8 Easy Changes to make in 2024
It’s nearly the new year and with the new year comes new resolutions. To be honest, I don’t know that I have ever set a new year’s resolution. I honestly think most people fail at them within the first few weeks, so what is the point? Instead of having a “resolution” to improve your health or wellness, I thought I’d make a list of small, simple changes that can improve your life overall. “Small changes” sounds a lot easier than a resolution in my opinion.
I start with the very basics- like the duh ones. Then, I work toward things that you may or may not know.
Keep reading to see my top 8 changes that could improve your health and wellness in the upcoming year!
As always, I gotta disclose that this is not medical advice. Oh, and some links may compensate me if you purchase from them. Okay, that's all!
1. Reduce Plastic Use
Plastic was not made for the human body to digest or break down. However, we have microplastics inside of us right now, as you read this fabulous blog post. Are you thinking “how? I don’t eat plastic!” I’ve got news for ya: you do. We all do.
When we heat up food and put it in a cup to drink, that’s releasing microplastics into our beverage we are ingesting. Even a K-Cup is made of plastic and is heated up to a very high temperature. How could that not leach plastics into your coffee?
Placing hot food in a Styrofoam to go box? Plastic leaching. Your afternoon coffee pick me up? Plastic leaching from the cup. That bottle of water you got from the grocery store to quench your thirst? Yep, microplastics.
The point is, our lives are inundated with plastic. I mean, shoot, even our food is wrapped in plastic these days. So, reducing plastic use as much as you can is beneficial. It reduces the toxic burden your body already has a hard enough time getting rid of.
How do I reduce plastic use?
I drink most of my water from either a stainless steel cup or a glass cup. I don’t use the plastic straws that typically come with them- I buy glass straws from Amazon and use those instead.
We never place our warmed up food or drink in/on plastic plates or cups. We don’t own plastic plates- just glass or ceramic. We store our food in glass containers as well.
2. Get More Sleep
I am sure you’ve heard this before but getting plenty of sleep is imperitive for your overall health. When our body is sleeping, it is also detoxifying itself- especially the brain. Our body naturally makes ammonia and at night when we sleep is when our brain is relieved from the abundance of ammonia that can build up throughout the day.
I know a lot of people that have trouble either falling asleep or staying asleep at night. There are 3 natural ways to improve your overall sleep that I recommend.
Chiropractic adjustments- helps us go from a sympathetic (fight or flight) state to a parasympathetic state (rest and digest). AKA it helps our body relax enough to rest and have better overall function. You can read more about the benefits of chiropractic care here!
Tart cherry juice- has naturally occurring melatonin. I am not a believer in taking melatonin products that are “mainstream” currently.
Reducing blue light at night- this is phones, tv’s, basically any screen. The blue light tricks our circadian rhythm and makes us think that it is still day light when it is actually night time out. I got a blue light screen protector recently and I really like it!
3. Get Hydrated
I’ve spoken about how important hydration is for us before in this blog post, but it deserves recognition yet again. Honestly, I believe this is one of the easiest things you can do for your overall health- getting proper hydration.
When we are hydrated, our body’s cells are nourished and replenished. Not only that but our skin looks better, our body is better able to detox, and our brain function is better as well!
I don’t think water is the end all be all when it comes to hydration, either. I believe there are multiple avenues to ensure you’re properly hydrated.
Herbal teas
Bone broths
Water (filtered, of course)
Adrenal “cocktails” (not alcohol, forreal)
Fruits and vegetables
4. Exercise
Are you rolling your eyes? Probably so. This is a no brainer. Overall, exercise has so many benefits that pretty much everyone knows about. I think when people hear the word “work out” they think they have to go and bust their ass in a gym and I just don’t think that is necessarily the case.
Getting proper exercise could look different than killing yourself doing HIIT training every single day. You could take your dog for a 30 minute walk, take a hike, try an online yoga class, or take a barre class. All of these things are low impact and easy to ease yourself into in regards to exercising.
I want to be clear about why I think exercise is important because it’s not just about losing weight. I think proper exercise is important because it improves your mental health (which is life changing overall), it helps reduce blood sugar spikes after having a meal (reducing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes), and it reduces the likelihood of developing inflammation in the joints.
5. Cut out Fake Sugars
Manmade sugar is something I just won’t have any more. These are, obviously, non-naturally occurring sugars. They’re typically made by the same processes that plastic are- petroleum based methods. These are extremely inflammatory for your body and linked to cancer.
