Our body is a temple. A phrase many of us will have heard time and time again throughout the years. Despite hearing this phrase, caring for ourselves is not considered a top priority by many. Even more surprising, a recent survey revealed that although many Americans would be willing to spend thousands of dollars to achieve perfect health, more than half admitted to not taking care of themselves.
Of course, taking care of yourself should be a top priority. Doing so can help you to feel at your very best, motivating you to feel more productive and accomplish any targets you had set for the day. Without taking care of yourself, you may find yourself feeling down and with limited motivation. Most of all, your overall health can be impacted.
Here’s how you can prioritize your health in 2023.
1. Get A Good Night’s Sleep
To sleep like a baby sounds like a dream, an impossible one, some might argue. However, one thing you will notice when you prioritize your health is an improvement in your sleeping quality. Taking care of yourself by exercising and eating properly can help you to fall asleep better at night. Ideally, you should be getting around 7-8 hours of sleep each night. A good night’s sleep sets you up for the next day, helping you to feel refreshed and rejuvenated for a new day ahead. Caring for your physical health, as well as your mental health, can help with improving the quality of your sleep.
2. Get Moving
Starting with an obvious one, exercise is a simple and effective way to prioritize your health in 2023. Whilst many will have set a resolution at the start of the year to be more active, starting to exercise more can be done any time throughout the year. Of course, going to the gym every day and working out for at least an hour is a habit many would like to maintain. However, if you haven’t been to the gym in some time, this drastic shift might not be sustainable. Instead of feeling motivated to go to the gym, you might feel deflated and not want to go.
Set yourself a limit on how many times a week you go to the gym. Start by going once or twice, for a set amount of time, for instance, 45-60 minutes. This will help you get into the habit of going. When you feel comfortable, add an extra day, or increase the time you exercise for. Just like you would increase the amount of weights you lift or the speed you run, gradually increase the amount when you feel comfortable and ready to do so. In doing so, exercising more regularly will become a habit rather than feel like a chore.
3. Stop Delaying Checks
A common phrase many medical professionals will repeat is not to delay getting checked by your doctor. The sooner you get seen, the better the chances are of resolving any health issue uncovered during a health screening. Book in with your doctor to have a routine check-up. Even if you have no pressing concerns, a routine check-up can bring peace of mind that you are in the best health possible. Of course, speaking with a medical professional is essential if you have any pressing concerns.
If you want to be thorough, consider getting booked for an MRI scan. These can provide a clearer picture of any health concerns that you might have. For instance, you can get an MRI of your uterus if you are experiencing any issues your doctor has not diagnosed. Some uterus issues are harder to diagnose than others, so going for a uterus MRI scan could help to discover the reasoning behind the concerns you have been experiencing.
4. Rethink Dietary Habits
Again, another simple but effective way to prioritize your health is by rethinking your dietary habits. Some might hear this and assume we mean throw out your current meal plan and replace it, instead cooking meals consisting of ingredients you despise or know nothing about. This is not the case. Rethinking your dietary habits means looking at your current eating habits and seeing if there are ways they can be improved.
For instance, if your only beverage intake daily is coffee and no water, you might want to consider increasing your water intake and reducing your caffeine intake. This means you are reaching the goal of how much water you should be consuming in a day, which is ideally 6-8 glasses. Along with increasing water intake, you might decide to also increase fruit and vegetable intake. This could be introducing more vegetables into your meals or trying out new recipes. It can make mealtime more fun and exciting, especially when being adventurous in trying new dishes,
Regardless, any of the ways mentioned above, along with many others, can help you to focus on yourself this year. By the end of the year, you might look back on 2023 as the year you chose to prioritize your health and succeeded.
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