5 Mindful Lifestyle Changes To Make In 2019

With 2019 now underway and people thinking about their New Year resolutions, including myself, many will be beginning to sign-up to the gym or even vow to cut down on social media usage. In order to ensure you don’t end up giving up after the end of January, it is a good idea to consider creating small goals to reach instead, which is considerably more manageable and easier to fulfil.

If you are looking to change up your daily routine or lifestyle, or break a habit such as smoking, it can feel impossible to achieve as it is incredibly difficult. But taking it step-by-step and setting goals each month can make it more likely for you to smash your goals and be successful. After all, small steps lead to bigger results in the end.

Here are five top tips to lead a healthier lifestyle in 2019;

Get Up Earlier

If you are naturally a late riser and prone to a lie-in, consider trying to wake up earlier each morning to create a habit. Not only is waking up earlier more productive, but it is also better for your overall health and wellbeing too.

The extra hours you have by waking up earlier are valuable and are a great way to ease into your day and ensure it is productive. To do this, you can take time to do activities that you may not have done before, like eating a good, healthy breakfast – the most important meal of the day.

As well as this, you may have time to complete morning exercise at the gym or at home. Yoga, for example, can help to enhance your daily concentration and make you begin the day feeling relaxed, reducing the risk of stress throughout the day. You can take part in exercise at home too, which is beneficial, by following a DVD or even YouTube videos. There's so much out there for you to gain access of for exercise benefits.

 Photo credit: L Julia 

Take Care Of Your Wellbeing

Taking care of your mental health and well-being is just as important as your physical health. It is worth taking some time out and having “me time” each day to avoid becoming overwhelmed with work or daily life, such as drawing or having a bubble bath.

Read 5 Easy Ways To Practice Self-Care for more tips!

Interestingly, the mental health charity Mind discovered that a staggering 90% of people who undertook “eco-exercise” reported improvements in wellbeing, stress-levels and physical health. This includes activities such as gardening, talking a walk outside, running or cycling outside. Something that I am personally doing more of in 2019 with walks with our local rescue centre. Dogs + Walking Outdoors = perfect!

In addition, smoking can be detrimental to your mental well-being, as sometimes going without a cigarette can cause stress. As a result, consider making the switch to e-cigarettes, such as Juul pods, or even quitting completely.

Photo credit: Tobias Arhelger

Drink Water
Although it's obvious, drinking is vital in ensuring your body is consistently hydrated - particularly water. It is advised by the health professionals to drink around six to eight glasses of water every day, although low-fat milk and sugar-free drinks (including tea and coffee) do count as well. 

It is also recommended to drink a glass of warm water with fresh lemon juice, as it helps to remove any toxins from your liver. This helps purify your body and detox. Many people tend to begin their day or drink this before bedtime.

But, let's be honest, it's not always easy (I'm definitely no saint when it comes to getting the amount of water I should in my system on a daily basis!). One way you can ensure you reach the recommended daily water intake, make sure you carry a water bottle around and keep it topped up. If you invest in a water bottle, you will be more likely to use it instead of shoving it in the back of the cupboard never to be seen again. Not to mention it will be considerably cheaper and more environmentally friendly, rather than buying plastic bottles regularly. 

Photo credit: Andrey_Popov

Get A Good Night’s Sleep

A stress-free life always begins with a relaxing, restful sleep. For most healthy adults (aged between 18 and 64), it is recommended that they get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to function at their best.

To ensure you are getting the best night’s sleep, you should avoid using any electronic devices with a blue light, such as TV or your phone or Kindle, an hour before you go to sleep. This blue light suppresses melatonin, the sleep hormone, which makes it difficult to sleep and for your brain to “switch off” as your brain thinks it is day time. Instead, think about winding down by reading a paper book instead or listening to calming music.

If you struggle with broken sleeping patterns, consider signing up to a sleep monitoring app which are readily found on the Apple or Android app stores. Learning your own personal patterns of disturbed sleep can help you to work out what might be going wrong, and how to fix it.

I put together some more tips for getting a better night's sleep here.

Photo credit: Kritsada Namborisut

Photo credit: Elena Veselova

Make Your Own Meals

It is often found that preparing food from scratch makes people healthier, as you know exactly what you are putting in the food you’re making and make a conscious effort to add ‘the good stuff’, such as fruit, vegetables and high-quality protein. According to research by The American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who spend more than one hour a day on preparing food have a higher quality diet than those who don’t, eating more vegetables, salads and fruits.

Not to mention how much money you could save, as the cash you would otherwise usually spend on restaurants, fast-food outlets and coffee shops is staying in your bank account for a rainy day.

What mindful lifestyle changes are you going to make in 2019?

If you enjoyed reading this post, you may enjoy reading my goals for 2019 in "Dear 2019, Let's Make You A Cracking Year!"

Thanks for reading!
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*Guest post from Journalistic.