New Years Resolutions. If you’re doing them, here are my tips:
Firstly: You don’t have to make a New Year’s Resolution.
Many of my patients have to make changes because of health problems, and have chosen New Year’s as their start date for changes reducing alcohol, quitting smoking, going plant-predominant, or adding in new physical activity. Helping patient/families succeed in these using evidence-based medicine is exactly what physicians do. So, while I don’t recommend New Year’s Resolutions to my patients, I know it’s a thing. And I’m here for you if it’s your thing. So, with that in mind:
The commonest New Year’s Resolutions are about getting healthy – but that’s not just diet and exercise. Consider ones that bring you joy and support your mental health: re-start an old hobby, schedule regular time for friends/family, try something new, volunteer for a charity, add in daily meditation, sign up for a class.
If you know you need to make healthy changes, you even want to do it…but you just simply aren’t ready. That’s okay. Don’t be pressured by the calendar. Choose a date on the calendar to reconsider it.
If you want to make big changes, plan to do it over weeks in steps or stages. Don’t make drastic changes all at once on 1 January. It simply won’t work.
If you are making changes that don’t make you happy, you won’t do it. You won’t stick with it. Don’t make promises to yourself you can’t keep. It can cause you more stress.
Consider making a plan with the whole household/family. You’re likely to have more success and less stress if you are doing changes to meals or activities together.
Avoid pseudoscience and marketed “quick fixes”: this time of year is peak time for marketing detoxes, supplements, vitamins, and all sorts of fad diets and quick fixes. Most of it doesn’t work. If money is tight, get impartial expert advice first.
Nutrition isn’t easy. If you need to make changes to your diet, get qualified help from an INDI/CORU registered dietitian. January is peak #nutribabble time!
Trends: If you do #Veganuary, try to use it to add in vegetables or new meals to regular family menu. Avoid just swapping for highly processed meat substitutes. If you do #DryJanuary, consider longer term changes to low-risk alcohol drinking long term.
Physical activity is essential for health. Getting more active can be a good idea. Make it something that you enjoy, can do, and can afford.
Weight is not beauty. Avoid any New Year’s Resolution that involves getting weight-loss procedure, injection, medication, or medical tourism offered by aesethic or cosmetic clinic. Obesity is a complex, chronic, and recurring disease and deserves qualified medical care.
If your New Year’s resolution is to quit smoking, don’t use vaping to quit smoking. Ask your GP or pharmacist for expert advice and support.
#obesitymedicine #endweightstigma #lifestylemedicine #veganuary #dryjanuary #newyearsresolutions #NewYear2023 #HealthyNewYear #doctorpatient #TrustINDI #NoPseudoscience #detox #vitamins #supplements #weightloss #smokingcessation #quitsmoking #dontvape #mentalhealth #January1 #evidencebasedmedicine #physicalactivity #exercise #joinagym #DryJanuary
0 Comments