Build the Life of Your Dreams: 10 Healthy Habits to Adopt in 2020 for A Happier and Fitter You

The year 2020 is not only the usual new year, but also the starting of a new decade, and as the start of every year, this year also would have started with new health goals for a lot of people. But unfortunately, very few are going to start working on their goals and even out of them only a handful of the fitness enthusiasts would be able to achieve their goals and maintain consistency.

So instead of a half-hearted attempt, this time set realistic health goals that are easily doable and achievable. Small positive things which when become a part of your daily routine, bring about a long-lasting and powerful impact on your health and overall well being.

Set your own small goals, write them down and start taking baby steps every day. Setting huge goals will soon deter you from following the schedule and after a few days, you’ll start feeling uninterested and bored. But when you make small changes in your schedule and habits, then you gradually achieve your target in a few weeks. For example, start doing freehand exercise for 10 minutes in the beginning and gradually you can increase the time to 35 – 40 minutes.

Keep a quotes calendar or install a positive quotes app and try practising one good trait daily. One day, it can be taking stairs instead of the lift (you can start with 2 floors initially) and on the next day, you might be donating your old clothes to the needy or taking a stroll on your roof. With time you will start appreciating that these small things do make a difference to your physical and mental health. You can also write these quotes on sticky papers and put them on the fridge, your work desk, etc.

You don’t have time to hit the gym or you are simply too lazy to get, set and go; then do it at home. Not necessarily physical exercise, but you can go for a walk, do yoga, play badminton with your kids, play Frisbee with your dog or even ride a bicycle. Do anything which you like, but 20 minutes out of the 1,440 minutes in a day should be devoted religiously to any one physical activity. Once you start enjoying the activity, you can increase the time by 10 – 15 minutes after 15 days.

We all are aware of the benefits of meditation but are too busy to practice it. Meditation helps you stay calm, handle your emotions better and a balanced mind helps you to make better decisions in your professional and personal matters. A healthy body makes a healthy mind, but the opposite is also true. Once you have better control over your emotions, the mind secretes less bad hormones and more happiness hormones; which impact your overall health.

If you are living in an urban area and work in a concrete jungle, then this is the time to take out a few moments to get close to nature. The artificial lifestyle, most of the time spent inside AC rooms, less physical activity and junk food is keeping many of you away from the natural habitat. Get some sunlight, spend a few minutes in the open beneath a tree, smell a fresh flower still unpicked and listen to the song of the birds. Go for a weekend outing to a nature park or a lush green rural area and for a few hours unwind yourself from the hectic city life.

From your daily hectic schedule, you need to take out a few moments for yourself, else you’ll start feeling over-stressed and burnt out. Look for a quiet place, maybe the balcony or the roof of your house, sit alone, sip a cup of coffee, try to have a blank mind and just enjoy the moment. These 10 – 15 minutes of ‘me time’ will help you ease, calm and regulate the monkey mind.

This can be the most difficult part as we are so used to being glued to our smartphone and tablet screens. Initially, try to leave them just before you go to bed and slowly increase the time before you leave them and go to sleep. If you feel restless, try meditation or reading a book. A good 15-minute walk before you go to sleep will also help as it would make you will feel tired, thus the urge to hold a device would be less.

Your health is directly proportional to your eating habits; this is why you first need to have healthy food habits to achieve your health goals in 2020. A healthy eating habit is not only about what to eat, but also how to eat, how much to eat and what not to eat. Mentioned below are a few important points related to healthy eating and drinking habits which you can instil in your lifestyle in 2020:

A copper jug or water bottle not only looks good, but the water kept overnight in a copper jug, when consumed on an empty stomach in the morning, gives many health benefits. The major health benefits include – an improved immune system, better digestion and decreased healing time from injuries. Other known health benefits of a copper water jug include improved iron absorption, better thyroid and joint health, etc.

Including leafy vegetable and fruits of different colours help you complete the intake of essential vitamins, minerals, iron, etc. which are required to boost your immune system and increase the red blood cells in your body. Not only this, but they also reduce the risk of high BP, heart disease, obesity, constipation and mental decline. Leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, lettuce, seasonal fruits like mango, watermelon, melon and evergreen fruits such as apple, banana, grapes, etc. should be included in your everyday diet.

