping skin fresh and healthy to helping with lymphatic drainage and relieving headaches, we already know that drinking plenty of water is key to good health. If you often find yourself coming up with excuses for the severe lack of water you’re imbibing, make it your mission to up your intake this year. An app, like Daily Water - Drink Reminder can help you to log as you drink, and is an easy platform with which to create a ‘drinking schedule’ that will help regulate your intake. Plus, it sends reminders for both your phone and Apple Watch. It’s also a great idea to invest in a good looking water bottle to make drinking more of a pleasure.
Exercise Daily
As well as boosting our muscle function, heart health and general physical function, exercise has a wealth of benefits for the mind, too. The watch can help here too, as Blahnik points out: “We send a personal monthly challenge which is built around your real activities and what you’ve already managed to achieve. It’s designed to get you to match it or beat it, but always within a reasonable, achievable amount,” he says. “Whenever I see them, I can’t not do them.”
Similarly, sharing your activity with a friend or family member can inject a little friendly competition into proceedings and motivate you into working out, even when you really don’t feel like it. “People are afraid to push the ‘competition’ button because it sounds really hard, but it will totally change your relationship with exercise,” Blahnik says. Rather than it being about competing directly, it’s about the percentage of your rings you each fill and how they compare.”
Setting goals can help too. Whether you’re running or doing yoga, Blahnik explains you can set a time, distance or calorie goal, which he claims makes it almost impossible to stop before hitting your target.
Sleep better
Interrupted sleep or insomnia is an unfortunate reality for many of us. And while it’s not an overnight fix (quite literally) there are a few key bases worth covering to try and improve your chances of drifting off. The first is what you sleep in and on. A mattress that softly supports the body is essential: the less our pressure points are activated, the less we move about, leading to better sleep – plus, it’s more comfortable. Try Casper’s Hybrid Mattress, which contains pressure-relieving foams. Your bed sheets should be soft and breathable so look for a high thread count of more than 400.
A schedule also helps to aid the body’s regulation of its circadian rhythms, so try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. Practising pre-sleep rituals and enjoying a one to two hour wind-down period before bed helps to prepare the body for slumber. Whether it’s sipping on a chamomile tea, having a bath or reading a book, partaking in activities that are low key, relaxing and un-stimulating can have a big impact upon how well we sleep.
Get some headspace
Taking some time out for yourself is a must in a world in which things never seem to stop. There are various ways of doing that, with mindfulness and meditation apps like Calm and Headspace making it easier to fit in a “time-out”, wherever you are in the world. Blahnik’s advice is to treat your workout as a mini phone-detox. “The watch is independent from your phone because you can store all your podcasts locally on it, so if you go out to exercise you can leave your phone at home,” he points out. “You can connect your wireless headset and listen to everything from podcasts to audiobooks and disconnect from whatever is going on on your phone. It helps keep you focused on your workout, too.”
Alternatively, use the watch’s Breathe app to guide you through a mini breathing exercise (they last anywhere from one to five minutes) that will help to calm both mind and body. Studies have shown that slowing our breath can help instigate the body’s relaxation response, with the breath being a key tool in easing anxiety and depression.
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5 Warning Signs To Watch For That Show When You're Practicing Toxic Self Care
Are you caring for yourself the right way?
We see the term "self-care" all over Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. These social media platforms tell us it’s OK to do whatever our hearts desire all in the name of self care. That may sound amazing, but it can potentially be more harmful than beneficial.
Self-care is good for you, but self-care and self-indulgence are two different things. Often times the two seem to be getting mixed up on social media.
Self-care isn’t just about taking care of your skin and body. It’s really about your emotional and mental wellbeing.
Self-care is making sure that you're aware of what’s going on inside your body. It doesn’t matter how perfect your skincare routine is or how toned your body is if you’re struggling with stress or depression. Even repeatedly binge-watching Netflix isn’t true self-care if you’re using it as an emotional distraction from your real life.
In all honesty, you aren’t really caring for yourself until you start addressing your emotional and mental state.
Practicing positive self-care can actually be hard sometimes because it requires self-awareness and self-discipline. Caring for yourself properly is about doing what you need to do in terms of achieving optimal health. It’s not always about what you want to do.
