Every New Year we set ourselves resolutions, healthy and well-being goals that we never achieve: lose extra kilos, exercise, eat better… Why don't we fulfill them if they read so simple? One part of the problem may be that the approach is too ambitious or unrealistic. When it comes to changing habits, start small, step by step.
Three experts in health and well-being propose nine quite sensible goals, so that this 2017 is the year in which you and your family fulfill their healthy resolutions.
- If you want to lose weight, visit a nutritionist. Don't get caught up in miracle diets, which can endanger your health. The ideal is to lose a kilo weekly; four a month, according to Raquel Pérez de León, a clinical and sports nutritionist.
- Improve your digestion –and therefore your weight- with a simple measure that this same nutritionist proposes: do not combine fruits with proteins (meat, chicken, sausages) because you will feel heavy. It is better to take the fruit between meals; Add a handful of seeds, like walnuts, and you'll feel light, but energetic.
- This year say goodbye to sugary drinks, which only make you gain weight, according to the expert. Set yourself the purpose of drinking a liter and a half of water to keep the body hydrated; so it will work properly.
- This year you do want to exercise. Well! But you have to pay attention to three very important things, according to Keiji Yoshiki, fitness coach and nutritionist (keifit.com). The main one: if your intention is to exercise in a gym, choose one that is close to your home or on the way to your workplace. This will make it easier for you to attend four or five times a week.
- Once registered, ask for advice from the instructors; If you do weights on your own, you run the risk of injuring yourself and consequently, you will stop attending your training, Yoshiki describes. The same applies if you want to start running. Get the right footwear, ask for advice so as not to hurt yourself (your knees, for example) and start your training. In a few months, you will surely be ready for your first race.
- Don't give up even if you feel tired. The first few months of training are tough, according to Yoshiki, but once you are in shape, you will realize that the effort was worth it. Remember: step by step; little by little, so that this year you do fulfill your purposes.
- More family and less work. No, it is not that you quit your job, but this year it does open spaces to spend time with your family more frequently. That also benefits your health, according to Karla Ruiz, health coach of The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
- It is proven by various studies, says the nutritionist Pérez de León, that adding more fiber to the family diet is a way to protect health because it is a dietary element that can protect against some cancers (such as breast or colon). So this year, aim to eat more whole wheat bread or products with bran. Thus you would fulfill the maxim of Hippocrates: "Let your food be your medicine."
- Buy life or health insurance, but invest in insurance, says Ivonne Vargas, an expert in family finances. This year make that financial effort. Your family deserves to be protected. Insurance will always be an element of peace of mind for you. Remember: it is not an expense, it is an investment.