If you’re going to have sugar- have the real stuff. Real, organic cane sugar. Or unrefined sugar is great, too- like organic coconut sugar.
Sugars that I try to avoid:
High fructose corn syrup
Corn syrup
Aspartame (0 calories, “sugar free” stuff)
Sucralose (0 calories, “sugar free” stuff)
6. Balance Blood Sugar
I learned about this when I had gestational diabetes and controlled it with proper diet/eating habits. I firmly believe that blood sugar is the culprit for most weight gain (minus hormone imbalances). There’s a lot to balancing blood sugar but I can basically sum it up in a couple of paragraphs, so here we go.
If you have a carb (this includes fruits), you should balance it with a protein and fat. This eliminates the likelihood that your blood sugar will spike from whatever you’re eating.
To put it simply: protein is your best friend. If you’re reading the label of a food and it has 12 grams of carbs, you should have at least that much protein (if not more) to balance out the carb intake.
I used to think I was being healthy by having fruit as a snack. Don’t get me wrong- fruit is healthy but you should have it paired with something to counteract the carb intake. For example, if I have an apple, I will pair it with almond butter (healthy fat) and hemp seeds (protein). It’s that simple! Try not to eat a naked carb! If you’re hungry shortly after eating, chances are you had a high blood sugar response to whatever you ate. This will leave you feeling tired and hungry instead of clear headed and satiated!
I follow a blood sugar guru/dietician named Lily Nichols on all social media platforms and followed her guidance when I was navigating gestational diabetes. I love her information and her books. I recommend following her!
7. Read Labels
I made a blog post a while back about how I choose to feed my daughter, Libby. It contains a list of 4 ingredients I try to avoid at all costs:
Soy: soy, soy lecithin, soybean oil
Gums: carrageenan, gum(s), xanthan gum, guar gum
Artificial and Processed Sugars (mentioned above): high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, aspartame, sucralose
Dyes: red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue lake 30, green 3, carmine (bugs), caramel color
I am going to stand by this list because I do believe it is the easiest list to start with. The words listed beside each are what will typically show up on an ingredient list. In order to reduce consumption of these things, you need to read labels! Pretty much anything that is not a vegetable, fruit, or meat will have an ingredient list. Hell, even some packaged meats have ingredient lists! Learn to read them and keep this little list saved on your phone so you can easily reference it.
I can promise you that there are alternatives to ANY food item you find that has these ingredients in them! Want something like Oreos? Simple Mills brand has something similar!
8. Relationships
When I was earning my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling a couple of years ago, I took a couple’s counseling class. A lot of what we learned in that class pertained to friendships and relationships with your family, too. One key takeaway I got was this: for every negative interaction you have in a relationship, it takes 3 times as many positive interactions to counterbalance the negative.
With that being said, I’d like to ask you- is there a relationship that isn’t serving you anymore? Is there a relationship that is leaving you feeling sad, upset, angry, or agitated more often than not? What is keeping you in that relationship? What could your life look like if you either eliminated that relationship or at least implemented a boundary?
I am not telling you to cut off your momma. BUT what I am saying is that there are ways to implement boundaries that reduce your exposure to draining relationships. I had countless clients that I counseled that needed to implement boundaries. For example, a client had a mom that would call and guilt trip her about being away at college any time they spoke on the phone. It left my client feeling anxious and upset every single day. She decided to implement a boundary by letting her mom know that she would not speak to her on the phone if she continued to do that to her. Eventually, the mom learned that if she did that, the client would get off of the phone and wait a few days to call her again. It reduced the frequency that the client had to speak to her mom and also reduced how frequently her mom made her feel anxious and upset. This led to better concentration and overall less anxious feelings for my client and her grades improved in school.
Maybe it’s not about your family- maybe it’s a friendship that isn’t serving you. Maybe you need to mute an Instagram account or a snapchat story for a while. DO IT! If you find yourself getting mad or upset about something someone posts- get it out of your view. You’ll be happier in the long run!
I hope you find these tips easy to follow and implement in the upcoming year. If it overwhelms you, start with 2 of them and slowly make your way up to all 8 of them! After all, health and wellness is a journey. You don’t have to hop in all at once- what is most important is that you have the courage to take one tiny step!
If you're interested in receiving health coaching this year, I am excited to tell you that I am offering health coaching services! You can book a free discovery call with me here!
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