For example, Going to bed early to get to the gym early isn’t fun. But it’s essential. Good sleep and exercise benefit your body greatly, so does eating health. That’s self-care, prioritizing what is good for you over what feels good.
But don’t mistake positive self-care as a strict lifestyle that does not allow for relaxation. Having time to relax is just as important because it meets your emotional needs. We all need time to relax and have social lives so we can live a balanced life. So it’s ok to have a cheat day so you can go out to eat with friends. It’s even ok to skip the gym occasionally to have a relaxing bath. The key is to not allow these forms of self-care to become your daily rituals.
Moderation is key when it comes to self-care. Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing really quickly. It’s important that whatever you’re doing in the name of self-care is actually meeting an emotional, physical, mental, or relational need. The whole point of self-care is to implement habits that improve your life.
To make sure you’re caring for yourself the right way, check out these signs of bad self-care habits.
1. Skincare is your only focus.
Having a skincare routine is definitely a part of self-care. I find my skincare routine to be quite therapeutic and I absolutely love it. You need to love and appreciate the skin you’re in because it’s yours. There’s nothing wrong with wanting flawless skin, as long as it doesn’t consume your life.
Skincare only becomes a problem when that’s all you focus on. If it causes you to neglect other areas in your life, you need to reevaluate your priorities. Yes, your skin is important, but when you look at your needs you might find that it isn’t the highest on your list. Self-care is about more than putting on face masks, it’s internal. It’s about truly investing in yourself.
2. You use "self-care" as your excuse to bail on plans.
There’s a difference between prioritizing yourself and being completely selfish. We all need to take the time to put ourselves first. How can we treat others the way they should be treated if we don’t even care for ourselves? It is not selfish to put yourself first from time to time. We all need that time to feel special.
Toxic self-care would be taking me time at the expense of others. Repeatedly flaking on plans without giving a heads up is just selfish. It shows that you don’t value other people’s time. I totally get not feeling in the mood to socialize, I’ve been there. But, it’s nice to let others know you won’t be attending and even reschedule another hang out for a later date. If you don’t want to go somewhere don’t have to, but you should always let the people around you know. If you don’t it can potentially cause a rift in your friendships.
3. You cut people out of your life too quickly.
Communication skills are vital in all aspects of life. Our abilities to communicate can be the determining factor of the success or failure of our relationships in life both personal and professional. We communicate to inform others and to allow our perspectives to be heard. Sometimes things can be lost in translation or misinterpreted, so miscommunication isn’t uncommon.
Characteristics of toxic self-care would be forgoing trying to reach out to others because cutting them off is easier. This is one of those times when self-care requires you to take the route less traveled. We need to be able to communicate with one another. I’m not saying you can’t cut people off, you totally can. Just make sure you talk to them about the situation before you lose someone you once cared for no reason.
4. Unhealthy options are what you indulge in (because they make you feel good).
Toxic self-care says it’s okay to eat whatever you want when you want it. But, a lot of the foods we want and crave are seldom good for us. That type of lifestyle can be detrimental to your health by raising your likeliness of suffering from dietary based illnesses. If you add not working out to the mix, you are doing yourself a huge disservice as well. Exercise — believe it or not — releases in endorphins which make us happier.
Practicing positive self-care can actually be hard sometimes. Caring for yourself properly is about doing what you need to do, not want to do. So don’t give in to your junk food cravings every day. Just remember moderation is key when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.
5. You spend frivolously.
Self-care is not bankrupting yourself. It's about caring for both your present and future self. In order to do that you need a budget to sustain yourself. Start by avoiding unnecessary purchases. You do not need every cute item you see in the store. Focus on buying the things you really can’t live without (water, food, gas, etc) before you spend money on a dress you’re just going to throw in the back of your closet never to be worn or a book you’re never going to need.
Honestly, self-care does not require a lot of money to achieve. It’s about budgeting your money. Positive self-care is creating a budget so you can actually afford to buy the products and vacations you want. This idea that you can spend whatever you want as long as it makes you happy can set you up for financial hardship. Having a lack of financial security will make it that much hard to care for yourself in other much-needed areas.
Tamara Sanon is a writer who covers pop culture, astrology, and relationship topics.
