Have you stuck with your resolution of frequent visits to the gym, eating healthier, and shedding a few pounds? Sure, it sounds great on paper but is it really enough motivation to get us to the gym at the crack of dawn?

Here are three realistic and yet still motivating New Year’s Resolutions that may reap benefits on your mind and body for 2018. The goals are specific enough to track and fairly easy enough to adapt to your everyday routine. It’s not expected to pick up all of the following as your resolutions but, rather, our hope is to give you inspiration for at least one resolution on becoming a happier and healthier version of yourself in this new year.

Make (and Keep) Your Health Appointments

We get it. You’re busy and your calendar and to-do lists are starting to look more like Charles Dickens novels these days. Naturally, we tend to prioritize all other obligations, whether it’s your career, your family, or your community, before taking care of ourselves (heck, it’s now common to put our pet’s health above ours!). With this mentality, it’s easier than ever to keep our personal to-dos on the back-burner, including our annual health appointments.

The following exams are recommended on an annual basis: well-woman exam, eye exam, skin exam, dental exam, flu vaccine, and mammogram (starting at the age of 40). By taking a proactive approach to your health, you can avoid future illnesses and emergency visits to the doctor.

Getting started: Designate 30 minutes in January for calling each of your specialists and getting the appointments on the calendar. For some, making the appointment is the biggest hurdle, however, for others, it’s actually keeping the appointment that proves the most difficult. If the latter is true for you, be sure to mentally prepare yourself well in advance for the appointment so it does not come as a surprise the week of.

Pencil in Time for You

Self-love isn’t selfish, it’s vital. How you feel about yourself affects all other relationships in your life. As selfish as it may sometimes seem, it’s important to allocate time for yourself each day. Whether it’s waking up a little bit earlier for some morning meditation or it’s that evening walk to decompress from the day’s chaos, your mind and body will be thanking you.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to consider this an inefficient use of time since there’s no quantifiable or immediate result. However, according to Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and contributor to Forbes, that’s not the case. Your relationships, creativity and stress levels may benefit from some quality time with yourself.

Getting started: Start with just 10 minutes a day by placing your phone in another room and just focus on breathing. Forget the to-do lists and all other “mission critical” tasks your mind throws your way. This ten minutes will give you more clarity and energize you going forward.

Eat for Fuel, Not for Comfort

It’s time that we reevaluate our relationship with food and turns out, it’s actually quite simple: our bodies need food for energy – both physical and mental. There is a direct correlation between our food intakes and our outputs. Knowing this, shouldn’t we want to set ourselves up for success? By giving our food decisions a second thought, we may just give our body and mind the energy they crave.

Do know that it is okay to have the occasional cookie or piece of cake. Stripping these delicious treats entirely from our diet may result in what we would refer to as the “crash and burn” effect where we overindulge after restricting ourselves for so long. It’s all about moderation so as long as you’re conscious of how often you allow yourself these treats, then your diet should remain unharmed.

Getting started: Take a minute to analyze your relationship with food. Are you a stress eater? Emotional-eater? Do you view food as something that just pleases your tastes buds or do you consider the nutritional value of each item? By coming to realization with your eating habits, you can start to become more conscious of your food decisions.

It’s Not Too Late To Be a Happier and Healthier Version of Yourself in 2018

There is a significant correlation between our mental and physical health so it’s important to nurture both. From taking time out of each day for yourself to paying a visit to your OBGYN each year, you’ll have both your mind and body thanking you.

Get a head start on your goals and schedule your 2018 appointment with us today by calling (404) 351-7900.