Personal Tips to stick to your New Year's Resolutions

With the new year now in full swing, you’ve probably been asked what your new year’s resolutions are for 2020. From weight loss to quitting smoking, we all have our own little hurdles we want to conquer. This guide gives you some top tips on how to keep motivated in the new year to truly reach your goals!

Weight Loss Tips 

Probably one of the most common New Year's resolutions, you may want to focus on your health this year and shed a few pounds. One of the most important things when it comes to losing weight, is to make sure you have a plan. Many people fail simply because they do not know where to start, or how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for a prolonged period of time. 

The first step to losing weight is therefore to ensure you have an appropriate and balanced diet planned for yourself, after all the majority of weight loss is down to diet, not exercise. It is a good idea to meal prep - making healthy meals in advance for the following days. Planning in advance helps to curb the cravings of fast and convenient junk foods, as this takes the stress out of preparing healthy and nutritious meals. 

It is also highly important to make sure you are following a balanced diet that suits your needs, calorie intake and most importantly your personal preferences. Trying to stick to a diet containing food you dislike is setting yourself up for failure. Weight loss should be thought of as more of a lifestyle change than a crash diet. This means that the focus should be on eating a wide variety of foods, to gain the ideal nutritional balance.

In terms of calorie intake, this should be matched to your daily activity levels and will help to keep you on track. One common dieting mistake is that people reduce their calorie intake either too little or too drastically. This causes the body to crave nutrients and food for substance, encouraging binge eating. 

A balanced diet guide can be found on NHS Eat Well designed to help you in creating  healthy, nutritional meals to support your weight loss. 

Our next tip may be common but it is essential: watch your portion size. By allowing yourself to eat some of the foods you like, in smaller quantities, you’re less likely to break away from your planned diet. This diet tip also means you will eat less calories than normal when having the foods you enjoy so it won't slow down your weight loss journey.

We touched on this earlier, but one of the best tips for effective weight loss is to approach diet changes as a lifestyle change rather than a temporary fix. 

Consistently maintaining a healthy diet helps to ward off a wide range of health issues and allow you to feel better in yourself. Due to this, healthy eating habits should be kept for life. Fruit, vegetables and plenty of water should be incorporated into your diet in order to do this. This tip also aids sustainable weight loss, preventing unhealthy yo-yo dieting. 

Some people find it easier to use a diet plan premade for them to follow. It is important to find a reliable and healthy weight loss diet to ensure you do not put your health and well-being at risk. Check out the NHS weight loss plan designed to promote healthy and sustainable weight loss in a free 12 week program.  If you are unsure what diet is suitable for you, consult a doctor before beginning your weight loss journey. 

Of course, it goes without saying that a healthy diet should be accompanied by regular exercise. You should aim to exercise for at least 150 minutes during a standard week. In doing this, your weight loss will be accelerated and your health will drastically improve.

By following these handy tips, you are sure to reach your weight loss goals in 2020 and beyond.

Stop Smoking in 2020

Smoking is one of the leading causes of cancer. It is therefore a habit many people are keen to break. Due to it’s addictive nature, it can however, be a very difficult one to break but access to the right support can give you the motivation you need to succeed. 

A recent article by BBC News on smoking states that a billion fewer cigarettes are smoked in England each year. They explain how according to Cancer Research UK, only 16% of adults in England now actually smoke. With these drastically reduced numbers, now is a better time than ever to jump on the bandwagon.

Smoking is now widely understood to be detrimental to your health in many ways; quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing cancers according to the National Cancer Institute and even begins to have positive effects on the body after only a few minutes.

So how can you stop smoking this year?

Firstly, you need to know what professional support services are available to you. In some areas there are free, local smoking services where you can meet advisors who can offer advice on the best methods to quitting smoking for you. They also offer support on finding affordable stop smoking treatments such as nicotine replacement therapy (such as patches and gum). 

