Your health is one area of your life where it is very vital to set goals. Such goals outline your ambitions for your wellbeing. Your state of health has a significant effect on every other area of your life and luckily you can strongly influence it. Even if you are already genetically predisposed to some diseases, it is also in your hand to take preventive action that could reduce your chances of being impacted by this risk factor.
Your health goals can range from being quick, five-minute habits to exercising for a few hours on a regular basis. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your health, and when you put them all together, they will compound to help you get the most out of life through your daily healthy habits.
Here are a few areas to look at when setting health goals this year:
Achieving a healthy weight is a combination of various factors including your diet, physical activity levels, mental health state amongst others.
1. Developing better eating habits: Rather than going for a crash diet which may end up endangering your health, work developing and maintain better eating habits. These include eating a balanced diet, drinking more water, and eating mindfully.
2. Achieving a healthy weight: This should not be confused for losing weight. A healthy weight means something different things for different people. So depending on your Body Mass Index and also your doctor’s recommendation, you should determine whether you need to lose weight, gain weight or maintain your current weight.
3. Getting adequate sleep: Many people feel like there are not enough hours in the day for them to get all their daily activities done and still get proper sleep. With the little time available to you however, you can be effective and impactful if you are able to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. This is a basic need that will impact all other areas of your life significantly. Sleeping well has a direct impact on both your mental and physical health, as well as your quality of life. Without proper sleep hygiene, your daytime energy can steadily decline, along with your productivity, your emotions, and your body weight.
4. Paying attention to your mental health: Physical health is only one aspect of your overall wellness. Another important aspect of general well-being is mental health. Unfortunately, this aspect of health goes overlooked or ignored far too often. Symptoms of mental health conditions are very often hidden because they tend to present themselves as symptoms of other health problems. It is therefore important to be deliberate about caring for one’s mental health to avoid breaking down unexpectedly
Ensure the goals you set are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound) as this makes them more feasible, actionable and easier to hit. An example of a SMART health goal will be: ‘I should exercise for 30 minutes at least four days per week throughout the year 2020.
Remember also to get a health cover that is designed to suit your specific needs and enjoy access to quality healthcare and superior service delivery. With AXA Mansard’s wide range of carefully selected hospitals nationwide, hospital pre-booking service and a 24/7 Customer Contact Centre.
