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Adopting healthy behaviours and avoiding unhealthy behaviours is the key measure an individual can take to prevent chronic illness such as obesity, diabetes and cancer. On average individuals with healthy behaviours, for example those who eat well, do not smoke and get plenty of exercise, live longer than those who do not adopt healthy behaviours.
Significant events, like the beginning of the New Year, can provide additional motivation for adopting healthy behaviours. At this time people commonly make resolutions about goals they wish to achieve in the New Year, and these goals are often health related. For example, people often resolve to lose weight, to quit smoking or to get more exercise in the New Year.
The New Year is a time of good intention. However, despite good intentions, many individuals fail to fulfil their New Year’s resolutions, because changing health related behaviours is complex and often challenging. New Year’s resolutions often become unstuck before the end of January. Planning and receiving support and advice to change health related behaviours are important measures which will help you to stick to your New Year’s resolutions.
Health professionals, including your GP, can provide advice and support to help you change unhealthy behaviours in the New Year. They may also refer you to other health professionals, for example to a nutritionist for dietary advice or a psychologist for cognitive behavioural therapy. Bear in mind that many health behaviours, and therefore resolutions to change them, are inter-related. For example, you may smoke to avoid weight gain or to deal with stress. Health professionals can also provide advice to ensure improvements in one area of your health (e.g. quitting smoking) do not lead to other aspects of your health deteriorating (e.g. weight gain). For example, if you are quitting smoking and want to avoid weight gain, a health professional could help you plan strategies to avoid increasing your energy intake. Therefore, exercise might be suggested in place of smoking as it is a great way to avoid weight gain and to reduce stress.
Sticking to a quit smoking resolution
Quitting smoking is challenging due to the addictive properties of nicotine. More than 20% of the Australian population continues to smoke despite the well-known health risks. Individuals who resolve to quit smoking in the New Year may, despite their good intention, face difficulties achieving their goals and require support to help them do it. People are more successful in their attempts to quit when they get professional support to do so. Only 3–5% of people who attempt to quit without support succeed, compared to 15–20% who quit with the assistance of anti-tobacco messages, nicotine patches and other support and encouragement. Be aware that individuals who receive long term support involving frequent contact with health professionals are the most likely to successfully quit smoking.
If you have decided to quit smoking in the New Year, it’s important to talk to your GP or another health professional and find out about the support and assistance they can offer while you try to quit smoking. You are probably already aware of the dangers of smoking, but your doctor may be able to provide information about the benefits of quitting smoking (e.g. that the risk of coronary heart disease halves within a year and the overall risk of dying for an ex-smoker 15 years after quitting is the same as for a non-smoker) to increase your motivation.
Losing weight and keeping it off
Losing weight is a common focus for New Year’s resolutions. With up to 50% of Australian women, up to 75% of Australian men and one in four Australian children overweight or obese, it’s little surprise. However, weight loss is often challenging. When preparing for a weight-loss New Year’s resolution, bear in mind that that it is a long term process which requires a lifestyle shift. Avoid fad diets which promise easy weight loss (if it sounds too good to be true it probably is) as these may give you unrealistic expectations about weight loss and ultimately make it harder to lose weight. Although fad diets may help you lose weight quickly (even too quickly) in the initial weeks, they’re unlikely to produce the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to maintain a healthy weight in the long term.
The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to develop healthy eating patterns that provide a foundation for good nutrition and healthy weight in the long term. It is important to develop weight loss strategies for the New Year which consider both energy intake and expenditure. Restricting calorie intake so that there is a negative energy balance (more energy is expended through physical activity than consumed in the diet) is the only way to lose weight, but it’s not simply about eating less. Eating a wide variety of fresh, healthy food while avoiding energy dense foods and beverages like alcohol, soft drinks, chips and sweets, is the best strategy. It will reduce calorie intake in the short term, but you will still be able to eat a large variety of foods. You’ll also be developing healthy eating patterns which will reduce the likelihood that the weight you lose will be regained in the future.
If you’re planning to lose weight in the New Year, it’s also a good idea to monitor your energy intake and expenditure throughout the holidays so that you do not gain more weight before your New Year’s resolution begins.
Being active, everyday
Being active is also an important weight loss strategy as the more active an individual is, the more energy they burn. 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day is the minimum amount recommended for healthy living. It’s a fairly modest amount of exercise, but the World Health Organisation report that as much as 60% of the world’s population fail to achieve these levels. To lose a significant amount of weight you will probably need to increase your physical activity levels more substantially. Aim for 80 minutes of moderate physical activity every day.
Start with simple lifestyle changes such as walking instead of driving and taking the stairs instead of the lift. Increase your physical activity levels from there, by incorporating 30 minute walks and other low-impact exercises like swimming into your daily routine. Over time you should aim to continuously and gradually increase the intensity, duration and frequency of the physical activity you perform.
ReferencePanel on Macronutrients & Standing Committee for the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. Energy. Chapter 5. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein and Amino Acids (Macronutrients), National Academy of Sciences. 2005. [cited 2009, June 6], Available from http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10490.html
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If you are overweight or have not exercised for a long time, it may be necessary discuss your exercise plan with a specialist to avoid injury. However, most people can plan their own exercise regime, bearing in mind that the exercise programs most likely to be sustained are those that fit into your existing lifestyle.
In addition to improving fitness levels and assisting with weight loss, physical activity has other health benefits. It’s an important component of maintaining cardiovascular health. Weight bearing exercise (including walking) improves bone mineral density. Performing physical activity is also associated with improved quality of life, and other positive psychological effects. Exercise reduces levels of stress and anxiety, increases self-esteem and provides an opportunity for developing social skills.
If you have resolved to improve your health in the New Year, these tips may help you achieve your goal:
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