5 Actions for health and fitness in 2023

While you may be bombarded with fitness programs & diet plans to buy at this time of the year, here are some simple changes that you can incorporate into your lifestyle that can help you get sustainable results & improve your quality of life for the long-term.

1. Go to bed early.

Because nothing can impact one's quality of life as much as sleep. If you sleep well, you will wake up refreshed and have higher energy. This will enable you to stay active, make good food choices, manage stress better and not give in to temptations or come up with excuses. And sleeping well starts with sleeping on time. When exactly you go to bed depends on what the structure of your day is like but make sure you sleep early enough to get in at least 7 hours of sleep. Make this happen and all the other challenges in your life will instantly feel easier.

2. Workout 30-45 times in the next 3 months.

This means that you'll exercise on 30-45 of the next 90 days. Which means you'll exercise 10-15 days a month which is 2-4 times a week. You decide the exact number based on how often you exercise now. But make sure it is not too much of a change. That is, don't try to go from 0 to 5 days of exercise per week. And don't worry about what exactly you do for exercise. Just plan your calendar so that you make the time and show up. The rest will fall in place readily.

3. Overeat 0-9 times in the next 3 months.

You decide which number between 0 and 9 works for you, but use a simple tracker and keep the total number of overeating meals to single digits for the next 3 months. Why? Because the only thing that causes weight gain is overeating. If you can limit this one action and bring it under your control, you will have much fewer weight issues. And that will mean more mental energy to focus on other aspects of life.

4. Spend at least 10 minutes everyday being still and silent.

What do you actually do? Meditate? Breathe? Think? Doesn't matter. You don't have to attain moksha in 10 minutes. Just spend the time in silence with your eyes closed. Just be. It is hard to explain what you will get out of this because, one, it is different for each person and, two, it is too deep and valuable to explain in a few words.

5. Journal your thoughts.

This isn't the most fun thing to do and it might feel weird to start. But try to spend 5 minutes every night (or morning) writing about the last 24 hours. Don't overthink it. Just start doing it and write what comes to mind. This need not be a 'Dear diary' type journal. It can be in any format you like. Just write down what is on your mind, and do it consistently. You'll figure it out from there on. Each entry will help you acknowledge what happens. With time, you'll notice trends and patterns that will enable you to learn and make better choices next time.

Start with these 5 habits & try to follow them everyday for the next 3 months. You'll definitely find them more helpful than the last 5 day diet plan that you tried!

Author : Raj Ganpath