10 New Year Resolutions To Stay Healthier in 2024

These New Year resolutions will help you stay healthier throughout 2024 and beyond.

New year resolutions for a healthier year
New year; Credit: iStockphoto

As we enter a new year, many individuals embark on the custom of setting new year resolutions. These New Year resolutions are typically the results of a reflection on our life the previous year to include things we hope to change or improve in the new year.

From adopting healthier lifestyles and fitness choices to pursuing educational or career advancements, people use the beginning of the year as a fresh start to cultivate positive changes. These New Year resolutions have helped many people improve their lives.

Making the right New Year resolutions can make you stay healthier throughout the new year and beyond. While the enthusiasm for New Year resolutions can be high at the outset of the year, we all know that the major problem is seeing that they are achieved or last.

For most people, they are only wishes for the first week of January. But with commitment and consistency throughout the year, you can achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Here are the top ten resolutions to stay healthier in 2024.

1. Exercise more

Setting a New Year resolution to get more regular exercise can make you healthier and happier. Exercise improves your entire body’s function and efficiency. It also helps get rid of excess fats which are a risk for obesity and medical conditions like hypertension, atherosclerosis, and stroke.

Routine exercise also strengthens your muscles and helps you maintain a healthy weight, easing pressure on your back and weight-bearing joints in your body. Low-impact aerobic exercises like swimming, cycling, and gentle stretching can be beneficial if you have a severe and chronic muscular pain condition.

A Forbes Health/OnePoll survey of 1,000 US adults (including men and women) conducted in October 2023 showed that nearly 48% of respondents noted that improving fitness was a top priority resolution for the new year. An earlier similar OnePoll survey of 2,000 men and women in the US showed that 34% endeavored to exercise more in the new year[1]Top New Year’s Resolutions For 2024 – Forbes Health.

While many people make a resolution to get more physically active every new year, not everyone ends up achieving that goal. However, you will stay healthier and more satisfied with yourself if you stay committed to keeping a resolution of doing routine and regular exercises this 2024.

2. Balanced and healthy diet

Contrary to people’s belief that healthy diets are too expensive, they are not. For many people, eating a healthy and balanced diet is largely a result of self-determination to do so.

Ensure your diet has ingredients from the six food classes in adequate proportion. It is not necessary to do a calculation for the amount considered adequate but if you include regular items like veggies, fish or meat, oil or fats, into your diet, you would be getting most of all your body needs.

On the contrary, limit or avoid sugary and starchy foods. Limit convenience foods/canned foods or snacks. These are not made to provide balanced nutrients. Instead, they are fortified with sweeteners and additives to give a fake sense of fullness or make you crave unhealthily for more.

3. Quit smoking

You might have known about the negative health impacts of smoking on your health and vitality. But whenever you want to quit, it might feel too hard for you to do.

Smoking carries a risk of damaging your lungs, lung and oropharyngeal cancers, prostate cancer, mental health problems, dental problems, and much more. You can make this new year a fresh start to set and adhere to the resolution to quit smoking.

With the right will and determination, alongside many support platforms and recovery centers, it is possible to quit smoking permanently without any need to go back to it.

4. Prioritize your mental health

Numerology predictions for Destiny Number 5 in the year 2024 suggest that maintaining mental and emotional health will be paramount to achieving success in 2024 for those individuals in that Destiny Number. But irrespective of what your horoscope is or what you believe, prioritizing your mental health this new year will keep you physically and mentally ready to achieve your greatest success.

Be deliberate about maintaining a mindset of positivity. Steer clear of anything that gives you mental stress, and don’t forget to always show self-love.

5. See the doctor more often

A regular clinic visit for follow-up can prevent and halt a disease’s progress at a very early stage. It can also provide an avenue to get more medical tips like weight control and blood pressure monitoring, etc., for preventing many disease conditions.

Detecting serious diseases and medical conditions early can help improve health outcomes, prevent progress to a serious state, prevent huge medical expenses, and reduce preventable morbidity and mortality from the medical condition.