Junk and fast food are tempting, but excessive consumption of such food is hazardous for health as it can cause problems like low energy levels, depression in teenagers, digestive problems, fluctuation in blood sugar levels (increases craving for more junk food), adverse impact on the brain function, damage to the liver, increase the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and can also cause cancer. Foods such as samosa, vada pav, burgers, pizzas, doughnuts, rolls, wraps, frankies, french fries, etc. fall under this category and shouldn’t be taken more than once a week (if you are not able to control your craving).

In the new decade, keep a check on your sugar and salt intake, even if you have a sweet tooth or you like spicy food. Excess sugar consumption can cause glucose levels to spike and fall which can cause mood swings, headaches and fatigue. Sugar also increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, and it also impacts your immune system and hastens the ageing process. Similarly, excessive salt intake can cause high BP, impact the heart and also increase the chances of diabetes and kidney problems. The recommended intake of salt per day is 1,500 – 2,000 milligrams. Processed foods and pickles have high salt content, so avoid them or reduce the quantity.

Chewing the food properly helps aid digestion as proper chewing of the food helps to break the large food particles into smaller ones, thus reducing stress on the esophagus and helping the stomach to churn the food properly. Also, when you chew your meal properly, digestive enzymes are released by the body in your system and these enzymes help to break down the food and convert it into energy. So, in the year 2020 adopt the habit to chew your food well.

You might have heard about ‘good bacteria’! Fermented foods have probiotics or friendly bacteria that enhance the good bacteria living in our gut (there are both good and bad bacteria living in our gut). These probiotics are helpful for digestive health and are found naturally in foods like curd, yogurt and kimchi, etc. Make these foods a part of your diet and enhance your gut feeling (pun intended).

Moving on from general habits and food habits to lifestyle, you might be surprised to see that there are so many areas of improvement in your lifestyle which can be worked upon in 2020. Most of these are small changes that can be implemented in your daily routine and the outcome will be better health, glowing skin, meaningful relations and more time for your hobbies. Let’s check out the basic points which are a part of today’s lifestyle and the few simple twists in them which will do the trick for good health in 2020.

If you are a night creature and can’t sleep before 1 a.m., then this is the time you should start working on your total sleep time. A healthy adult should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep, but many people compromise on this duration and cut it short to 5 to 6 hours. Lack of sleep can affect your ability to concentrate and can cause mood swings; it also increases the risk of heart disease, weight gain and high BP. In the year 2020, make changes in your sleep cycle and try to sleep early so that you can get adequate sleep.

We talked about decreasing the consumption of fast food, eating healthy food, etc. in the earlier section. However, it’s easier said than done, as the temptation of fast food can destroy your health goals. The best way to avoid binge eating and junk eating area to have your meals on a set time every day. You can keep some healthy snacks at home or in your office lunchbox to have a little refuelling done in between the meals and satiate your craving.

Reduce your social media time as it eats up a lot of productive time of the day, impacts your eyes, neck and back muscles and is a bad addiction. Uninstall the apps which are irrelevant, give up the habit of checking your phone every 5 minutes and limit your online time. A smartphone is a boon as long as it is used judiciously, but when it starts using you, then it’s time to take stern action. Also, don’t take your phone to bed and checking your messages shouldn’t be the first thing you do as a morning ritual.

Don’t work like there is no tomorrow, plan your next day the previous day evening, complete one task at a time and stop thinking about the past. Start living each day as it comes, plan properly and don’t over think about the future. Try to write down your random thoughts, so that later on you can get something insightful and meaningful from them. Worrying less and keeping calm should be at the top of your to-do list of 2020.

We often end up buying things, clothes and accessories just because our neighbour, colleague or relative owns them. Understand your needs, don’t compare unnecessarily, and buy only what is truly required by you. The lucrative world of advertising is often very far from reality, so adapt minimalism in 2020 and donate the unwanted stuff to the needy. The less the clutter, the more spacious will be your house and the savings you make by not buying the ‘competition stuff’ are complementary.

All the above points and suggestions cannot be applied in practical life without some discipline, self-control and time management. Make a diary, write clear short and long term goals and track your habits, eating habits and lifestyle changes on a weekly basis. You have done it in school, now try it one more time and make a time-table for your daily schedule. Even if you are able to achieve 80% of the plan, it’s definitely working.