The expert-approved guide to waking up feeling refreshed and energised (even when you've had barely any sleep)
If you're among the 25 per cent of Brits who only sleep for five hours or less per night - more than two hours less than the national recommended average of 7.5 hours, listen up.
A lack of sleep has serious health implications, physically and mentally, and can result in poor daytime performance. It can even affect our memory and our ability to learn and store new information – crucial in the workplace and also for those in education.
"It is estimated that as many as a third of us suffer from insomnia," wellness coach and practitioner, Angelina Nizzardi MAC, MNCP, MCMA, told GLAMOUR. "Sleepless nights can make the next day feel like wading through treacle. You crave sugar, feel bone achingly tired and emotionally raw. Ripping someone’s head off can feel tantalisingly close with feelings of anxiety nipping at your heels.
"The good news is that by following a few next day rules you can feel more human and stand a better chance of sleeping at bedtime. Your drives will be strong and willpower weakened so it’s important to follow a few golden rules despite feeling tired and potentially cranky."
We asked Angelina, as well as Silentnight's resident sleep expert, Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, and Natalie Armstrong, sleep expert at Sealy UK, to share their definitive guide to waking up feeling refreshed and bossing you day - even when you've had next to no sleep.
A sleep expert says this one simple trick will cure your insomnia in an instant A healthy diet and keeping fit
Try to prevent getting yourself into a routine of eating unhealthy fatty foods and spending your free time lounging and being sedentary. Staying active will help you feel less sluggish at work and also help you gain more energy. It is important to not commute on an empty stomach as this results in the body running on ‘adrenaline energy’ on your way to work, which is one of the main factors which causes shallow, ‘muddy’ sleep.
Drink alkaline water
If you’re already drinking the recommended two litres of water a day and you want to take it to the next level, try adding a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of sea salt to alkalise the water. The body functions optimally at an alkaline PH of 7.35, so hydrating with alkaline water helps our body to work properly; transmitting messages and enabling our physiological processes, including getting a good night's sleep.
I tried a Vitamin B12 patch to boost my energy and trust me, I'll never need a coffee ever again Rise with the sun
Ben Franklin once said “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, and it seems there could be some truth in this. A recent study has shown that waking with the sun rise, rather than forcing yourself to wake up before the sun, lowers your chances of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and depression.
This is because day light is the principal controlling factor on our natural body clock, and forcing yourself to wake up before sun rise, rather than waking naturally, causes an imbalance of the body’s cortisol levels, which in turn has health implications.
However, if waking with the sun rise isn’t feasible for your routine, especially during the winter months where the sun rises much later in the morning, you can invest in a ‘sun rise alarm clock’ which mimics the sun rise by gradually increasing light levels in the room.
Listen to music
Playing music or listening to the radio first thing in the morning can help to wake you up faster, as it’s been shown that listening to music with lyrics can actually stimulate your brain.
Sleep tracking apps could be causing ‘orthosomnia’ and actually making you more tired than ever
In fact, previous studies have shown that areas of the brain ‘light up’ when listening to music. Although, it’s best to choose music that starts gently and gradually builds, so as to avoid waking up too suddenly, which can causes an adrenaline rush and production of the stress hormone, cortisol.
This pre-bedtime ritual designed by a peak performance coach will give you the best night's sleep ever Place your alarm clock out of reach
We’ve all heard this tip before, but there’s definitely some truth in it. If you have your alarm clock in a location in the room that you can’t reach from your bed, then you’re forced to climb out of bed to turn it off, therefore removing that temptation to roll over and go back to sleep for those few extra minutes.
Avoid the snooze button
When getting up in the morning it might be tempting to set your alarm a little earlier so you can hit the snooze button for an extra ten minutes. However, this will actually make you feel worse when you eventually do drag yourself out of bed, as going back to sleep after hitting the snooze button prepares your body for another sleep cycle. Set your alarm for the latest possible moment and move your alarm clock to the opposite side of the room so you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off. This will help prevent you hitting snooze and going back to sleep as you’re up you’re much less likely to get back into bed once you’ve gotten up.
From brain downloading to pillow positioning: These 7 expert steps will guarantee the perfect night’s sleep
Sweet dreams!
Need tips on how to fall asleep? GLAMOUR has you covered.
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