They say “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but regular visits to the doctor are not something you should try to keep away. And you don’t necessarily have to be ill before seeing the doctor.

If you are having an ongoing medical condition, this tip applies more. For example, people having trouble seeing or hearing might need to plan more visits to an eye doctor or an audiology specialist, respectively.

Scheduled biannual visits (every 6 months) to the dentist are also recommended to prevent and treat dental conditions that can significantly affect your general well-being.

6. Limit alcohol intake

Alcohol consumption is a contributor to more than 200 diseases, injuries, and other health conditions[2]Ten healthy choices to make in 2024 – WHO. These include immediate effects of risk of injury or physical harm, as well as long-term effects like liver damage, liver cancer, heart disease, mental illness, and others.

Any level of alcohol consumption carries a risk. While alcohol is present in several foods, fruits, and baking products, it will be important to reduce your intake of alcohol for healthier living in the new year.

7. Hydrating more

Water is an essential element for life. making up a large proportion of the body’s cells, tissues, and blood. It is the milieu for all vital chemical reactions in the human body.

As simple as drinking adequate water daily can improve one’s in unimaginable ways. Adequate daily water intake keeps you hydrated and avoids drying up of your skin and mucus membranes. Drinking water helps the kidneys to perform optimally and prevent kidney failure both in the short and long term.

It is recommended to get at least 2.5L of water per day. This can be more depending on your climate or if you engage in a job that makes you lose more water daily. Adequate water intake is a New Year resolution you should adhere to to have a healthier life this 2024.

8. Adequate sleep

Rest and sleep are important ways to stay healthy and strong enough to cope with the rigors of life. While many people ignore their body’s need for rest and sleep, a resolution to get adequate sleep for your body’s needs will be worth it.

Sleep experts recommend that adults should sleep 7 to 9 hours a day. This value also depends on the specific needs of the individual. Some people might typically be satisfied with 6 hours of night sleep, while others require up to 9 hours to perform optimally during the day.

Adequate daily sleep is linked to your productivity and optimal functioning of your brain, heart, and nervous system. Lack of sleep can cause anxiety, reduced energy, and poor memory. Thus, getting adequate sleep is a resolution for healthier living this new year.

9. Use antimicrobials the right way

In many parts of the world where antibiotics are available over-the-counter, many people go to purchase antibiotics for any little symptoms they are having even when it might not be a condition requiring antibiotics. Taking antimicrobials this way can lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance.

When that happens, disease-causing microorganisms develop a mechanism to evade the action of certain antimicrobials. This problem of antimicrobial resistance can make those drugs not work when they are needed.

Thus, avoiding antimicrobial abuse and taking them the right way is a resolution you should take for a healthier 2024. This involves seeing your doctor for a prescription or being sure that it is a condition requiring an antimicrobial before getting it.

Also, take the right doses of antimicrobials, and complete the dose course to ensure that the organism is cleared off before discontinuing the medication to avoid the development of resistance.

10. Practise safe sex

Adequate sex is a requirement for couples to build stronger emotional connections in a relationship. Sexual health encompasses getting this kind of adequate sex based on respect, pleasure, and safety.

But for individuals who do not have a stable sexual partner, it might not just be about having adequate sex. Abstinence is most important in this regard but it is also about being safe while getting sexual gratification. This involves using condoms during sexual activity to help prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancies, and HIV.

Sexual activities involving other partners require explicit consent and should be free from coercion, discrimination, and violence. Ensure to be in sexual relationships that are free from any of these, for your physical, mental, and social health and wellbeing.

Final words

Here are ten important New Year resolutions that can make you live healthier in 2024. These are fact-based and proven to be beneficial to your health.

We all make New Year resolutions but most of us end up abandoning them shortly into the second week of January. While some of these healthful New Year resolutions might seem unachievable, with the right will and determination, you can see yourself achieving them and living more healthily throughout the year and beyond.

I am a medical doctor, a seasoned writer and passionate blogger. Thanks to many years of trials, failure, and near successes. I am the founder of Knowseeker and our content are geared towards enlightening and making you a better and happier audience.

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