New Year New You: Reshape your Health

Another year is going to end and its time to welcome the new year. Each one of us are filled with the excitement, enthusiasm and joy as the new year approaches for there comes the time to make new resolutions regarding your health and lifestyle. Staying healthy and fit for the whole year is quite important and should be the first resolution that you make. What we drink and eat impacts our health so, here we bring you a health guide in order to reshape your health in a better way on this new year. Here’s to your health!

Add variety to your diet- Eating varied food items ensures that your body is supplemented with ample vitamins and minerals as there is no single food contains all the nutrients, we need for them to work at their best. Therefore, our diet must contain a wide variety of fresh and nutritious foods to keep us going strong.

Some tips for the same are:

• Make a target to have a mix of staple foods such as wheat, maize, rice and potatoes with legumes like lentils and beans, plenty of fresh fruit and veg, and foods from animal sources (e.g. meat, fish, eggs and milk).
• Opt for wholegrain foods like unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat and brown rice as they are rich in dietary fibre and can help you feel full for longer and will help in maintaining overall health.

Carry a Fruit box- Fruits gives you all the essential vitamins and minerals along with carbohydrates too which fill you up with instant energy as well. At times when we feel hungry, we generally munch on processed food items like namkeen mixtures, chips etc. So, make a healthy food choice by consuming fruits whenever you suffer from hunger pangs.

Cut down salt and refined sugar intake- This new year make a resolution to restrict your salt intake just to 5 grams in a day. Too much salt in the diet can raise blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Similarly, refined sugar gives you nothing but just empty calories. Although we don’t add extra salt and sugar in our food, we should be aware that it is commonly added in all processed foods or drinks, and often in high amounts.

Some tips for the same are:

• While cooking and preparing foods, use salt sparingly and wisely and reduce use of extra salty sauces and condiments (like soy sauce, stock or fish sauce).
• Do Check the labels on food and go for products with lower sodium and no sugar content.
• Try to avoid snacks that are high in salt and sugar instead opt for fresh healthy snacks over processed foods.
• Say no to sweets and sugary drinks such as fizzy drinks, fruit juices, liquid and powder concentrates, flavoured water, energy and sports drinks.
• Stay Hydrated- Water is crucial for our body as well as for our survival. Make a target of finishing at least consuming 2.5-3 litres of water in a day. It keeps you fresh, active and exfoliated.

Make time to move – There is no doubt in the fact that exercise and diet go hand in hand. Exercising does not mean you have to spend 1-2 hours in the gym. You can also go for easy home-based workouts or shorter high intensity workouts. Moreover, you can also use your own body weight to train your body.

Sleep – According to studies, most individuals sleep for less than 6 hours at night, when the recommended is seven to nine. Lack of sleep can affect your overall health. The quality and duration of sleep can affect your overall energy, making exercise harder and also interrupts your biological cycle of digestion and other processes.

Over to you:

Thus, by inculcating few simple tips you can reshape your health this new year and change for a better self by moving towards a healthy lifestyle.