Instead of making scam artists richer, start 2018 the right way by setting yourself some goals that are achievable, free, and worth putting some time into. Here are 3 new year’s resolutions that are actually worth keeping.
Resolution 1: Get outside. Briefly. Preferably before 10am or after 2pm.
As a proud Queenslander, I hail from a region with some of the highest melanoma rates on the planet. So I get it, excessive sun exposure is very bad. If it doesn’t kill you it will at least make you very wrinkly, and both are things I am keen to avoid. But as luck would have it, you can also have too little of a “bad” thing. We all need a certain amount of sun exposure in order to avoid vitamin D deficiency, and the amount of sun exposure you need varies depending largely on the colour of your skin. Vitamin D is essential for bone health, in conjunction with calcium, and it pains me to say that we cannot get adequate vitamin D from diet alone.
Vitamin D deficiency is linked with an increased risk of developing osteoporosis (or rickets in kids) and cognitive impairment (dementia) as we age. It’s also associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. There are also associations between vitamin D deficiency and poor mental health.
So make it your resolution see the sun, however briefly, in 2018.
Resolution 2: Eat your greens.
Oh look, here’s another dietitian telling you to eat your vegetables. Yawn. But here’s the thing, I’m not telling you not to eat the other stuff, I’m just saying that pizza and spinach are not mutually exclusive. The healthiest thing on the menu is not always the most exciting, but maybe you can convince yourself to add a vegetable side dish. And actually eat it. Healthy eating is a lot easier when it’s a habit, and it’s often a lot easier to add something new to your diet than to take something away. For example, “Never eat chocolate again” is a pretty unachievable goal for most, but “eat an extra cup of vegetables everyday” is more likely to work for you. So why not give that a go in 2018.
Resolution 3: Stop following rubbish on social media.
The only kind of detox I’m recommending over the new year is a social media detox. Go ahead and click “unfollow” on anyone whose content makes you feel bad about yourself. Unfollow and block anyone who is dishing out health advice when their only qualification is an Instagram husband and a hot bod. And maybe unfollow all those doughnut appreciation pages if you’ve developed a pack-a-day addiction of the pastry kind. The media we consume has a huge impact on the choices we make, and the way we feel about ourselves. We are often bombarded with dodgy information in ways we can’t control, but social media does allow us to block a lot of this stuff. So take advantage of that feature, a create yourself a peaceful digital oasis free of unwelcome influences.
Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy and happy 2018!