In addition to this, they can speak to you one on one about your concerns, goals and ways of achieving them. This additional support can encourage people to stay on track during the withdrawal process and has been found by many to be one of the best ways to stop smoking. 

One of the most common methods of quitting is via nicotine replacement therapies. Nicorette is the leading supplier of these products within the UK and has been creating nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products since the late 1970s. They have a wide range of nicotine replacement options, from chewing gum to nasal sprays and patches, all available to help you stop smoking in 2020. 

These products are often found at a high cost however, at Weldricks we offer the Nicorette range at affordable prices helping to aid you in your smoke-free journey. 

Discover more reasons to quit smoking this new year, by looking at our article on how much smoking really costs you, in both health and monetary value.

Taking Care of Your Mental Health 

Mental health is a major talking point in recent years, with more focus on looking after your mental health and removing the taboo associated with mental health in society. Caring for your mental wellbeing should be a priority every day of the year. Having a good state of mind will support your in achieving your goals in 2020 and helps you to make clearer decisions that will benefit you. 

One of the most essential pieces of advice if you are feeling mentally drained is to talk. Talking to people and communicating your feelings is paramount in taking care of your mental wellbeing. Being able to let out your feelings to someone who can listen, and even offer advice from an outside perspective, is one way to take care of yourself in the new year. Whether you talk to family, friends or mental health services, such as the Samaritans, getting your voice heard is the most important thing. 

Samaritans is a free service where you can call to speak to someone about how you are feeling. It is an important service which has helped countless people overcome difficult times in their lives. 

If you feel that you are struggling with your mental health, it is a good idea to go and see your GP. Mental health can be delicate and it is important to recognise when professional help is required.  If your thoughts or feelings are starting to have an impact on your normal daily routine, it is recommended that you visit your GP. Depression and other anxiety conditions can be hard to recognise which is why it is important to get a medical opinion. They will then be able to give you the most appropriate treatment plan to care for your mental health, whether this involves medication, therapy or referral to mental health specialists. 

Self Care

Self care links heavily to mental health. Making time for yourself and ensuring you are looking after your needs helps to promote a positive mindset. Self care covers just about anything from hygiene and beauty to finding time to read a book or watch a film. 

At Weldricks we offer a range of products that are great for the hygiene and health side of self-care. A good skincare routine  is a great way to look after yourself in the new year. In the colder months at the start of the year, dry skin is a common problem. This makes implementing a skin care routine the ideal New Year’s resolution. Within our skincare product range we stock a variety of moisturisers and rejuvenating creams to protect your skin from dryness. Our dry skin care guide details the best way to look after your skin in the winter months.

Of course self-care does not stop at skincare, health also plays a major factor. Living a healthy lifestyle not only allows you to feel better in yourself but can also help your body to work more efficiently and release positive hormones. As previously mentioned in the weight loss section, regular exercise and a balanced diet is essential. At Weldricks we also stock a range of vitamin products in order to aid this.  It can be difficult to gain all of the vitamins and nutrients required by the body from food alone. Taking supplements allows you to give your body exactly what it needs to work at maximum efficiency.

Work-Life Balance 

Burnout is a relatively common issue related to prolonged periods of stress or pressure. It is associated with feelings of exhaustion, being emotionally drained and overwhelmed. It often occurs when people work too hard and do not make time to switch off and step away from the stresses of modern life. This is what makes a work-life balance so important. 

Ensuring you have a good work-life balance could be as simple as turning off your phone when you leave the office however, in more severe cases  it could take something a little more; perhaps a short break away. There are also a variety of stress related products, such as the rescue remedy drops and rescue remedy spray, designed to help alleviate symptoms of stress.

It is important to take stock of your priorities in life every once in a while. This can help you to reset and gauge what is really important to you. In doing this, you can begin to plan your time effectively, making sure that your time for work and personal activities that you enjoy are distinct from one another.

We have now addressed some of the most common New Year’s resolutions, offering helpful tips to help keep you on track to achieving your goals this year. 

Let’s make 2020 the year of you.
Happy New Year!