Every year we take a little stock and set goals for the new year and what we would like to achieve. These goals concern every area of our lives. In the era we live in, with a pandemic dominating, we all understood the importance of health. So let’s set some achievable goals that concern our health.
When we set goals, no matter what they concern, we want them to be SMART. The initials of the word SMART are used to describe the elements that each goal should have in order to have a better chance of achieving it.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound
So we suggest you start with the following goals, which you will see have enormous health benefits.
Hydration
An adult loses approximately 1.5-2 liters of water per day. This loss occurs through urine, breathing, sweat and invisible losses from hair. So this amount is what needs to be replenished and corresponds to 8-10 glasses per day. However, recommendations are individualized, as they vary depending on gender, stage of life and physical activity. One way to check proper hydration is the color of urine. The lighter and clearer it is, the better hydrated we are.
Water is not the only option for our hydration, food and drinks are also a means of hydration. Alternative ways of hydration are fruits and vegetables, teas – herbal teas, milk, yogurt, coffee and soups.
Exercise
Increasing movement during our daily lives is very important. This does not necessarily mean that we have to go to the gym or somewhere organized to exercise. Walking or cycling to work, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, are some simple daily changes we can make to boost our daily activity and metabolism.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), recommendations for adults are at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise or a combination of the two each week to achieve significant benefits. Increasing physical activity helps prevent and manage chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and at the same time helps with psychology by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Sleep
It is the right time to put a healthy sleep schedule in our lives. Our body needs about 7-8 hours of sleep.
Adequate and quality sleep has been associated with many benefits:
- helps regulate proper metabolism
- reduces stress
- contributes to strengthening the immune system
- improves memory
- makes us feel energized and alert the next day
In addition, insufficient sleep has been associated with increased appetite and mainly with the overconsumption of ready-made snacks, which are usually high in calories.
Small and Frequent Meals
If we follow a balanced diet of small and frequent meals whose calories do not exceed our energy needs, then we can maintain a stable weight, supplying our body with energy. At the same time, it has been shown that consuming 4-5 meals a day helps increase metabolism, as frequent meals increase the thermogenesis caused by food consumption. In addition, small amounts of food are easier to handle by the intestine, thus enhancing smooth digestion and better absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Quantities
To maintain our body weight in balance, the calories we consume are a key part of the equation. Our goal will therefore be to create a small calorie deficit (negative energy balance) resulting in weight loss. To achieve this, we do not need to drastically limit food, it is enough to reduce our quantities a little compared to what we consume now. For everyone, the quantities and their reduction are different, so we need to familiarize ourselves a little with the saturation scale (saturation target stage 5 – 6). Satiety shows us when our body feels satisfied and full with the food it has received, before reaching a point of excess.
