Many of us start the new year with plans to make healthy changes, but it can be difficult to stick with these good intentions. How you set your goals, however, can help you maximise your chances of achieving them. 

For example, the goals “I want to lose weight” and “I want to get fit” are a bit vague. But adding details can help to focus your mind – such as “I want to lose 3kg by 1 March” and “I want to run a 10K this year”. This is part of what’s known as the ‘SMART’ goal-setting approach. 

Your SMART goal should be:

S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – time-sensitive

This way, you’re more likely to reach your goal. And even if you start with something small, it will give you the confidence to try something more challenging next time.


Woman writing notes at a desk

Do you find yourself gobbling down a meal in 5 minutes and not realising you’ve cleared your plate? 

If the answer is yes, then you might benefit from practising mindful eating. This is when you make a conscious effort to be in the moment and take time to really pay attention to the food you're eating.

Mindful eating isn’t a diet – it’s a way of eating that can help you to slow down, savour your meals and enjoy the overall experience of eating.

As well as helping you to appreciate your food, it’s thought that eating mindfully may help relieve stress and anxiety, improve digestion, and encourage you to eat in a healthier and more balanced way.

__To give mindful eating a go at your next meal, try to:__

- engage all your senses – what colour is the food? How does it smell? What does it taste like? What texture does it have in your mouth? What sound does it make when you bite or chew it?
- put your cutlery down between mouthfuls – this will slow down your eating and help you realise when you’re full
- chew each mouthful of food well – around 20 to 40 times to taste every ingredient and flavour

Bowl of food

Do you gobble down your food 5 minutes? Follow these tips to eat more mindfully and enjoy your food in the moment.

You can practice mindful eating with any food you like, from a salad or cheeseburger to a small snack like an apple or yoghurt pot. 

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Get more from your food with mindful eating

Do you toss and turn at night, but can’t work out why? And do you sometimes struggle to get off to sleep for no obvious reason?

Poor sleep is common, but working out how to improve it isn’t always easy. 

Tracking your sleep with a sleep diary can help you identify what may be keeping you awake, and give you the tools to improve it.

To keep track of your sleep each night, try adding notes into your Healthily app. Just head to the homepage, tap the ‘+’ at the bottom of the screen and then choose ‘Add note’.

__Things you might want to track in your sleep diary include:__

- the time you go to bed
- the time you wake up
- how long it takes you to fall asleep
- how many times you woke during the night and how long it took you to get back to sleep
- how many naps you take each day and for how long
- the quality of your sleep 
- when you have alcohol, caffeine, and/or tobacco and how much
- any medications you’re taking
- how much exercise you’ve done

If you’re having sleep issues, it’s a good idea to keep a diary for a few weeks to help you spot any patterns. This means you can share your notes with a doctor if you can’t work out the problem on your own.

A full moon in a dark and starry night sky

Moon

Do you toss and turn at night, but can’t work out why? Keeping a sleep diary may help you identify the cause of your poor sleep.

Research shows that poor sleep can negatively affect your health in the short and long term. This suggests that your body doesn’t adapt to having less sleep over time.

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How keeping a sleep diary can improve your slumber

Did you know that spending time with animals can improve your mood? 

Research suggests that not only do fluffy friends make great companions, they may also help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

Simply spending time with an animal, stroking them, playing with them or just sitting together can provide an opportunity for you to relax and calm your mind when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

__Finding yourself a furry friend__

Not all of us are in a position to adopt a pet. However, there are still plenty of ways you can interact with animals and reap the mental-health benefits they can provide. 

If you don’t have a pet try:

- joining a pet borrowing service to spend evenings and weekends caring for a cat or dog in your local area
- offering to take a friend or neighbour’s dog for a walk or look after them for the day
- volunteering at a local shelter to socialise with the animals while getting them ready for rehoming
- visiting your local petting zoo to learn more about the animals and spend time with them

Rabbit

Fluffy friends make great companions and may also help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. Find out how to connect with a furry friend to help improve your mental health.

Walking a dog is a great way to get yourself moving more and can be a rewarding way of getting more exercise. 

Why a furry friend can boost your mood

Do you find you have stiff hips and lower back pain after a long day of sitting down?

The pigeon pose is a classic yoga position that provides a deep stretch to help open up tight hips, while also loosening your spine, hamstrings (the muscles at the back of your thighs) and glutes (buttock muscles). 

Performed correctly, this pose can help relieve sciatic nerve pain and stretch your quadriceps (the muscles at the front of your thigh). It may also help improve your posture and reduce lower back pain.

__To perform this pose at home, follow these steps:__

1. Start by positioning yourself on all fours on a yoga mat. Your hands should be just in front of your shoulders and your knees should be below your hips.

