One of the most common New Year’s Resolutions and goals is to be healthier in some way: to lose weight, exercise more, clean up the diet, or any variation of those. Raise your hand if you’ve made any of those resolutions. Raise your other hand if you’ve given up after two weeks. Going to the gym every day sounds intimidating, not to mention having to wake up extra early to get in a gym session before going to work.
And when life is busy with day jobs, side hustle, maintaining a social life and keeping the living space out of chaos, any sleep time you can get is precious.
Leading a healthy lifestyle often sounds difficult and time-consuming, but it really isn’t! In fact, it’s quite easy, and can be really fun and inexpensive. Once you get into a rhythm and routine, it’s easier to stay on track.
Here are six super easy ways to stay healthy in 2016 and beyond!
I promise, they’re really easy.
1. Move every day. You don’t have to go through a super intense workout every day, but at least move. Take the stairs at work our your apartment instead of the elevator, go for a walk or jog around the neighborhood, even dance around your kitchen while dinner is in the oven. I would exercise so much more if I knew I could just dance off the calories.
2. Stay on your feet. This goes along with item number 1. Sitting at a desk (or on the couch) all day makes your muscles stiff and sore. Standing desks are becoming more popular because standing is better than sitting.
3. Stretch. Seriously. It’ll keep you from getting injured. There are so many benefits to stretching every day, and I won’t go into all of them again here, but it’s really one of the best things you can do for your body. Just 15 or 20 minutes of yoga can burn up to 100 calories.
Want to know some other fun and easy ways to burn 100 calories?
4. Get enough sleep. Waking up after a full night’s sleep is one of the most refreshing feelings. According to the National Sleep Foundation, young adults ages 18-25 (and adults 26+, for the record) need a recommended 7-9 hours of sleep each night to wake up feeling truly rested. The right amount of sleep time varies among people, of course, so finding what works best for you is essential to getting those zzzzs.
5. Take time for you. Even the most social people need time to themselves. Take time at night (or whenever you feel the best time of day is) to write in a journal, read, drink some tea, wrap in a blanket and pet your cat or whatever you like to do to calm down and reflect on the day or week. Spending some time alone can help you focus on what you’ve completed that day or week, and look ahead to your goals for the following day or week.
6. Eat breakfast. Every single day. It doesn’t have to be a huge meal (although I’ll never say no to a big breakfast), but eating a healthful breakfast is a perfect way to jump-start your day. In fact, eating breakfast every day can help you drop those pesky pounds. You’d think skipping it would be key, but when you skip breakfast, you’re hungrier and thus eat more later to make up for it. So don’t skip breakfast.
One of my favorite easy breakfasts is fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, like Chobani Simply 100. It’s nonfat, filling and tastes great, for only 100 calories. With so many flavor options–like strawberry, key lime, lemon raspberry, blueberry and more, all made with all-natural ingredients–I can eat a different flavor each day of the week. In addition to a wide variety of flavors, Greek yogurt is filled with the perfect protein punch you need to start the day.
See? Not so bad, right? Anyone can take any of these steps to make the year healthy and fabulous. Plus, the healthier you are, the better you’ll feel.
How are YOU going to stay healthy in 2016?
This post was inspired by Chobani yogurt, Chobani Simply 100 and the new Chobani Simply 100 Crunch snacks. All opinions herein are my own.