2. Bend your left knee and bring it to your left wrist. Put your left foot towards your right wrist to create a right angle. The outside of your leg should now be on the floor.

3. Straighten your right leg and rest your thigh on the floor. Your leg should be straight out behind you. 

4. Slowly lower your body down to rest on the inside of your left thigh putting your hands on the floor in front of you.

5. Breath deeply and hold this position for up to 1 minute. 

6. Slowly and gently come out of the pose and repeat on the right side.

Although generally safe, it's important to do the pigeon pose correctly to avoid injury. Ask your doctor first if you are pregnant or have ongoing back, knee or hip pain.

Pigeon pose

If you ever have stiff hips and lower back pain after a long day spent sitting down, try practicing pigeon pose. 

Increasing your flexibility through stretching may help your joints move through their full range of motion and allow your muscles to work more effectively.

Keep muscles happy with this stretch 

It’s recommended you eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. This is to make sure you’re getting all the vitamins, minerals and fibre you need to stay healthy.

Getting the right amount of nutrients can help lower your risk of serious health conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer, so it’s important you try to reach this target.

A single portion of fruit or veg is roughly 80g, while 5 portions equal a total of around 400g. This may seem like a lot, but there are plenty of simple ways to squeeze more into your diet. 

__To increase your fruit and veg intake, try:__

- topping breakfast cereals or yoghurt with sliced banana or berries
- adding vegetables like tomatoes, pepper or spinach to scrambled eggs and omelettes
- having a 150ml glass of pure juice or a smoothie with your breakfast
- adding lettuce, tomato or cucumber to your favourite sandwich
- swapping ready-made sauces for tinned tomatoes when making pasta dishes, stews and curries

Remember, aim to eat a variety of fruit and veg to get a wide variety of nutrients from your 5-a-day.

Three sliced oranges on a white cake stand with a grey-blue background

Oranges

It’s recommended you eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day to stay healthy. Try these surprising ways to get your 5-a-day.

Potatoes, yams, plantain and cassava (yuca) are all starchy foods and don’t count. But, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips and swedes do all count as 1 of your 5-a-day.

Try these surprising ways to get your 5-a-day 

Whether you’re really not a morning person or you’ve just had a bad night’s sleep, snapping out of that groggy state can be tough. 

But, did you know that making your shower cold for just a few seconds every morning won’t only make you feel more alert but may even boost your mood?

Taking a cold shower puts your body under stress, which jolts your sympathetic nervous system into action (also known as your ‘fight or flight’ response). This triggers an adrenaline rush, increasing your heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate – that’s the number of breaths you take every minute. It also floods your bloodstream with chemicals called endorphins, which are known to reduce pain and boost pleasure, leading to a feeling of wellbeing.

__Keen to give cold showers a try? Here’s how:__

1. Start your shower with warm water.

2. Turn it to cold at the end – start with 30 seconds and increase by 5 seconds each week.

3. Relax, breathe slowly and enjoy it.

Cold showers aren’t safe for everyone – speak to a doctor before starting if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, asthma or you’re pregnant.


A shower room with a towel and shower gel

Cold shower

Cold showers can make you feel more alert in the morning and may improve your mood.

Several studies suggest you can get the benefits of a cold shower with a temperature of about 20C, but you don’t need to keep the cold water running the whole time – just 30 seconds is thought to be enough to deliver the benefits.

 Take the plunge: try cold showers

Do you sometimes toss and turn at night due to a stuffy nose, or wake up with a sore neck? Your pillow may be to blame.

Using the same pillow for too long can disrupt your sleep in lots of ways. It can make your skin itchy, your nose stuffy or runny, and irritate your eyes due to a buildup of dust mites, fungus or mould – and make your allergies worse. It can also cause muscle pain if it doesn’t support your head or neck properly.

Even if your pillow still has some life in it, washing it and your pillowcases regularly can keep them going for longer. And most sleep experts recommend replacing your pillows every 1 to 2 years to make sure you’re getting the support you need and practising good sleep hygiene.

Think it’s time to replace your pillow? Here’s what to look out for:
- a sagging or lumpy pillow
- a yellowing pillow
- your allergies getting worse at night
- a sore neck or shoulders in the morning


A book, a pair of glasses and a coffee on top of a bed

Pillow

Change your pillow every 1 to 2 years to improve your sleep.

While you may not always remember them, you dream for about 2 hours every night. Most dreams happen during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is thought to help with learning, memory, and mood.

Is your pillow robbing you of sleep?

Many of us start the new year with plans to make healthy changes, but it can be difficult to stick with these good intentions. How you set your goals, however, can help you maximise your chances of achieving them. 

Telling someone else your goals and asking them to give you feedback and support can give you more motivation to succeed and an extra sense of achievement.
